AI in Agile: Are You Innovating or Just Automating Mistakes?

AI in Agile: Racing Faster… But in the Wrong Direction?

A few months ago, I was invited to observe how AI was being integrated into a Fortune 100 company’s operations. When I walked into the conference room, the whiteboards were covered—flowcharts, decision trees, AI integration plans, pages upon pages of automation roadmaps. The team was waiting for me to be impressed.

“What do you think?” one of the senior engineers asked, expecting validation.

I looked around, scanning the intricate maze of diagrams. Then, I said the only thing that came to mind:

“I think you’re missing the whole point.”

“What do you mean, Amit?”

“Tell me, where will AI give the most value? In automation, or in helping us explore how to optimize?”

Silence. A few nervous chuckles. But they knew exactly what I meant.
They had mapped their existing world in painful detail. Not once had they asked whether that world even needed to exist.

That’s the problem with how most organizations are approaching AI today. They assume faster means better. But AI applied to an inefficient process does not create innovation—it just scales inefficiency at an exponential rate.

Turbocharging Bad Decisions: The AI Pitfall Agile Teams Ignore

Most organizations are not innovating with AI—they’re just automating old inefficiencies. It’s the corporate equivalent of turbocharging bad decisions—using cutting-edge tools to speed up a flawed process instead of rethinking if that process even needs to exist.

This is exactly what I saw in the Fortune 100 company I worked with. They were obsessed with automating their call support workflows as quickly as possible. But in their rush, no one stopped to ask:

• Which steps actually add value?
• What inefficiencies are we carrying over from the manual system?
• Should AI replace a process, or should it redefine it?

It took one conversation—one heated debate among their tech team—to uncover the real problem. They weren’t using AI to innovate; they were using it to copy-paste inefficiencies at scale.
And that’s the real danger. The illusion of progress.
If you take a broken, outdated process and use AI to make it move faster, what will you really achieve?
Not much. You’ve automated waste.

AI Shouldn’t Follow Rules—It Should Challenge Them

Don’t use AI to replicate human inefficiencies at scale—use AI to challenge them. But that requires a mindset shift:

• Don’t start with automation. Start with elimination. Before AI speeds up a process, ask: Does this process even need to exist?
• AI isn’t a copy-paste machine. It’s a challenger. The best AI implementations don’t just follow rules; they question them.

This is exactly what was happening at this fortune 100 company. Once we stopped treating AI as a mere accelerator and started using it as a partner that could analyse, something changed.

Instead of blindly automating all workflows, the company re-engineered AI to analyze processes first, detect redundancies, and flag unnecessary steps. Instead of scaling inefficiencies, they were now systematically removing them.

Here’s what we did differently:

• AI was programmed to challenge workflows, providing alerts when certain steps seemed redundant.
• They developed an AI Confidence Index—a scoring system that helped leaders decide whether a process step should be automated, modified, or removed altogether.
• They stopped asking, “How can AI make this faster?” and started asking, “How can we use AI to innovate?”

The impact was clear: AI didn’t just automate work—it helped redesign how work happens.

If AI Isn’t Challenging You, You’re Using It Wrong

AI is a force multiplier. But what are you multiplying?

Are you scaling efficiency, or are you scaling waste?

Most companies get caught in the automation trap—pushing AI to move faster without stopping to ask: Is this even the right direction?

• The best Agile leaders challenge the status quo. They don’t just automate; they rethink.
• The best AI implementations don’t copy—they question, adapt, and evolve.

I believe AI in Agile should be more than just a fancy speed boost—it should be a thought partner. It should tell us:

• This step adds no value.
• You’re replicating an old process that doesn’t work.
• Are you sure this should even exist?

If your AI isn’t challenging you, you’re not using it right.
So, before you invest in AI, ask yourself one hard question:
Are you using AI to transform work?
OR
Are you just making bad decisions… faster?

Share your experience!

Have you seen AI used to redefine work, or just to replicate it? Drop a comment—I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Amitabh Sinha (Amit) is a trusted Agile transformation expert and AI strategist, known for helping organizations cut through the hype and unlock real, tangible value from Agile and AI. With decades of experience as a software engineer, Agile coach, and product leader, he brings a deep technical understanding and a practical, no-nonsense approach to driving meaningful change.

Amit and his team help companies “adopt AI in Agile”—by ensuring they integrate it the right way. Connect with Amit for tailored, high-impact solutions that actually work.

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