WHY AI?

Since I started working in marketing, every time I've needed technology I've faced the same problem: delays, scopes that are never sufficient, and endless expenses. Let's remember that I've worked with some of the best companies in the market: banks, insurance companies, e-commerce, airlines, international clients, etc. In other words, technology problems are not isolated cases, and the reason is simple: until 2019, the expected shortage of skilled IT professionals was estimated at almost 500,000.

After the pandemic, this situation changed, but not by much: with the crisis generated by the lockdowns, companies ended up downsizing their staff, and a surplus of qualified professionals began to emerge. At the same time, the need to be online only increased, and even with dozens of free courses that began to be offered, the equation remained unsolved.

One of the things that has helped me a lot throughout my professional career is understanding not only the need for technology, but also how it is developed. I didn't want to become a programmer, although I learned a lot about it, because I preferred to focus on what, for me, is the origin of everything: business. Without business, without sales, technology is useless. But without technology, businesses don't survive.

But why this difficulty in training IT professionals? Why this eternal mismatch between what the management and business areas seek and what technology delivers? Is it the user's fault? Is it the tools' fault? Or is it a bit of everything? Some clues:

Lack of knowledge - businesses have changed a lot in recent years, and technology has changed even more. Neither developers fully understand what technology can do for good or bad, nor do business professionals understand all the needs of the business. Above all, neither business fully understands IT, nor does IT fully understand business. Each speaks its own language and thinks it is being understood by the other. There are few interpreters, and I know because I've always been one of them.

Business silos - historically, companies have specialized in creating trenches between different areas. It's common for departments to prioritize their own interests over those of the company, and this has become entrenched in IT. This is because, generally, technology areas are valued, and leaders often emerge from them. Control and power.

Narcissism – IT developers, in general, have a tendency to become enamored with their creations. Perfect code that doesn't solve business needs is very common. As are projects that seem to exist only to justify themselves. It's technology for technology's sake, not for need or function. It's completely unnecessary meticulousness for a project that may never be completed.

Endless scopes – this set of factors leads to scopes that never close or that encompass so much that they will never become viable. Without a well-defined scope, there is no sustainable project. They end up like home renovations: they don't finish, they're just abandoned. In 98% of projects, the delay is so great that, when they are close to completion, the needs that originated the investment have already changed. These are what Jesus called whitewashed tombs.

And how do we solve this?

In an ideal world, technology professionals would deeply understand business needs, and business professionals would immerse themselves in IT knowledge. If one understood the other's needs, everything would be easier. But this rarely happens, or happens with sufficient depth to end the dissension.

Then comes Artificial Intelligence, and we begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel. With AI, the first major change is in the speed of development: from years to days. The second change is the power of development, which shifts from the hands of IT to the hands of business. The third is scope: with speed, agility, and a need for less specialized labor, projects can solve one problem at a time. In other words, AI is not limited to silos, it doesn't get stuck in narcissism, and scopes become viable. But what about the lack of knowledge?

That's the question: if businesses continue to believe that mastering technology is not part of their responsibilities, nothing will change. Worse: even harder than getting business professionals to understand technology is getting technology professionals to adopt AI. Their shortsightedness is so great that they think it will harm their work.

Abandoning technology areas? If only it were that simple. Technology is crucial, but it should be reserved for solutions that require specific knowledge and many layers of security or very meticulous and complex development. Infrastructure, advanced development environments, security. Business applications should remain with business areas. Simple as that.

Don't be fooled: those who don't learn to use AI to their advantage will be fighting a losing battle and will only lose out time and money. Don't make that mistake. Take advantage of the best opportunity yet to have technology that works within the timeframe and cost your company needs.

It's now or never.