It’s too easy to do…
A Deceptive Problem
As I write, NASA is preparing to send 4 astronauts into lunar orbit. Fuel is the major component by weight, but I would wager that if measured by complexity, a major fraction or even a majority of the equipment on board is to do with crew survival. If a robot blows up, freezes and won’t wake, loses comms or just loses its way, well, that was expensive but we can just try again. Losing people is not acceptable. So… why are we sending anyone?
Why don’t we just send drones? Drones are now dominating the battlefield in several current wars. But once again, we are wary of fully autonomous drones, instead preferring FPV drones guided by an operator.
What is it that NASA and the world’s most advanced militaries are aware of, that apparently AWS - hardly a technological laggard - forgot last December?
It’s that writing good automation is very hard. People make complex decisions, weighing many subtle factors. Automation… not so much.
It’s painfully easy to get overtaken by the hype of how much money automation will save you, in salaries, training, seats, time. You name the resource, automation will improve things. Even computing power - a script needs less computer resources than an employee.
What those highly advanced organisations know is that if you attempt too much automation, you will be limited by needing to simplify your task to permit automation to succeed. If the task is simple, scripts, frameworks, even AI agents are fine. If not, we still need humans.
Is your business so simple that a script, an app, or an AI can run it? What does a CTO contribute there, exactly? Ha-ha, just kidding, I’m sure you could all tell me at length why your job cannot be automated. But, are you sure that when you look at your employees and see automation opportunities, that you take the time to find out why trying to automate them away is a mistake? Do you listen at length?
Conclusion
There are various symptoms of over-reliance on automation. Know that going too far will look great, until it doesn’t. Finding the right balance is hard.
…
Imagine, if you will, a day when all the drama is removed from your software production: no panic, no crisis, just smooth software releases that exceed your customer’s expectations. This is what we have done in the past and can do for you.