If You Want AI ROI, Give People Time to Play
Techstrong.ai, Friday, April 3rd, 2026
In the span of just a few months, the experience of building software has fundamentally changed. Engineers are now working alongside agents that write, refactor, test, and even reason through complex codebases. Tasks that once required days of focused effort can now be completed in hours or even minutes.
When the core mechanics of how software is built shift this quickly, it matters beyond engineering. Software development has historically been one of the most complex and cognitively demanding forms of knowledge work. If AI can meaningfully compress and reshape that process, it's reasonable to expect similar effects in other domains that are built on analysis, writing, coordination, and decision-making.
That expectation is exactly what I hear in conversations with business leaders. Having watched what's happening in engineering, they recognize the acceleration and feel pressure to respond. They purchase tools, launch pilots, and assemble AI task forces in anticipation of similar gains across the organization. Yet despite the tools being available, the organization itself often doesn't fundamentally change.