The Automation Consultant's Secret: Most 'AI' Projects Are Just Better Workflows

Here’s a truth that might save you thousands: the dirty secret of the automation consulting industry is that most successful “AI transformations” have very little to do with artificial intelligence. They’re really about fixing broken workflows, eliminating redundancies, and implementing basic automation that should have existed years ago.

This isn’t cynicism—it’s liberation. Understanding this reality can help London SMBs achieve remarkable efficiency gains without the complexity, cost, and risk of cutting-edge AI implementations.

The Great AI Rebrand

Walk into any London business consultancy, mention operational inefficiency, and watch how quickly “workflow optimisation” becomes an “AI-powered transformation.” It’s not necessarily deceptive—many consultants genuinely believe AI is the answer to every business challenge. But the pattern is revealing.

A Westminster consulting firm recently paid significant fees for an “AI transformation” of their project management. The end result? Automated status updates, template libraries, and standardised approval workflows. The only AI involved was the chatbot answering basic queries—something they could have implemented for £100 monthly.

The expensive part wasn’t the technology—it was discovering and documenting their actual workflows, then designing better ones.

What Really Happens in Successful Automation Projects

Let’s dissect what actually drives results in typical “AI” projects:

Discovery Phase (40% of value): Consultants map current processes, identify bottlenecks, and document inefficiencies. This archaeological dig through your operations often reveals stunning waste—duplicate data entry, unnecessary approval loops, information silos that force constant communication.

Process Redesign (35% of value): Before any automation, workflows get rebuilt. Steps are eliminated, handoffs streamlined, decision points clarified. A Shoreditch creative agency discovered their “AI needs” disappeared when they simply stopped requiring three approvals for routine decisions.

Basic Automation (20% of value): Simple tools handle repetitive tasks—email automation, form routing, calendar scheduling. No machine learning required, just logical rules and triggers.

Actual AI (5% of value): Perhaps some sentiment analysis on customer feedback or predictive text in email responses. Useful but hardly transformational.

The Workflow Problems Masquerading as AI Needs

Common scenarios where businesses think they need AI but really need better processes:

“We need AI to manage our customer enquiries” Reality: You need a ticketing system and clear routing rules. A Borough Market food supplier thought they needed AI until they realised categorising enquiries into five types and routing them accordingly solved 90% of their problems.

“AI could help us process invoices faster” Reality: Standardised invoice formats and approval hierarchies eliminate most delays. The “intelligence” needed is knowing who approves what, not machine learning.

“We want AI to predict project delays” Reality: Regular status updates and clear deadlines prevent most surprises. A Canary Wharf consultancy reduced project overruns by 60% with mandatory weekly check-ins—no algorithms required.

“AI should help us personalise customer communications” Reality: Customer segmentation and mail merge handle most personalisation needs. True AI-driven personalisation requires massive data volumes most SMBs lack.

Why This Misconception Persists

Several forces maintain the AI-for-everything narrative:

Vendor Incentives: “AI-powered” solutions command premium prices. According to industry research, AI consultant rates range from £100-500 per hour, while basic workflow tools are commoditised and cheap.

Consultant Positioning: AI expertise sounds more valuable than process improvement, even when the latter delivers better results. The global AI consulting market was valued at £11.4 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach £64.3 billion by 2028.

Executive Expectations: Boards want to hear about AI initiatives. “We fixed our workflows” lacks the same cachet as “AI transformation.”

Media Hype: Every business publication features AI transformations. Nobody writes about spreadsheet improvements that saved millions.

The Liberation of Lower Expectations

Understanding that most automation success comes from better workflows, not better algorithms, is profoundly liberating for London SMBs:

Lower Costs: Workflow improvements and basic automation cost fractions of AI implementations. McKinsey research shows that up to 70% of the effort in AI-based solutions involves data wrangling and process harmonisation.

Faster Results: Process changes can happen in weeks, not the months AI projects require. According to consulting research, successful digital transformations focus on changing entire domains rather than isolated use cases.

Less Risk: Simple automation rarely fails catastrophically. When it does break, fixes are straightforward.

Greater Control: Your team can manage workflow tools. AI systems often require external expertise and ongoing maintenance.

How to Get the Results Without the Hype

Here’s how to approach automation with clear eyes:

Start with Process Mapping: Document what actually happens in your business. Use simple flowcharts, not complex notation. A Southwark manufacturer discovered they were creating the same report five different ways for five different managers.

Identify Pain Points: Where does work pile up? Where do errors occur? Where do people complain? These are your automation opportunities.

Fix the Process First: Eliminate unnecessary steps before automating. Automating a bad process just makes bad things happen faster.

Apply Simple Solutions: Use the simplest tool that solves the problem. Email rules before AI assistants. Spreadsheet formulas before machine learning models.

Add Intelligence Selectively: Once basic automation works, identify where predictive capabilities or learning algorithms would add genuine value.

Real Success Stories

The Recruiter’s Reality: A Kensington recruitment firm abandoned their AI matching system for a simple skills database with keyword search. Placement rates improved because recruiters trusted and understood the system.

The Retailer’s Revelation: A Camden boutique replaced their “AI inventory prediction” with seasonal templates based on last year’s sales. Accuracy stayed similar, complexity plummeted.

The Agency’s Awakening: A Soho marketing agency scrapped plans for AI content generation after realising their bottleneck was approval processes, not content creation. Streamlined workflows doubled their output without any AI.

The Consultant’s Real Value

This isn’t an argument against consultants—the good ones provide tremendous value. But that value usually comes from:

• Fresh eyes on stale processes
• Experience across multiple businesses
• Dedicated time to analyse and improve workflows
• Knowledge of available tools and best practices
• Political cover for necessary changes

The AI component is often window dressing on fundamental operational improvements.

Moving Forward with Clear Eyes

Next time someone proposes an AI solution to your business challenges, ask these questions:

1. What workflow problems are we actually solving?
2. Can better processes achieve the same results?
3. What’s the simplest solution that would work?
4. Where specifically would AI add value beyond basic automation?

For most London SMBs, the answer involves fixing workflows first, automating simple tasks second, and adding AI only where it provides clear, specific advantages.

According to McKinsey research, successful digital transformations require “fundamental rewiring of how a company operates” rather than simply implementing technology. The most effective approach involves continuous deployment of technology at scale to improve customer experience and lower costs—but that technology doesn’t have to be AI.

The Bottom Line

The automation consultant’s secret—that most AI projects are just better workflows—isn’t a scandal. It’s an opportunity. You can achieve remarkable improvements without the cost and complexity of artificial intelligence. Fix your workflows, automate the obvious, and save AI for where it truly transforms.

Your bottom line will thank you for focusing on boring solutions to real problems rather than exciting solutions to imagined ones.

Ready to distinguish between genuine AI needs and workflow improvements? Book a consultation to explore practical automation strategies that deliver results without the hype.

QVXX helps London SMBs make practical AI decisions. We focus on what actually works for your business.