Dr Brand: The real AI failure? It's not the technology — It's the thinking

Brand guru Dr Thomas Oosthuizen, known as SA’s “Doctor Brand”, argues here that the biggest mistake companies make with AI isn't technical; it's sequencing. Sparked by the backlash to Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters' comments about cutting 7,000-8,000 jobs, Oosthuizen notes that AI often serves as convenient cover for layoffs already planned, echoing warnings from Sam Altman and HR analyst Josh Bersin. His core argument: businesses ask "where can we use AI?" when they should ask "what's stopping us from growing?" Citing McKinsey and Cannes Lions data showing few firms have redesigned workflows despite heavy AI adoption, he insists technology should follow strategy, not define it..By Dr Brand.One of the most revealing comments about AI came from Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters.In May 2026, he said the bank expected to remove between 7,000 and 8,000 back-office roles, replacing "lower-value human capital" with AI and automation. The backlash was immediate.Although he later softened his comments, the damage was already done.Why?Because most employees do not fear AI. They fear losing their jobs.That distinction matters.Ironically, some of the world's leading AI experts argue that AI has become a convenient explanation for decisions that were already going to happen.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has criticised companies for "AI washing" layoffs they had already planned.HR analyst Josh Bersin makes a similar point. He argues that citing AI often reassures investors that management is becoming more efficient, when the company may simply be correcting previous over-hiring.Businesses have always loved fashionable language.Remember when every strategy was about benchmarking, rightsizing, re-engineering, digital transformation or becoming "customer centric"?Today, AI dominates almost every executive conversation. Estimates suggest it appears in between 60% and 90% of boardroom discussions.Unlike most management buzzwords, however, AI is not going away.It belongs alongside genuinely transformational developments such as the Industrial Revolution, electricity, penicillin and the internet.The technology will reshape almost every industry.That does not mean every AI initiative creates value.This is where many organisations are already making expensive mistakes.They begin with AI. They should begin with the business.The first question is not:"Where can we use AI?" It is:"What is preventing this business from growing?"Only then should AI become part of the solution.Growth constraints may sit in customer acquisition, operations, procurement, pricing, forecasting, compliance, product development or decision-making.Sometimes AI will dramatically improve them. Sometimes it won't.Technology should never determine strategy.Strategy should determine technology.This is exactly why so many AI projects disappoint.Companies buy tools before understanding the problem.They automate broken processes.They accelerate poor decisions.They implement AI department by department instead of redesigning the entire business model.McKinsey recently observed that while AI adoption continues to accelerate, relatively few organisations have fundamentally redesigned how work gets done. The same pattern emerged at this year's Cannes Lions Festival. Around 60% of marketing professionals now use AI several times a week, yet only about 10% have fundamentally redesigned their workflows to create meaningful business advantage.Technology is rarely the constraint.The operating model is.Successful AI implementation is therefore far less about software than leadership.It requires executives to rethink processes, roles, decision rights, customer journeys, supplier relationships, information flows and collaboration across functions.Most importantly, it requires investment in people.AI does not replace capability. It amplifies capability.The organisations that will outperform over the next decade will not necessarily own the best AI. They will ask better questions.They will identify the right business constraints.They will redesign how people and technology work together.Because the future is not AI versus humans.It is humans using AI better than their competitors.The obvious thing is how can AI improve productivity.The more relevant issue is how can AI improve company in innovation, products, services, and competitiveness..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here. Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

Dr Brand: The real AI failure? It's not the technology — It's the thinking

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