Implementing AI in the IT Department
(Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash)
I stumbled across another excellent article about using AI in the IT department. It’s written from the perspective of an IT manager who has walked the complicated path of integrating AI tools into their team’s workflows without losing sight of the human side of tech.
This wasn’t one of those doom-and-gloom “AI is going to take your job” pieces, nor was it a hype-fueled sales pitch trying to convince leadership that AI is the silver bullet for cutting costs. It’s a practical, grounded discussion from someone clearly in the trenches, juggling staff dynamics, user expectations, and infrastructure realities all at once.
I completely agree with the author’s take that AI can be a genuinely useful, time-saving tool for IT teams. However, it’s not a magic wand, and it can’t replace the knowledge and experience of a seasoned network engineer.
Take documentation, for example. Say your company just rolled out new time-tracking software that everyone’s expected to use. Sure, AI can help you crank out the first draft of a user guide, but you still need someone who understands the system, how your company plans to use it, and who the end users are to work with the AI system to customize and revise the documentation for the company's needs. That human layer is what turns a generic AI-produced draft into something that’s actually helpful.
The same goes for reviewing logs or drafting automation scripts. AI isn't better than people at these tasks. It’s just faster at completing the boring, repetitive stuff so your team can focus on the work that really requires skill and judgment.
What really impressed me was how the article tackled the very real fears around AI. Will it replace jobs? Can we trust it? What happens if teams start relying on it too much and let their core skills slide? The “Potential Drawbacks and Mitigation Strategies” section doesn’t gloss over any of that. It gives practical, honest advice on where to use AI, where to slow down, and how to keep people, and their expertise, experience, and knowledge, at the center of it all.
If you’re in IT, especially in a leadership role, this article is worth your time. It not only hands you a perfect implementation roadmap, but also asks the right questions to help you calm your staff (and leadership's) concerns.