Blog: Process redesign
Do not automate a process nobody would design today
Published by Forever Foundry
AI agents can now carry work across several systems and functions.
That makes it easier to automate an existing process. It does not prove that the process deserves to survive.
The autonomous enterprise is arriving
On 6 October, SAP introduced new Joule assistants and an AI platform intended to coordinate work across core business functions.
Its announcement points to Deloitte research among 501 US business and technology leaders. Within four years, 74% expect nearly half their processes to be redesigned or rebuilt around AI agents. Yet only 5% said their processes were highly prepared for agents.
These are vendor claims and surveyed expectations, not evidence that autonomous processes will create value in every organisation. Read SAP’s announcement and Deloitte’s research.
The FOFO™ view
Before redesigning a process around AI, establish why the process exists and what should become better.
Imagine a manufacturer handling purchase-order exceptions.
The current workflow may pass through procurement, finance, operations and a department head. Some steps protect margin or prevent fraud. Others may exist because information arrives late, systems do not connect or nobody trusts the previous approval.
An agent could move the request through that workflow faster. It could also preserve every unnecessary step and make an unclear decision happen at greater speed.
The people doing the work know which is which.
Redesign from the outcome backwards
Before choosing what to automate, ask:
- What business outcome should improve?
- Where does work wait, repeat or return?
- Which controls remain necessary?
- Which exceptions require human judgement?
- Who experiences the consequences downstream?
- What is the baseline for time, cost, errors and rework?
Then decide what should be removed, simplified, supported or automated.
Measure the complete outcome. A faster approval means little if errors increase, another team inherits more work or nobody can explain the decision.
Some steps exist only because one person holds the knowledge. Read what stops when your most experienced person is unavailable.
AI Compass™ listens across functions, roles and levels to uncover how work really happens. Slid3rs™ helps your people rank the resulting opportunities by business value and delivery complexity. FlowRoom™ brings leadership together to agree what changes first.
The arrival of more capable agents should prompt better questions about work, not a faster reproduction of how it happens today.
Discover which business processes are worth changing. Explore AI Compass™.
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