The Train with the Empty Driver's Cab

Read time: 4 mins

Welcome back everyone 👋

This week's Automation Playbook covers:

🚉 Why your business doesn't have an AI adoption problem (your train is already moving)

💸 The hidden cost of sitting in separate carriages

🚘 Who is currently sitting in your driver's seat?

Let's get into it 👇

Just this morning, I was on a call with an existing client who is moving at a serious pace. 

On the surface, they were hitting painful friction downstream in their development cycle.

But when we looked closer, it wasn’t a downstream technical issue at all. 

It was an upstream process problem.

When I see this in scaling businesses, it is usually a symptom of what I recently learnt is called a “growth tax”.

They were juggling multiple data points across different tools, with no single source of truth. 

As they had scaled, complexity had quietly taken over.

Proving once again that simplicity is so often sacrificed at the expense of growth.

During our conversation, I paused and put two simple questions to them:

Before you start to automate these processes out of your business:

What would the best in the world look like?

What would the simplest process in the world look like?

Those two questions completely reframed the problem. 

Before you write a line of code or build an automation, you have to get the underlying process right first.

Which leads us nicely into today’s topic…

Why your business doesn't have an AI adoption problem (your train is already moving)

The AI train analogy has been around a while.

A quick Gemini search returned the following:

The phrase "the AI train" most commonly refers to a popular metaphor describing the rapid, unstoppable growth and adoption of artificial intelligence in business and society.

There is a lot of talk about businesses being stuck on the platform, and the train has left the station.

I think that metaphor worked in 2024.

3 weeks ago today (a long time in AI), something niggled at me after AI Transform 2026.

It was not a talk.

It was a conversation with a very well-connected delegate who told me:

"Let’s chat in four weeks. Then we can plan for 2027. We are a very slow organisation."

On the surface, it sounded like hesitation. 

But when I asked him what his team was doing day-to-day, the truth came out.

His consultants were already using AI tools every single day.

They were pasting meeting transcripts into personal accounts, writing emails with secret prompts, and keeping scattered notes.

They were not stood on the platform waiting for permission. 

The train was already moving at pace.

Nugget #1: You rarely have an AI adoption problem. You have an unsteered train.

The hidden cost of sitting in separate carriages

Your team taking the initiative to use these tools is a brilliant sign. 

It shows curiosity and a desire to work smarter.

But when everyone uses AI in isolation, it is like a train where everyone sits in separate carriages. 

The connecting doors are locked, and each person stares out their own window.

In separate carriages:

• The same operational problem gets solved five different ways.

• Valuable know-how walks out the door whenever a staff member leaves.

• Sensitive client data quietly sits in personal accounts nobody has checked.

There is a world of difference between individual adoption and true integration. 

Adoption is asking a chat window for a summary in isolation.

Integration is building a shared, secure setup where AI actually does the task for the entire team.

The human in the loop is the overseer.

The strategist and the reviewer.

Nugget #2: Isolated AI usage creates shadow risk. Shared AI integration creates margin.

Who is currently sitting in your driver's seat?

Driving the train does not require a massive policy document or a heavy handbook.

It just takes one driver, a shared setup, and clear direction.

That is why we created the Fractional Chief AI Officer service.

One day a month, I step into your business to take the driver's seat. 

We look at where AI is already being used in secret, unlock the carriage doors, and turn isolated prompts into a secure, automated workflow.

Here is what that single day achieves:

We audit where AI is already used in personal accounts and bring it into a safe, shared environment.

We pick the single task costing you the most hours and build a proper system around it.

We establish clear guardrails so client data never leaks into free public tools.

If you are ready to put a driver in the cab, reach out to me and I will send over the details.

Nugget #3: You do not need to push your team onto the train. You just need someone to drive it.

What you can do this week

1. Ask your team openly: "Which AI tools are you already using to make your day easier?"

2. Count how many different personal accounts or secret prompts exist across your carriages.

3. Identify if anyone in your business currently owns the overall direction.

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help:

• You can check out the latest episode of the Ctrl Alt Dev podcast, where I break down what's working right now in detail with my co-host Sean Sale: Apple | Spotify | YouTube

• Need a fresh perspective? I’m here to help. Book a free audit call with me, and we’ll figure it out together.