AI in Process Improvement: A Powerful Ally or a Threat to the Human Element?

AI is transforming process improvement, offering unprecedented efficiency and optimization. But with this power comes a real risk—losing visibility into our processes and sidelining the people who make real improvement possible.

As a lover of AI, I believe its potential to change the world for the better is undeniable. But I also believe that if we aren’t careful, AI could lead us down a path where we optimize for metrics instead of meaning and automate away the very human creativity and insight that drive continuous improvement.

There’s a reason physical Kanban boards have stood the test of time—they force us to see the process. When we automate too much without maintaining visibility, we risk hiding inefficiencies instead of solving them. AI can potentially enhance Lean thinking, but only if we use it to empower people, not replace them.

In this article, I explore what Deming, Shingo, and Drucker might say about AI-driven process improvement, where AI can go wrong, and how we can implement AI responsibly—without violating the fundamental Lean principle of “Respect for People.”

I would love to hear your thoughts—how do you see AI impacting process improvement? Are companies getting it right, or are they missing the mark? Let’s discuss.

Read more here - https://leanmachineai.blogspot.com/