The Automation Paradox

Let's imagine for a moment: a company is running like clockwork – processes are automated, robots handle production, AI writes emails, books travels, and even composes this blog post (um... okay, better not). And yet something is missing.

Welcome to the present: we have managed to advance technology at a breathtaking pace. But what happens when suddenly it is no longer technology, but people who are the limiting resource?

❗ That's exactly where we are ❗

Because the more we automate, the clearer it becomes: AI can do a lot – but it can't create meaning. It has no real understanding of the world, no intuition, no gut feeling. It doesn't know what it's like to stand in a crowded bus on a Monday morning, still needing coffee and with your child throwing their third tantrum. And it is precisely this lived humanity that we need today more urgently than ever before.

In highly automated organizations, it is already apparent that processes run efficiently – but what is missing is emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, and connection. Without people, organizations become soulless machines.

❗Humans are not "the problem"; they are the key ❗

The automation paradox sums it up: the higher the degree of automation, the more crucial the remaining humans are. Their abilities to build relationships, create trust, think strategically and shape culture.

❓ What does this mean for companies ❓

➡️ Strengthen human strengths: Move away from imitating machines and towards uniquely human strengths such as creativity, empathy and ethical thinking.

➡️ Qualify instead of displace: Upskilling, AI literacy, coaching – people must be able to grow with the technology, not as competitors to machine perfection, but with their fundamental human qualities.

➡️ Develop culture: Create a working environment in which people do not feel like machines, but are seen and needed. Perhaps the future lies not only in perfect technology – but in a conscious decision in favor of the imperfect, the human. Machines bring perfection anyway.