Business Analysis for Artificial Intelligence

Welcome back to The Corner!

Fabrício Laguna (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Michael Augello (Melbourne, Australia) serve our profession in some really valuable ways, including in the background, acting as part-time Senior Advisers with me. They help me stay connected to our large and dispersed global community, work quietly with some of our partners on challenges and opportunities they’re facing, and serve as a “sounding board” for our work at times.

Earlier this year, we started discussing the idea presented below. Essentially, it’s that we might be overlooking an important AI question, potentially the most important question, at least in the business analysis community! So, I asked them to do some thinking and writing about it, which we could then publish here.

I believe they raise some critically important issues and challenge us to shift our mindset as AI continues to develop. Some recent publishing (Ethan Mollick’s post in oneusefulthing.org on July 28, “The Bitter Lesson versus the Garbage Can” or Apple Machine Learning Research’s June 2025 paper, “The Illusion of Thinking: Understanding the Strengths and Limitations of Reasoning Models via the Lens of Problem Complexity," to name just two) illustrates the complexity underneath our work in an AI tools world.

We don’t necessarily need to be experts in the technology. The depth of that need is a function of our context. But I believe all of us do need to understand how it will influence the outcomes we’re working to support and the quality of our craft if we are to do our best work.

— Delvin

BA4AI

Now is the time to act and answer the call for leadership.

Artificial intelligence is already everywhere. It recognizes our faces to unlock our mobile phones, selects what we see on social media, predicts traffic, plans our commute, and even suggests improvements as we write this article. AI applications are becoming increasingly common, simplifying daily tasks and optimizing decisions, often without us even realizing the complexity behind the scenes.

How businesses operate has already been radically transformed, and new changes will be implemented exponentially. In our community, there’s growing concern about how AI is transforming the work of business analysis practitioners. A series of AI4BA (artificial intelligence for business analysis) publications and training programs show how we can use this new technology to increase productivity and quality.

The motto is: AI may not replace you, but if you don’t use it, you’ll be replaced by someone who does. So, hurry up and start doing business analysis using some form of AI.

This concern isn’t necessarily bad, but it might be missing a crucial point.

While many are asking, How can I use AI to become a better business analyst?, the real question we should be asking is, How can business analysis shape the way AI is adopted in our organizations and society?

That’s the shift—AI4BA to BA4AI.

AI4BA = How AI can make business analysis more efficient.
BA4AI = How business analysis can drive responsible and strategic usage of AI.

The Problem of Asking the Wrong Question

Caught in the wave of innovation, many organizations are investing in artificial intelligence driven more by the fear of being left behind than by a real understanding of their own problems. Having an AI strategy has become more important than having a business strategy. This is a classic trap: believing that technology itself is the answer—without even knowing what the right question is.

We’ve seen this movie before. It happened with Big Data, Blockchain, and even with ERP systems in the early 2000s. Companies spent fortunes implementing these technologies without a clear view of their goals or a shared understanding of what problem they were trying to solve. The result? Massive, expensive projects that often delivered little or no return. Sophisticated solutions looking for problems instead of solving them.

Investing in AI without understanding the context, business objectives, and real stakeholder needs is like buying a Ferrari to drive on an unpaved road: it may impress, but it won’t take you very far.

Stop the World, I Want to Get Off!

The rapid adoption of AI has created an environment of uncertainty and widespread anxiety, affecting both executives and employees. Executives struggle to prioritize investments, while employees feel insecure about the role of humans in the future of work. No one truly understands the long-term impact of AI.

Despite these doubts, waiting to see what happens before deciding isn’t an option. Standing still means being left behind. No one wants to become the next Kodak or Blockbuster. Changes must be implemented even in an environment of uncertainty and complexity.

Organizations know they can’t wait, as the pace of change is too fast. Yet acting without clarity can be just as dangerous.

Running Fast in the Dark Without a Flashlight

Driven by the pressure to innovate, many companies are rushing ahead with AI initiatives—possibly without fully understanding the terrain. In doing so, they risk missing the real destination, falling into the trap of chasing shiny solutions instead of solving meaningful problems.

This isn’t a failure of intent but rather a failure of vision. What’s missing is guidance, a way to light the path forward while still moving at speed.

Who You Gonna Call?

There are professionals capable of bridging the gap between AI and business objectives with clarity, and they might be closer than you think: they are business analysis professionals and, in fact, many of you reading this right now!

A business analysis professional has the expertise to facilitate collaboration between technology and stakeholders, ensuring that solutions are developed with a clear focus on value and the desired outcomes. With the ability to see the big picture while connecting it to the details, these professionals are essential for avoiding wasted resources and increasing the effectiveness of innovation and change initiatives.

Navigating With a Compass

Business analysis must take on formal and informal leadership roles in AI initiatives within organizations to:

• Better direct investments, maximizing returns
• Develop solutions that truly meet the needs of the market, customers, and society

Executives and employees must be trained to develop knowledge in both business analysis and AI, ensuring a well-founded and effective digital transformation. In this regard, business analysis professionals can lead their colleagues and show them the way by employing critical thinking, problem-solving, and an understanding of value, among other skills.

The Destination

AI is not the final destination. Rather, it’s a powerful tool that needs to be strategically directed to take us where we want to go. Business analysis plays a fundamental role in this journey, ensuring that technological transformations are conducted responsibly, with a positive impact and an attentive eye on future opportunities.

AI initiatives must be handled with rigour and rationality, minimizing uncertainty through low-risk experiments and continuous incremental learning. Incremental delivery methods must be used without losing sight of broad objectives and interests—those of businesses, their teams, and society.

A fundamental concept of the BA4AI approach is the opportunity for business analysis professionals to become and be seen as strategic enablers. This is a call for our community to turn the opportunity into reality. 

Keeping pace with the global AI surge is simply staying afloat. What we’re proposing is that business analysis professionals take the lead and show the way forward to ensure we march in the right direction.

Now is the time to act and answer the call for leadership. Because business analysis isn’t just about adapting to the future—it’s also about designing it.

BA4AI!