Artificial intelligence (AI) and its role in digital transformation

Digital transformation is talked about in terms of large system changes, major platform upgrades or long-term programmes of work. But for most organisations, progress is made through much smaller, more practical improvements.

One of the biggest opportunities sits in the everyday processes that consume time, attention and effort across the business. These processes sometimes don’t feel broken enough to fix, but over time they create drag on productivity, cost and decision making.

And AI is being used to address this type of drag, not by replacing people or reinventing operations, but by removing friction from how work gets done.

Understanding drag in everyday processes

Operational drag is the cumulative impact of small inefficiencies.

Tasks that take slightly longer than they should, involve more people than necessary, or happen more frequently than anyone realises.

Individually, these tasks feel manageable. Collectively, they absorb a significant amount of time and create delays, rework and frustration.

Examples include:

• Manual data entry or duplication across systems
• Reformatting reports for different audiences
• Chasing approvals or missing information
• Repeating the same checks or validations

Calculating drag

One useful way to make drag visible is to quantify it. A simple model we often use looks like this: DRAG = T × N × F

Where:

• T = Time it takes one person to complete the task
• N = Number of people involved
• F = Frequency of the task over a given period

This formula helps shift conversations away from opinion and towards evidence. For example, a task that takes 10 minutes, involves 6 people, and happens twice a week creates over 2 hours of effort per week.  

That is time not spent on improvement, customer work or decision making. When organisations start mapping tasks this way, patterns quickly emerge.

The biggest sources of drag are often not the most complex processes, but the most frequent ones.

Where AI can help

AI is particularly effective at reducing drag in areas where work is repetitive, data‑heavy or fragmented across systems.

Rather than replacing entire processes, AI can be used to:

• Pre‑populate information from multiple sources
• Flag exceptions instead of requiring full manual checks
• Summarise data or activity into consistent outputs
• Route work or decisions automatically based on defined rules

When routine tasks require less manual effort, teams have more capacity for work that benefits from human judgement.

AI as part of digital transformation

Seen in isolation, AI can look like another tool to adopt. As part of digital transformation, it becomes a way of improving how existing systems and processes work together.

Digital transformation is about:

• Reducing unnecessary effort
• Improving visibility across operations
• Making outcomes more predictable
• Allowing people to focus on higher‑value activity

AI supports these goals by sitting alongside current tools and workflows. It works best when applied deliberately, starting with known sources of drag rather than abstract use cases.

Starting small but often

For most organisations, the most effective place to start is with one or two clearly defined processes.

Mapping the time involved, the number of people affected and how often the task occurs makes it much easier to assess impact before any technology is introduced.

From there, improvements can be tested incrementally. This reduces risk, improves adoption and ensures any gains are impactful.

AI does not need to be transformative on day one to be valuable. Small reductions in drag compound quickly.

How we can support you

Productivity improvements come from removing friction that no longer adds value.

AI offers a practical way to do that, especially when it is used as part of a broader approach to digital improvement rather than as a standalone initiative.

If you’re looking at digital transformation, start by asking this question: Where is time being lost today, and how much is that drag costing?

Once that’s visible, it becomes much easier to decide what to change and where digital transformation can have the biggest impact.

If you’d like help identifying those areas and understanding where improvement is most achievable, we’re always happy to have an informative chat: contact us.