1960s Media Theory Can Explain New Data on Enterprise Automation
When it comes to tech, our society loves to talk about details, but sometimes misses the bigger picture.
Sentient AI discussions ignore real AI use cases. Crypto crash coverage ignores the value of the blockchain. Discussions of automation focus on job elimination anecdotes, and ignore a data-driven view of the business impact.
The third example suggests automation is nothing more than efficiency. It is a widespread view that is frustrating for someone in my role. I study the impact of enterprise automation, and it looks different (and more optimistic!) than the popular narrative.
Today, I had a chance to join the team that published Workato’s annual Work Automation Index, a massive research study of how 900+ companies are using automation. The insights from this year’s report show that the way we work is changing fast. If we view enterprise automation as an ecosystem, an exciting picture emerges. Automation starts to look like a change agent for a more creative and inclusive future.
It inspired me to revisit a theorist from my past life as a communication theory instructor — Marshall McLuhan — and take a macro reflection of how automation technology is really impacting our work.
The Medium (or Automation Platform) is the Message
What has more influence?
a single Tweet,
or the entire Twitter platform?
I used to ask students questions like this to illuminate Marshall McLuhan’s famous catchphrase “the medium is the message.” While published in 1964, McLuhan’s thoughts are more relevant today than ever — especially in enterprise automation.
McLuhan is telling us to see the message as secondary to the medium (in tech we might replace medium with “platform”). He is warning us not to get distracted by the details, lest we overlook tectonic shifts in society.
The discourse about automation is following this pattern, where we focus on the details of the changes we fear rather than looking at what is really changing. Let’s take a look at a few examples.
The rise of the burrito bots
Efficiency is the least nuanced view of automation. It also seems to be the only way automation can make the headlines. From thinkpieces about automated pizza sauce extruders at Costco to burrito bots at Chipotle, the same old story is on repeat. Even the New York Times noted that The Robots are Coming for Phil in Accounting last year. If you think about it, this is a conservative view that preys on our basic fear that change is bad, and preservation of the status quo is good.
Ironically, it seems few believe our current ways of working are worth preserving. From the “Great Resignation” to debates about work from home, four day workweeks, and discussions of inequality in the workplace, there is a real appetite for change in the ways we do business.
The rise of the back office bots
In the book Intelligent Automation, the authors define automation as “the action of a software program or machine which performs tasks usually performed by human workers.” It’s an unfortunate mindset that says the only path to automation success is human replacement.
I recently read an article about automation in finance which said the only value in automation was “better, faster, or cheaper.” RPA vendors sell the value of their bots in terms of “hours saved” and process mining vendors encourage customers to find efficiency in existing processes.
The view leaves little room for innovation, creativity, or pursuing greenfield opportunities. Fortunately, the real data paints a different picture.
Low-code / no-code changes the conversation
Years ago, a company I worked for had an urgent need for a content platform to help sales reps access content. With no time or budget for a sales enablement software buying cycle, I just built one myself. I don’t know how to code, and I typically don’t spend my time creating apps. But I like to tinker with Airtable, an accessible no-code platform. I figured it could replicate ~65% of the functionality of a premium sales enablement tool with a few hours of work. I thought it would get us by for a month. It turns out we used it for a year.
If Marshall McLuhan were around today, I’m convinced that he would have something to say about the low-code / no-code trend. Software was not on his radar in the 60s, but we can guess how he would interpret it. McLuhan was one of the first to view technology as an ecosystem, and charted eras across human history (such as the written word, printing press, or industrial revolution) that revealed how each ecosystem changed the social order.
Unlike technology of the past, low-code, no-code tools are providing blank canvases for millions of people to craft their own solutions. Gartner illustrates the magnitude of this trend when they predict that 80% of tech will be built outside of IT by 2024. That’s the kind of ecosystem change that McLuhan would get excited about.
When we look at the data in enterprise automation — we see that trend playing out in real time. This split below shows a profound shift, where nearly half of the work is already being done by functional experts, and the other half by technical experts:
While the popular automation discourse sensationalizes efficiency and role evaporation, the data shows the real news is role transformation in the context of low-code / no-code. The ecosystem is changing, and that means the very nature of work is changing along with it. For a deeper dive on this, I’d encourage readers to check out David Peterson’s excellent piece about no-code ops becoming the next big job in tech.
The way we do business is transforming
The other sign of a McLuhan-esque ecosystem change jumps out when we look at year-over-year enterprise automation growth by department. I’m struck by the near-equal pace at which the entire company is rapidly automating their processes, with a mean of 200% growth.
It is extraordinary. While there are differences between each department function and mission, the data shows everyone working at the same rate. This pervasive pace seems like another sign of an ecosystem shift.
Enterprise automation is leaving no stone unturned — no matter where you sit in the company. It is no longer just a technology — it is a new way of doing business.
A brighter future
I dusted off an old comm theory textbook and found an analysis of Marshall McLuhan’s belief that technology both reflects who we are, and shapes who we become:
“Electronic media have revolutionized society, according to McLuhan. In essence, McLuhan feels that societies are highly dependent on mediated technology and that society’s social order is based on its ability to deal with that technology.” (emphasis added)
Critics of McLuhan have argued for years that his philosophies, and those who followed in his footsteps like Neil Postman, were just another form of technological determinism. While humans were often passive consumers of technology in the past, I believe that the future is one that is more inclusive and creative, where low-code, no-code platforms empower more people to collaborate and build their ideas. This path is free will — the opposite of determinism.
I can’t help but view enterprise automation, and the data in this year’s Work Automation Index, through that lens. Every day, we see more people taking control of how technology serves them at work. And we see it happening in a pervasive way across the organization. Exciting change is underway — but perhaps we need to think like McLuhan to recognize it.
