{"id":174893,"date":"2026-11-10T14:29:31","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T20:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?p=174893"},"modified":"2026-11-10T14:29:53","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T20:29:53","slug":"obstacles-to-business-automation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/business-innovation\/obstacles-to-business-automation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Biggest Obstacle to Automating Businesses is not Technology, But the Way They are Organized"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To optimize a supply chain, artificial intelligence<\/a> (AI) recommendations might allow a company’s transportation department to choose a cheaper route to reduce costs. However, if this route is less reliable, the inventory department would have to stockpile more products to prevent shortages. Each department is fulfilling its responsibilities, but the overall result remains inefficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although technological advances and mathematical optimization allow for the automation of complex decisions, the biggest obstacles to implementing these changes are related to decisions, organizational processes, and data management, rather than algorithms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, companies tend to optimize their inventory, transportation, demand, and production systems separately. But while each may function correctly, the decisions they make don’t necessarily benefit the entire organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost of what stands between a good model and a working system right now si not the model itself,” said Russell Allgor<\/a>, Chief Supply Chain Scientist at Augur and a member of the National Academy of Engineering<\/a> (NAE), during the event organized by Tec de Monterrey and NAE<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his lecture From Fragile to Resilient Automation<\/em>, Allgor explained that the biggest challenges to automating a company’s operations are not necessarily in the technology, but in how people organize themselves to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When implementing automation, the expert believes that human involvement is not eliminated, but rather shifted toward decisions that require greater judgment and oversight. (Photo: Tecnol\u00f3gico de Monterrey)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Four Obstacles to Automation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Based on research from the Global Supply Chain Institute, Allgor \u2014who worked for more than 24 years developing decision-making systems at Amazon\u2014 identified four main challenges that prevent leveraging AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n