Have your employees become AI “middleware”?
(Watch the video summary or read the full article below.)
AI was supposed to make work simpler.
But in some organisations, people are spending more time stitching systems together than actually using them. The strange part? It can still feel productive while it’s happening.
Are your people becoming the link between your systems?
AI is helping businesses and schools save time. Emails can be drafted faster, reports summarised in seconds and information made easier to work with.
But there can be a downside. When systems don’t connect properly, people often end up filling the gaps.
They download information from one system and upload it into another. They copy and paste data between applications. They add extra context to AI tools, check the results and then move the finished work somewhere else.
In effect, people become the connection between systems that should be talking to each other.
This is sometimes described as human middleware.
The hidden cost of disconnected technology
It might only take a few minutes each time, but these small tasks quickly add up.
For a business, that could mean staff spending time moving customer, financial or operational information between systems rather than dealing with customers or getting work done.
In a school, it could mean staff moving pupil, curriculum or administrative information between different platforms when the systems don’t work together as smoothly as they should.
The technology may appear to be making things faster, while creating extra work behind the scenes.
And because each task is relatively small, it can be difficult to spot how much time is actually being lost.
AI isn’t always the problem
The answer isn’t necessarily to stop using AI.
In many cases, the AI tool is doing exactly what it was designed to do. The bigger issue is how it fits into your wider technology environment.
Before adding another AI tool or automation, it’s worth looking at:
- Where does your data live?
- Which systems need to share information?
- How much work still relies on copying and pasting?
- Are people regularly checking or correcting information between systems?
- Do your existing applications integrate properly?
- Are you adding new tools without reviewing the processes around them?
These questions matter whether you’re running a business, managing a school or supporting a wider education trust.
Make technology reduce work, not create it
Technology should help your people spend more time on the work that matters.
For businesses, that might mean serving customers, making decisions or growing the organisation.
For schools, it might mean giving teachers and support staff more time to focus on pupils and education.
If your people are constantly switching between applications, correcting AI outputs or manually moving information around, it could be time to look at the bigger picture.
Are your systems actually saving your people time, or have they quietly created another layer of work?
A review of your IT environment, systems and processes can help identify where technology is creating unnecessary workload and where better integration or a different approach could make a real difference.
Need a fresh view of your IT?
Get in touch:
☎️ Camb: 01223 209920 | London: 020 3519 0124
☎️ Suffolk: 0144 059 2163 | Sheffield: 0114 349 8054