AI, Tools and Transformation
The article discusses the widespread use of software in large American companies and challenges the common Silicon Valley belief that AI will easily automate most tasks and make tool-building universally accessible. The author argues this view misunderstands how software is developed and utilized, and how companies truly undergo transformation, as most individuals are not inherently focused on tool creation or process innovation.
Why it matters
This piece offers a critical perspective on the hype surrounding AI's transformative potential in enterprise software, questioning the assumption that AI will effortlessly automate everything. It highlights the gap between technological capability and practical adoption, and the human element in organizational change.
The typical big American company today has hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of different pieces of software. It has giant ‘big iron’ horizontal systems of record like SAP and Workday, it has hundreds of vertical SaaS applications, and then there are hundreds more workflows, scripts, automations and databases, right down to the 10 meg spreadsheet running a department. Very often, the company doesn’t even know quite how much it has, what’s actually being used, and what it’s paying for. And yet, with all this software, the company is full of boring, repetitive tasks.
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