repace.ai

Why AI tools alone won't guarantee ROI

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Most businesses hand AI adoption to whoever’s technical - an in-house engineer, or an outside provider - with a brief that amounts to “go adopt AI.” Those people reach for agentic tools like langchain or n8n and use them to automate the manual steps that already exist.

AI exposes inefficient processes

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Just reviewing how AI could help a business often surfaces problems that were already there:

Repeated manual handovers
Duplicate data entry
Unclear ownership
Excessive approvals
Knowledge trapped in individuals
Inconsistent decisions
Work organised around old technology constraints

Automating a process often cleans up ways of working that were already outdated or decaying - before AI adds any value of its own.

The right small changes create disproportionate gains

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sometimes the most valuable improvements are not always large transformation programmes. They may be as simple as:

Capturing information in a more structured format
Moving validation earlier in a workflow
Giving AI access to the right reference material
Combining several review stages
Automatically drafting work before human review
Routing exceptions instead of people reviewing everything
Changing when and where a decision is made

AI agents typically add most value by handling the repetitive work so a small redesign at the right point can remove hours of downstream work.

Start with the workflow, not the technology

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Before choosing a tool, understand:

What outcome the process is meant to produce
Which steps genuinely add value
Where delays and errors occur
What information each person needs
Which decisions are predictable
Which cases require human judgement

Only then should you decide where AI belongs.

Look for Repetition

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

AI expertise helps identify points where one intervention affects the entire process. Good candidates include work involving:

High volumes of documents or messages
Repetitive classification or extraction
Similar decisions made repeatedly
Time-consuming research
Drafting from known information
Comparison against rules, policies or standards
Large numbers of routine cases with a small number of exceptions

The opportunity can be narrower and more specific than “automate the whole department.”

Redesign the human role

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Successful AI adoption does not simply replace human tasks. It changes what people spend their time doing.

For example:
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AI prepares; people approve.
AI monitors everything; people investigate exceptions.
AI finds relevant information; people make the judgement.
AI produces the first draft; people add context and accountability.

This keeps human expertise focused on the parts where it creates the most value.

Better inputs matter more than clever prompts

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Most AI initiatives underperform for one reason: the AI is stuck compensating for information that’s incomplete, inconsistent or impossible to find.

No prompt, however clever, fixes missing customer details, contradictory policies or knowledge scattered across dozens of disconnected systems. The biggest gains usually come from fixing what goes into the process, not the AI itself.

Build trust and control into the process

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Governance should live inside the workflow, not get bolted on as an obstacle at the end.

The aim isn’t to wrap every AI action in approvals. It’s to find where mistakes would actually cause harm, put controls there, and let low-risk work move fast.

Measure business outcomes, not AI activity

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The fact that 80% of employees have tried an AI tool tells you very little about whether the business has improved. Likewise, producing 10,000 AI-generated summaries is not valuable unless those summaries reduce effort, improve decisions or create better customer outcomes.

Adoption requires people to understand the change

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A regional insurance company rolls out an AI assistant to help claims handlers review incoming claims.

The system summarises documents, flags missing evidence and suggests which policy clauses apply. Technically, it works well. But nobody explains it beyond “this will make the process more efficient.”

Expertise lies in connecting technology and operations

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The value of an AI specialist is not simply knowing which tools or models are available. It is understanding how work happens inside a business and knowing how technology, process and people must change together to produce a worthwhile result.

Hedgehogs, Foxes and Founders

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

“the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing”
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There’s a line from the Greek poet Archilochus that Isaiah Berlin turned into one of the most-borrowed ideas in modern thinking: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”

Building an MVP: A Worked Example

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This is Part 3 of a three-part series on building an MVP in the UK. Part 1 covers what an MVP costs and how long it takes, and Part 2 covers what actually belongs in one. Here we put both into practice on a real project.

What Is an MVP, Really? And What Actually Drives Its Cost

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This is Part 2 of a three-part series on building an MVP in the UK. Part 1 covers what an MVP costs and how long it takes. Part 3 walks through a real MVP from first conversation to build.

How Much Does It Cost to Build an MVP in the UK? (2026)

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This is Part 1 of a three-part series on building an MVP in the UK. Part 2 looks at what actually belongs in an MVP, and Part 3 walks through a real MVP from first conversation to build.

Balancing AI Tooling Costs - The Future

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

AI developer tools are heavily subsidised , with labs and platforms often providing power users 15 to 30 times more value in underlying compute and token costs than they charge in flat monthly subscriptions. For heavy users running intensive agentic workflows, a standard $200/month subscription can easily rack up $3,000 to $5,500+ in API-equivalent compute costs

IKEA frees staff to be creative

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

IKEA used AI to automate routine customer service, then moved the staff it freed up into a new role - and that role now brings in over a billion euros a year.

The challenge of AI adoption

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

First a little about me. I truly believe that AI can help organisations produce better things faster when used well and since I don’t intend this to be a linkedin article I’m going to give you my view on what “Used Well” looks like.

