The AI gimmick trap, confusing AI with automation and other thoughts…

Boards and executives everywhere have caught the AI fever. They’re carving out budgets, hiring consultants, and chasing grand visions of AI-powered transformation.

Don’t get me wrong – AI has already proven its worth in boosting personal productivity. CoPilot, ChatGPT, Claude and others have become everyday tools for many of us. But when it comes to enterprise AI solutions, the story gets a little murkier.

Enterprise-scale AI projects aren’t cheap. They demand serious investment, not just in technology but in change management, integration, and ongoing maintenance. That’s fine if there’s a clear, measurable return – but too often, the case is built more on hype and FOMO than on hard numbers.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this. Remember when “the cloud” arrived? Evangelists convinced decision-makers to scrap their on-prem servers and rush headfirst into Azure or other data centres because it was “better.” Boards pushed IT to move fast. The reality? Costs skyrocketed, performance sometimes lagged, and businesses lost control of key systems. Sure, the cloud brought benefits – but the sales pitch often outpaced reality.

AI feels eerily similar. The narrative is that if you’re not investing now, you’re falling behind. But what if, cheekily, AI is actually holding you back?

The AI Distraction

Here’s what I mean. While executives spend months evaluating AI solutions, manual processes continue to eat up time and resources every single day. I see it all the time – businesses looking skyward for AI breakthroughs, while the low-hanging fruit at their feet goes untouched.

Take the Microsoft platform you already own. With a modest investment, you could:

• Use Power Automate to connect systems and eliminate mindless data entry.
• Build Power Apps or dynamic forms that plug straight into your current systems, making clunky processes smoother overnight.
• Automate reporting in Excel so weekly updates don’t chew through hours of staff time.

None of these requires a seven-figure budget. Most can be delivered quickly, with a tangible ROI you can measure.

The ROI Reality Check

That’s the big difference. With automation, you can quantify the results:

• Hours saved per employee, per week.
• Error rates reduced.
• Faster processing times.
• Happier staff who get to do work that actually matters.
• Superior data to feed AI to achieve even more.

Compare that to a multi-year AI project where the outcomes are often vague or dependent on yet-to-mature models. It’s not that AI won’t pay off one day – it will. But right now, many businesses are stepping over certain wins to chase uncertain ones.

Don’t Forget Training

Here’s another overlooked gem: Microsoft’s online training programmes. Most organisations only scratch the surface of what Office apps can do. A bit of structured learning can lift productivity massively, and it encourages personal development, which builds a stronger, more engaged team. You don’t need a cutting-edge AI project to get those wins.

AI Is the Future, But…

I’m not anti-AI, far from it. AI is going to shape the future of business in profound ways, and every organisation needs to be thinking about where it fits. But it doesn’t have to be a race. For many companies, the smarter move is to get your foundations right first, including your data.

Think of it this way: if your processes are broken, automating them with AI just means you’re doing the wrong things faster. Better to fix the basics, capture the easy wins, and build a culture of efficiency first. Then, when AI is ready to deliver on its big promises, you’ll actually be ready to harness it.

So – is AI holding you back? Or is it just distracting you from the wins sitting right under your nose?