Frederick Vanbrabant, a consultant who helps companies streamline operations, says the surge of AI promises has pushed businesses to chase quick fixes for slow processes. His conclusion after rereading The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt and The Toyota Way by Jeffrey Liker? AI won’t make your processes faster unless you address the root problems first.

Vanbrabant isn’t dismissing AI. He’s skeptical about how companies use it. Too many teams treat AI as a bandage for broken workflows. They bolt on the latest tool, expecting it to automate away inefficiencies. Instead, he argues, the real work starts with mapping out how a process actually runs. That means identifying bottlenecks, redundant steps, and handoffs where things get stuck.

The books he revisited make the case even clearer. The Goal introduced the Theory of Constraints, a method that says systems improve only when you optimize the slowest part. The Toyota Way showed how continuous improvement isn’t about adding tech—it’s about small, consistent fixes to how people work. Neither book mentions AI as a solution to process slowness.

Vanbrabant’s post has sparked debate on Hacker News, where some commenters argue AI can still help by surfacing data faster. Others say the problem isn’t the tech—it’s that companies skip the hard work of defining clear processes before automating them.

Take a common example: a legal team drowning in document review. Some companies buy AI tools to speed up the process, but the real delay comes from handoffs between departments or unclear approval chains. Fix those first, Vanbrabant says, and AI tools will actually deliver value instead of masking deeper issues.

His advice echoes warnings from operations experts who’ve seen this movie before. In the 2010s, companies spent fortunes on ERP systems expecting them to solve workflow problems. Many failed because the tools couldn’t fix messy, inconsistent processes. AI is the new ERP in that sense—a shiny object that distracts from the real work.

What’s the alternative? Vanbrabant suggests starting with a process audit. Map out every step in a workflow, spot where things stall, and fix those spots before adding AI. He points to Toyota’s kaizen approach, where workers at all levels suggest small improvements that add up to big gains over time.

This isn’t about rejecting AI. It’s about using it the right way. AI excels at handling repetitive tasks, spotting patterns, and surfacing insights—but it can’t replace clear process design. Companies that skip this step end up with faster clunky processes instead of slower efficient ones.

The broader lesson? Technology amplifies what’s already there. If your process is a mess, AI won’t clean it up. It’ll just make the mess faster. The hard work starts with defining how things should work—not just how to automate them.

For teams already deep in AI rollouts, Vanbrabant’s message is a reality check. The tools won’t save you. The people using them will.

What You Need to Know

  • Source: Hacker News
  • Published: May 17, 2026 at 12:13 UTC
  • Category: Technology
  • Topics: #hackernews · #programming · #tech · #war · #nato · #military

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Curated by GlobalBR News · May 17, 2026

🇧🇷 Resumo em Português

A inteligência artificial promete revolucionar empresas com automação e eficiência, mas especialistas alertam: ela sozinha não resolverá processos lentos e mal estruturados. Em 2026, a expectativa de que a IA acelere operações empresariais pode se frustrar, segundo analistas, que destacam um problema recorrente no Brasil e no mundo: investimentos em tecnologia sem a devida revisão dos fluxos de trabalho.

O Brasil, que tem um dos ecossistemas de inovação mais ativos da América Latina, enfrenta esse desafio com frequência. Muitas empresas apostam em soluções de IA para ganhar agilidade, mas negligenciam a modernização de processos essenciais, como gestão de dados, hierarquia organizacional ou até mesmo a cultura interna. Especialistas afirmam que, sem uma transformação profunda, a IA acaba se tornando apenas uma “tapa-buraco” tecnológico, perpetuando ineficiências e desperdiçando recursos — algo que, no contexto atual de crise econômica, pode ser fatal para a competitividade.

A lição é clara: a IA não é uma varinha mágica, mas uma ferramenta que exige planejamento estratégico. Até 2026, as empresas que não alinharem tecnologia a processos sólidos verão seus investimentos em automação se tornarem mais um gasto do que um ganho.

🇪🇸 Resumen en Español

La inteligencia artificial no será la varita mágica que acelere los procesos empresariales en 2026 si estos ya están obsoletos o mal diseñados, según advierten los expertos. Numerosas compañías están invirtiendo ingentes cantidades de dinero en soluciones tecnológicas para ganar eficiencia, pero sin abordar primero los fallos estructurales de sus flujos de trabajo, la IA solo maquillará problemas crónicos sin resolverlos.

El error más común consiste en depositar toda la esperanza en la automatización, como si esta pudiera compensar una cadena de valor deficiente o una gestión desorganizada. Analistas señalan que, sin una transformación previa de los procesos —que implique revisar desde la cultura corporativa hasta los sistemas de toma de decisiones—, la IA se convertirá en un parche caro y temporal. Para los lectores hispanohablantes, este mensaje subraya una lección clave: la tecnología es una herramienta poderosa, pero su éxito depende de una base sólida, donde la innovación no es solo digital, sino también organizativa.