Answer extracted from the Unprompted: Real AI in IC podcast — listen to the full episode below.
Should you redesign processes for AI or bolt AI onto existing workflows?
Start with a blank sheet of paper—understand what AI can do now and what it might do in the future, then ask how to reach your goal entirely differently. Avoid bolting AI onto existing processes; instead, redesign from the ground up, which sometimes reveals that automation or a different solution altogether is the real answer, not AI.
When organizations begin their AI journey, the natural instinct is often to look at what they already do and find where AI might fit in. But as discussed in the Unprompted podcast, this approach misses the real opportunity. The shift requires letting go of established norms that dictate how work has always been structured.
Rethink the path, not just the tools
The blank sheet of paper exercise is foundational. You start by asking: what does AI enable us to do that we couldn't do before? What might it do in the next year or two? Then—and this is critical—you ask a different question: how would we do this entirely differently if we designed from scratch? This is not incremental improvement; it's fundamental redesign.
One of the paradoxes Adele McIntosh uncovered during her work at Arm, a semiconductor company with roughly 10,000 employees, is that sometimes the answer isn't AI at all. When you remove the preconception that "we need to use AI here," you might discover that automation or a completely different solution solves the problem faster, cheaper, or better. Using AI for the sake of using it is a costly mistake.
The Microsoft 2026 Work Trend Index found that 58% of AI users report producing work they could not have produced a year ago. But that leap in capability doesn't happen by accident—it happens when you fundamentally rethink the process. There's a deeper insight embedded in the podcast episode about how organizations trained and iterated on these new approaches, worth exploring the full conversation.
"You have to put time aside and put time in to learn and experiment and read and do the training and experiment again and that does take time there's no kind of shortcut to it really."
Adele McIntosh — VP of Internal Communications and Community, Arm. With over eight years at Arm, McIntosh leads internal communications and related functions for the global semiconductor design company, bringing deep experience in scaling communication strategies across organizations navigating rapid technological change.
Key takeaways
- Begin process redesign with a blank sheet of paper: understand AI's current and future capabilities before restructuring around them.
- Resist the impulse to add AI to existing workflows; instead, ask how you would solve the problem differently if building from scratch.
- Sometimes the answer is automation or an entirely different tool—using AI without that interrogation is waste.
- Genuine AI-driven outcomes require real time investment in learning, experimentation, and iteration; there are no shortcuts.
See also
How can internal communicators use AI beyond basic email writing to elevate strategic work?
Adele McIntosh uses AI as a thought partner for her team, setting up custom personas like an internal comms expert, marketing expert, and engineering expert to bring multiple perspectives to strategic challenges.
What framework does Amanda recommend for internal communicators learning about AI?
Amanda recommends the Anthropic AI Fluency course, which is free and features a framework with four Ds: direction, diligence, delegation, and discernment.
What is the relationship between AI productivity gains and strategic work in internal communications?
Amanda cautions against the common narrative that AI saving you time automatically frees you for strategic work, arguing that if you are already struggling to prioritize strategic work, an AI productivity boost alone won't solve that underlying challenge.