An Unexpected Automation Journey
Episode Overview
Luke Mitchell is a UK-based IT orchestration expert who’s had a guiding hand on robust automation initiatives at some of the world’s biggest retailers. And he had no idea he’d be in that driver’s seat. In this episode, he switches to the hot seat, where Sean and Ari ask him about his career in IT automation, where he thinks this discipline is going, and how you can leverage automation to meaningfully improve experiences for employees and, ultimately, customers!
Key Takeaways
- Automation journeys often start accidentally, then accelerate fast once people see tangible impact. Luke’s path went from “side-of-desk VBA” to owning RPA simply because he mentioned it in an interview, then snowballed as the business saw real results quickly.
- Early wins matter most when they’re visible. Luke’s first big automation wasn’t a safe corner project; it hit a high-volume, leadership-visible pain point. Even when they later realized a tolerance change could have reduced tickets without automation, the initial delivery “put them on the map” and created momentum.
- Automation isn’t a silver bullet. The episode repeatedly comes back to “right solution first,” including the idea that sometimes the best outcome isn’t automation at all. It can be process design, tolerance tuning, or routing work differently so you’re not automating noise.
- Sustained momentum comes from aligning to corporate goals and reporting outcomes, not ‘just’ automations shipped. Luke describes moving from low-hanging fruit into strategic work by tying roadmaps to measurable enterprise objectives (cost, efficiency, service outcomes) and keeping execs engaged without drowning them in detail.
- Transparency is a force multiplier for change management. From building trust with business stakeholders to compressing a 90-day change process into ~3 days, Luke’s approach is consistent: bring people into the process early, show the “warts and all,” normalize learning from failure, and turn blockers into partners.
FAQ
Q: What’s an example of a successful automation that still taught the wrong lesson?
A: Luke’s first high-profile automation tackled a massive volume of tickets. It delivered enough visible impact to get leadership attention, but they realized they could have reduced tickets by changing tolerances. The win still mattered because it built credibility, sparked demand, and helped the team internalize that automation shouldn’t be the default answer.
Timestamp: 6:30–7:41
Q: How do automation teams keep momentum after the first wins?
A: By moving from “low-hanging fruit” to corporate-aligned outcomes. Luke described using early wins to earn trust, then shifting into more strategic initiatives tied to company goals (like overhead reduction or efficiency targets). Regular executive updates focused on headline results help maintain buy-in as long as the story stays outcome-driven.
Timestamp: 13:48–16:15
Q: What’s a practical way to overcome organizational blockers like slow change management?
A: Bring change into the work instead of fighting it from the outside. Luke shared an example where a 90-day change process was incompatible with shipping automations every couple of weeks. The team embedded a change consultant into their ceremonies, shared logs/screenshots, and kept full transparency. Over time, that person became fluent enough to proactively handle approvals.
Timestamp: 37:05–38:50
