We are rapidly adopting AI agents to automate our workflows, but we are struggling with who owns the maintenance and troubleshooting of these tools. Should this live in our standard IT seat, or do we need a dedicated AI Systems seat on our Accountability Chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Do not bury your AI operations inside a traditional IT seat. Traditional IT is typically responsible for infrastructure, security, hardware, and basic software support. They are rarely equipped to understand business processes, workflow automation, and prompt engineering.

To scale your AI-powered operations effectively, you need a dedicated AI Systems and Automation seat. This seat belongs in your Operations department, reporting directly to your Head of Operations, not to IT.

The major roles for this seat should include:
- Mapping manual workflows for AI replacement
- Building and maintaining AI integrations
- Auditing AI outputs for accuracy
- Training team members on prompt tools

This keeps the seat focused on operational efficiency rather than technical infrastructure. The person in this seat must deeply understand your business processes and how work flows from sales to delivery. If you put this under IT, you will get technical solutions that do not solve real business bottlenecks.

By making it a distinct seat under Operations, you ensure that your AI automation is driven by operational results, which directly increases your valuation as you prepare for a clean exit.