Reading about organizations buying AI SRE tools they aren't ready to use reminds me of something happening right in my house. My daughter fights sleep every night despite being exhausted, and companies are doing the exact same thing with AI.
Just like my toddler needs structure before she can actually sleep through the night, organizations need operational maturity before AI tools deliver value. The article mentions 80% of AI projects fail due to "Runbook Debt" – essentially, teams trying to automate processes that are broken to begin with.
I've seen this pattern repeatedly with SE teams. They want the shiny AI-powered incident response tool, but their current runbooks are outdated, their monitoring is inconsistent, and their escalation paths are unclear. It's like trying to teach a kid to ride a bike when they can't even walk properly yet.
The hard truth? AI amplifies your existing operational discipline – or lack thereof. If your team struggles with manual incident response, adding AI won't magically fix that. It'll just automate your chaos faster.
Before implementing any AI tooling, I ask teams: Can you consistently execute your current processes manually? Do your runbooks actually work? Can junior team members follow them without constant guidance?
Just like sleep training requires establishing bedtime routines first, successful AI implementation requires operational fundamentals.
What broken process is your team trying to AI-automate instead of fixing properly first?