This Is How Business Gets Built Now: With Systems, Speed and Smart People in the Loop

An honest look at how automation is reshaping business and why it’s not about replacing humans, but finally putting them where they matter most.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s really changing in business right now.

Not in the abstract. Not in VC decks or tech trend reports.

But on the ground, in how I’m currently structuring my own company, and in the companies I talk to and collaborate with.

There’s a clear pattern.

The businesses that are thriving right now are doing less, better.
They’re working with fewer people, sharper tools, and faster systems that actually work.
And they’re not wasting time trying to optimise processes that should’ve been replaced altogether.

They’ve quietly redesigned how companies are structured and how work gets done.

They’re not shouting about AI.
They’re using it.
Not to sound modern, but to actually run lean, fast, and intentionally - to win.

And when I look at what’s working, it’s not a tech trend.
It’s a mindset shift. And it’s glorious.

From Busy Teams to Smart Systems

The real transformation isn’t about speeding up what you already do with AI.
It’s about asking a harder question:

If we were building this business from scratch today, what would it look like?

The teams that are pulling ahead aren’t just more productive - they’re more deliberate.

They don’t start with “Who do we need to hire?”
They start with “What should be automated?”
Then: “Where do we still need a human - and where do we not?”

In the old model, we built systems around people.
Now we build systems, and place people inside them with intent.

That’s the shift.

Rebuilding the Workflow: A Simple Example

We saw this play out at Vibrancy with something as boring (but important) as invoice handling.

Before?
It was chaos.
Invoices showed up in Slack threads, inboxes, random shared drives - no consistency, no visibility, and way too many pings.
Someone had to manually track them, rename files, update spreadsheets, and chase people for missing info.

It wasn’t broken. But it was slow. And it pulled smart people into dumb work.

So we redesigned the process entirely.

Now:

An automation watches our inbox
When it spots an invoice, it logs the details
Our finance agent files it properly
And drops it into a shared tracker for the finance lead to glance at (only if needed)

Nothing flashy.
Just one simple, thoughtful system.

But it eliminated hours of back-and-forth and gave us cleaner ops overnight.

The best part?
The humans now spend their time improving how it works - not keeping it working.

That’s not just automation.
That’s leverage.

So Where Does That Leave Us?

When you build a business around systems, it changes how value gets measured.

You don’t get points for staying busy.
You don’t get rewarded for doing things the hard way.

You’re valuable when your input actually improves the outcome - when you make the system faster, smarter, or smoother for everyone else.

It’s not about what you do.
It’s about how you design the work to happen without you.

That’s true whether you’re just getting started, leading a team, or writing the code behind it all.

So if you’re wondering what actually matters now - this is it.

If You’re Early in Your Career

Being proactive isn’t enough anymore - that’s the minimum.

If you want to stand out, start thinking like this:

What tasks do I repeat every week? Can I automate any of them?
What’s slowing the team down that I could fix with a small system or tool?
Can I use AI to get to a first draft faster - emails, reports, posts, summaries?
Is there a way to build something once that saves everyone time every day?

You don’t need to know how to code.
You just need to be the one who looks at boring work and says,
"There has to be a better way — and I’ll figure it out."

That mindset will get you noticed.
And if you build it early, it compounds.

If You’re Experienced

Your experience still matters — maybe more than ever.
But only if you apply it in new ways.

The old way of leading — being across everything, managing people, holding things together by force of habit — doesn’t scale anymore.
It’s too slow. Too reactive. Too fragile.

The best senior operators I know right now?
They’re not drowning in meetings.
They’re redesigning the runway.

They’re:

Working side-by-side with technical people — not just handing them a list of requirements
Staying curious about what’s possible with AI and automation — even if it’s outside their comfort zone
Removing friction from the system — not adding layers to manage it
Letting go of tasks, but staying close to outcomes

They’re not just managing people.
They’re managing the architecture of how things get done.

And here’s what I believe:
These people - the ones with real operational experience and the willingness to rethink everything will be the top 5%.

They’ll be the human-in-the-loop operators at the end of powerful, automated workflows.
The final decision-makers. The ones who know when to step in and when to stay out of the way.

But here’s the challenge:
That experience only works if it’s paired with technical fluency.

If you’re in this group and you can’t speak the language of AI, automation, and systems design you’re already behind.
You don’t need to become an engineer.
But you do need to understand how this new machine works and where your insight fits inside it.

Upskill now.
Partner with technical talent.
Learn fast.
Because this wave is moving, and the people who can’t adapt to it will get filtered out.

The Mindset Shift: From Doing the Work to Designing the System

This is the biggest shift happening right now — and the one most people are missing.

In the old model, your value came from how well you executed.
You ticked off tasks. You worked hard. You stayed late. You delivered.

