If It Takes AI Minutes, Was It Ever Worth Doing?

As a contractor and a leader, I’m sometimes handed tasks from outside organizations that just don’t feel essential. They usually take the shape of a form or a spreadsheet — and my first thought is almost always the same: this information already exists somewhere else. The data lives in other documents. The ask is redundant. The task is a waste of time and resources.

So I’ll try to say that — diplomatically, non-confrontationally. I’ll explain that this feels like a non-essential task.

And almost every time, the response is: “Just delegate it.”

That’s where I have to push back.

Delegation isn’t a trash can for busywork. It’s a tool for distributing crucial work that you can’t handle alone. If I’m telling you the task is redundant, the answer isn’t to hand it to someone else — the answer is to ask whether it needs to be done at all. Don’t push busywork down the line. Trust your leaders to know what’s worth doing.

But here’s what that response also tells me: the organization is rigid. Inflexible. More committed to the process than the purpose.

So I do what makes sense. I delegate it — to my AI agent, who finishes the task in minutes.

And that’s the quiet disruption happening in workplaces right now. Tasks that organizations treat as necessary — that consume human time, energy, and attention — are being absorbed by AI without a second thought. If a job can be reduced to filling out redundant forms, it will be automated.

The path forward is simple, even if it isn’t easy: develop work that AI can’t replicate, become skilled at using AI as a tool, or be so remarkable at what you do that you’re irreplaceable. Because “just delegate it” is no longer a safe answer — and neither is doing the work on autopilot.

When an organization insists on tasks that feel redundant or purposeless, what does that tell you about their culture — and how do you decide when to push back versus adapt ?