The Rush to Automation

The #1 AI adoption killer?

Automating before you’ve proven what works. Automation is a lagging indicator of maturity.

In the past few weeks I’ve spoken with dozens of marketing leaders rolling out AI. Many are racing to automation to gain capacity and speed-to-market. Good aims, but without solid process, clear evaluation, and strong data governance, automation projects stall or produce mediocre (sometimes disastrous) outputs faster.

What makes the difference is knowing what should be AI Assisted vs. when you’re ready for AI Automation. I created this AI Adoption Matrix to help (see image):

Four types of AI work

• Strategic + AI Assisted → high-impact planning, creative problem-solving, decision support
• Tactical + AI Assisted → repeatable tasks with human oversight & improvement
• Tactical + AI Automation → proven, rules-based processes with clear success metrics
• Strategic + AI Automation → adaptive, org-wide programs informed by feedback loops

Operating principle: Assist → Prove → Automate.

If it isn’t repeatable, well-governed, and low-risk, it isn’t ready for automation.

Before you automate, check:

1. Repetition: Is the work frequent and predictable?
   
   
2. Rules: Can success be expressed in clear rules/metrics?
   
   
3. Risk: Are mistakes low-impact and reversible?
   
   
4. Records (data): Do we have clean, governed data the system can rely on?
   If any answer is no, start AI assisted.

If you’re looking for a place to start, pick one move for the next 90 days:
• Strategic + Assisted: Use an AI “thinking partner” for your next quarterly plan; track time-to-decision and decision quality.
• Tactical + Assisted: Standardize prompts/playbooks for one workflow; add human review + a feedback log.
• Tactical + Automated: Automate one already-stable process; define metrics, guardrails, and an escape hatch.
• Strategic + Automated: Wait until the first three are stable and data governance is in place; pilot in shadow mode (AI proposes, humans approve) first.

Which quadrant are you operating in most today,and which single workflow will you move next?