Athena Bulletin

By Carlos Venegas

When organizations mandate a certain number of AI projects, they drive activity instead of improvement. And when activity becomes the goal, results are scattershot, not strategic. Activities are logged, and savings are reported without clarity on how that freed-up time is actually used or its impact on your mission. Often, non-value-added work is automated.

Do you really want to do that?

I’ve seen this pattern before. Years ago, with Lean, organizations made the same mistake. They focused on the tool instead of the purpose. As I’ve said elsewhere, Lean is an operational strategy, not a business strategy. The same goes for AI.

AI is a way to get work done.

But when organizations become enamored with the tool, they start implementing it for its own sake—because “if we don’t use it, we’ll be left behind.”

That’s where mandates come in.

“Every team must implement AI.”
“Each group must report X number of improvements.”

On the surface, this looks like progress.

In reality, it creates a system where people are rewarded for using AI—not for improving how work gets done.

Under these mandates, People apply AI to whatever is in front of them, whether it should exist or not.  
Metrics track activity—usage, time saved, number of implementations — rather than mission impact. Reported “savings” accumulate, but no one is clear on how that freed-up time is actually used.

In other words, you can end up with a lot of reported success and very little real improvement.

There’s a deeper problem here. Most teams are not taught how to evaluate a process, test a change, manage risk, or capture and redeploy capacity. So, when they are told to “use AI,” they do the only thing they know how to do: they apply it locally, tactically, and often superficially.

The result is not a transformation. It’s the acceleration of whatever system already exists.

Including the waste.

A Better Way

If you want AI to deliver real results, you have to start somewhere else.

Start with your strategic goals—and the human needs behind them.

Every goal implies a gap between where you are and where you want to be. And closing that gap usually requires changing how work gets done—not just doing the same work faster.

That’s where AI should come in.

Identify the processes that must change to achieve your goals. Then bring together the people who do the work and look at that process as a system.  

Simplify it.  

Remove what doesn’t need to be done.  

Clarify what does.

And make sure the change actually improves the experience of the people doing the work and the people you serve.

Only then should you ask: where can AI actually add value?

Used this way, AI is not a mandate. It’s a tool applied deliberately, where it can improve flow, reduce friction, and accelerate decisions.

The Takeaway

Mandates feel like progress because they produce activity you can measure.

But activity is not improvement.

If you want real gains—better outcomes, faster decisions, and meaningful use of your people’s time—don’t start with AI.

Start with the work.

Then apply AI where it actually makes that work better, and finish with a result that matters.

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For more information, see more about our Tech Modernization services.

Carlos Venegas helps leaders in government connect people, process, and technology into systems that actually work. For over 30 years he has helped government agencies simplify complex systems, implement technology with confidence, and lead change through clarity and empathy. He is the author of three books on Lean process improvement, including Flow in the Office, which is about improving office processes with office automation. Learn more at carlosvenegas.com.

Carlos works in collaboration with The Athena Group, a human-centered technology modernization consultancy serving state and local government leaders. Learn more at athenaplace.com.

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