Don’t Wait for the Org Chart to Catch Up – Find the Doers and Back Them

In my last days at Unisys, I built 20 or 30 simple AI agents. Fast. Lightweight. Functional.

They worked – but they were stuck. Not because they weren’t clever. Not because they didn’t meet a need. But because they were bespoke, siloed, and orphaned by traditional process.

And here’s the truth: the big, enterprise-wide programs – the ones with names, governance, and slide decks – were also stuck.

Not for lack of vision. But for lack of action.

The Real Shadow IT Isn’t Tech – It’s People Who Give a Damn

It’s not "shadow tech" that drives transformation. It’s the people who can, and more importantly – the people who do.

They’re the ones who push through friction. They carry others when systems don’t. They don’t ask for permission to solve. They just solve.

And if you want to lead a transformation that doesn’t end up as a PDF on SharePoint, then: ?? Be this person. ?? Find these people. ?? Back them. Hard.

Because right now, we have an enterprise mismatch that’s causing real pain.

The Mismatch That’s Breaking Transformation

Here’s the rub:

“Superusers are becoming outliers. Organizations are becoming relics.”

According to a recent BCG report, 70% of digital transformations fail to meet their goals – not because of tech shortfalls, but because individual readiness outpaces organizational change.

People are ready. Processes aren’t. And the result? Frustration, not breakthrough performance.

It’s like handing Formula 1 cars to people still navigating horse-and-cart approvals.

Act, Build, Share – Even When the System Isn’t Ready

This isn’t a call for chaos. It’s a call for deliberate, distributed capability building.

We’re not just training AI agents. We’re training mindsets.

If you're in a role, a team, a company where you're waiting for someone to say “go” – you’ll be overtaken by someone who just went.

And often, it’s not about the code. It’s about the code of behaviour:

? See what’s needed ? Act on what matters ? Do the work others defer

One of my old teams used to say, “Push til it’s paved.” Turns out, that’s how transformation actually happens.

The Agentic Opportunity – One Story, Many Wins

Take this for example:

I worked with a small group of field engineers and built a conversational agent in under a week that automated their top five service tasks – parts ordering, RMA processing, dispatch logging, customer comms, and status updates.

?? Time saved per task: 12–15 minutes ?? Daily interactions: 400+ ?? Value unlocked in month one: $70K+

No funding. No PMO. No fuss. Just done.

When you unlock action at the edge, you unlock real value. And more importantly – you unlock belief.

The New Org Chart: Superusers + Shared Purpose

It’s time to stop romanticising systems and start empowering people systems.

?? Train your AI. ?? Build your capability muscle. ?? Start where you are, use what you have, and share what works.

Enterprise culture needs fewer bystanders and more believers.

And the good news? They’re already in your org.

You just need to find them. Or become one.

Final Thought: Be the Change Agent Who Does

The world’s not short on frameworks. It’s short on finishers.

So next time someone says, “That’s not in the process,” smile politely and keep going.

Because processes don’t build the future – people do.

If you’re building, trying, tinkering, or ready to flip the script – I’d love to hear what you're working on.

Call me, DM me, follow me. Let’s do the work. Together.

— #Innovation #AI #EnterpriseTransformation #AgentEconomy #Leadership #FutureOfWork #BeTheDoer