But in the new model?

That’s not the game anymore.

Now it’s about how well you design systems that deliver — with or without you.

Here’s the shift:

It’s not about doing more.
It’s about doing less and getting a better result because the system is doing the heavy lifting.

You go from being a cog in the machine.
To the one who designs the machine.

And when that clicks everything changes.
You suddenly see where the drag is. Where the duplication is. Where time gets wasted.
And you stop accepting it.

This mindset isn’t about learning a tool.
It’s about seeing the work differently and choosing to solve the real problem, not just complete the next task.

That’s the edge now.That’s what makes people stand out and systems scale.

The Gap Between Hype and Reality

If you spend five minutes online, you’d think AI has already reinvented everything.

“Built in a weekend.”
“No team, just prompts.”
“$20M exit with zero ops.”

It all sounds effortless. Instant. Like the future is already here.

But step into most actual businesses?

Spreadsheets are still holding critical processes together
Teams are emailing PDFs back and forth like it’s 2009
Founders are buried in admin that should’ve been automated months ago

That’s the reality.

There’s a huge gap between what the internet says is happening…
And what’s actually happening on the ground.

And right now, the people who can close that gap are the ones who turn ideas into real systems that run clean, fast, and quiet - those are the people who win.

They’re not just playing with AI.
They’re using it to actually run the business better.

If you can do that - build things that make work smoother, faster, and less manual - you're not just ahead.

You're exactly who everyone’s looking for right now.

Where I See It Going

Here’s what I believe we’re about to see a lot more of and what we’re already building toward at Vibrancy:

We’ll see more high-level, fractional operators - not full-time hires drowning in meetings, but sharp, fractional operators working across multiple businesses. Each backed by automation. Each sitting on top of well-oiled systems that do 80% of the heavy lifting.

We’ll see service businesses run like product companies - designed around precision, not headcount.
The operator handles the edge cases and makes the key decisions.
The system handles everything else.

We’ll see founders who are technically fluent. Not necessarily coders, but people who understand how AI, automation, and data flow fit together. And if they’re not technical? They’ll be smart enough to partner closely with someone who is.

We’ll see lean teams doing what used to take 50 people, with fewer handoffs, fewer blockers, and way more velocity.

Because here’s the truth: execution speed is becoming the edge.
Not budget. Not scale. Not org charts.
Just speed, clarity, and systems that actually work.

In this new model:

The operator isn’t buried in work - they’re designing how work flows
The business doesn’t grind forward - it moves clean, fast, and intentional
The team isn’t huge - but the output is

It’s not just more efficient.
It’s more sustainable.
It’s how the next generation of companies will be built by default.

And it’s already happening. Quietly. Under the surface.
With a handful of teams who’ve stopped trying to optimise the old model and instead started building a new one from scratch.

That’s where we’re headed.

What You Can Do Next

If you’re figuring all this out too - you’re not behind.
But now’s the time to move.

Here’s where I’d start:

Learn the tools — not just ChatGPT, but agents, RAGs, automation platforms like Make or Zapier. Get your hands dirty.
Pick one process and rebuild it — something small, like how you track invoices, handle outreach, or report weekly numbers.
Pay attention to how you work — not just what you’re doing, but how it's getting done.
Systemise anything you repeat — if you’ve done it three times, you can probably automate it.
Spend your time on the bits only you can do — the judgment, the relationships, the high-leverage thinking.
Find people who think this way too — fast-moving, practical, systems-first collaborators. It makes everything easier.

Don’t wait for someone to hand you a playbook.
Start building your own.

That’s how this shift happens. One decision, one workflow, one improvement at a time.

This Isn’t a Phase. It’s the New Standard.

This shift isn’t about AI taking over.

It’s about work getting redesigned by people who are paying attention.

The ones who understand systems, speed, and when to step in with real judgment?

They won’t just keep up.
They’ll lead.

I believe the operators of the future will be tech-enabled by default.

We’ll see more service businesses run by experienced, human-in-the-loop professionals, backed by well-oiled systems built for speed and scale.

They’ll bring domain knowledge and adaptability.
The systems behind them will bring power and precision.

That’s who we are at Vibrancy.
And that’s who we want to work with.

We’re building with the ones ready to leave behind bloated ops and build something sharper, faster, and infinitely more intentional.

This isn’t a phase.
It’s a new standard.

And we’re designing for it now.

Linda Eriksson

I fuse my passion for AI and software innovation with a deep understanding of market trends, shaping the future of tech-driven business growth with a human touch.

This Is How Business Gets Built Now: With Systems, Speed and Smart People in the Loop

Linda Eriksson

Ready to transform your venture with AI and Automation?