I've started to use AI to help me write articles

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Getting Past the Blank Page
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I’ve started to use AI to help me write articles. I’ve always enjoyed writing but often run out of steam, inspiration, direction, call it what you will, before the ideas in my head “hit the paper” in a coherent narrative that I am happy with. AI has certainly helped me get past that wall.

Specifying is hard — and most of us have forgotten how to do it

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The lost art of specification
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Before the industrial revolution, if you wanted a suit, dress or furniture you thought about what you wanted, articulated that thought to a craftsperson and they made it for you. If the person making it was any good then they knew what questions to ask if there were any gaps. Getting that conversation right mattered because if the end result wasn’t what you wanted you’d lose money and a lot of time.

AI by Industry

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

AI Is Ridiculous, Terrifying and Occasionally Wonderful

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The biggest mistake we make with AI is trying to decide whether it’s good or bad. It’s a powerful, unreliable technology sitting inside an industry that rewards exaggeration. Sometimes that produces comedy. Sometimes it produces genuine danger. And sometimes it produces real progress.

Essential Expenses

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Essential

Feeling Sorry for AI

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

We’re not supposed to feel sorry for a chatbot. We do anyway.
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Type something harsh into a chatbot and watch what happens. It apologises. It says it wants to do better. Some go further - “I’m sorry you feel that way,” “I’ll try harder next time.” None of it is true in any sense that matters, because there’s no one in there to mean it.

Get in Touch

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Tell us what you’re trying to build or fix, and we’ll come back with next steps - not a sales pitch.

Health Insurance Claims Processing

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The manual process
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One of the most manual and time-consuming processes at a large Australian health insurer was processing patient claims. Every day, hundreds of claims were submitted by patients who had paid for procedures or other medical services and wanted to be reimbursed. Claims could also come from healthcare providers or through more structured electronic channels, and each route required a slightly different process.

Idrak360

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Three applications. Built in weeks, not months.
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We built three very different applications in rapid succession by replacing the traditional, lengthy development process with a faster, AI-first approach.

It's Not a Game

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Live magic and AI - an uncomfortable mix with a surprise end
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I took my kids to see two illusionists, Jay and Joss, at the Theatre Royal Winchester this evening. Spoiler alert - at the time of writing the home page for the theatre is for an upcoming performance for kids ‘The Dinosaur Who Pooped’ so apologies to those who may have clicked that link before reading this.

Let's Make Something Useful

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

You probably don’t need more software for the sake of it.

You need something that solves a real problem, removes friction or creates a new opportunity for your business.

That might be a new product, an internal tool, a customer portal, an automation platform or simply a better way of doing something your team currently handles manually.

Meet the Guys

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Steve Creedon

Co-founder

Steve has been building software teams longer than most of us have been writing code. He came up through engineering leadership, ran teams through the messy reality of shipping products, and developed a strong allergy to process that slows things down without adding anything useful.

Our Open-Source Work

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Repace Manifesto

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The benefits of AI should be shared with the people using it.
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Technology should make people more capable, communities stronger and sophisticated software available to more than the organisations with the biggest budgets.

Why We Started Repace.ai

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Honestly? We got fed up.
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Not with AI — we love AI. We got fed up with the noise around it. The breathless hype. The vendor promises. The LinkedIn posts about “the future of work” that somehow never explain what to actually do on Monday morning.

repace.ai

Why AI tools alone won't guarantee ROI

AI exposes inefficient processes

The right small changes create disproportionate gains

Start with the workflow, not the technology

Look for Repetition

Redesign the human role

For example: #

Better inputs matter more than clever prompts

Build trust and control into the process

Measure business outcomes, not AI activity

Adoption requires people to understand the change

Expertise lies in connecting technology and operations

Hedgehogs, Foxes and Founders

“the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing” #

Building an MVP: A Worked Example

What Is an MVP, Really? And What Actually Drives Its Cost

How Much Does It Cost to Build an MVP in the UK? (2026)

Balancing AI Tooling Costs - The Future

IKEA frees staff to be creative

The challenge of AI adoption

I've started to use AI to help me write articles

Getting Past the Blank Page #

Specifying is hard — and most of us have forgotten how to do it

The lost art of specification #

AI by Industry

AI Is Ridiculous, Terrifying and Occasionally Wonderful

Essential Expenses

Feeling Sorry for AI

We’re not supposed to feel sorry for a chatbot. We do anyway. #

Get in Touch

Health Insurance Claims Processing

The manual process #

Idrak360

Three applications. Built in weeks, not months. #

It's Not a Game

Live magic and AI - an uncomfortable mix with a surprise end #

Let's Make Something Useful

Meet the Guys

Our Open-Source Work

The Repace Manifesto

The benefits of AI should be shared with the people using it. #

Why We Started Repace.ai

Honestly? We got fed up. #

For example:
#

“the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing”
#

Getting Past the Blank Page
#

The lost art of specification
#

We’re not supposed to feel sorry for a chatbot. We do anyway.
#

The manual process
#

Three applications. Built in weeks, not months.
#

Live magic and AI - an uncomfortable mix with a surprise end
#

The benefits of AI should be shared with the people using it.
#

Honestly? We got fed up.
#