AI Agents Are Creating More Work Than They Save, Says Strategist

AI was supposed to make work more efficient, right? Sol Rashidi, an AI strategist, found the opposite to be true. Instead of helping, AI agents added to her to-do list. Rashidi, who's currently the chief strategy officer at Cyera and a senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, initially ran four AI agents to make easier operations. But here's the thing: she ended up letting two of them go. They needed babysitting more than they offered help.

What's the problem? According to Rashidi, these AI assistants needed constant oversight, dragging her attention away from higher-value work. It's a story that aligns with a Glean report showing workers spend 6.4 hours a week just monitoring AI. That's almost a day's work, gone. For Rashidi, and many others, the promise of AI automation has turned into what's dubbed 'botsitting', essentially, managing the managers.

So, what's this mean for the crypto industry? It's a cautionary tale. In a field where efficiency and automation are supposed to be the backbone, the reality is more complex. The check writers are getting pickier. They want results, not hype. Rashidi's experience shows that sometimes human insight is irreplaceable, especially when AI falls short.

But not all's lost. For those eyeing AI for their startups, it’s key to question whether the tech will genuinely add value or just more tasks. As Rashidi puts it, automation shouldn't be for automation's sake. The takeaway? Be smart about when and where to use AI, because sometimes the cost outweighs the reward.