It is time to address the great misalignment in business transformation! I recently sat in a meeting with a group of technical teams, attended by some of the biggest tech companies today. The room was filled with software engineers, vendors and a few creative professionals. They were all eager to share the latest cloud management methods. An hour passed. Then another.
For two hours, the discussion centered on architectures, integrations and customer experience. While the content was relatable to us all, there was virtually no discussion about the business. Only at the end did someone point out that the success of all these solutions depended on business approval. It was an important observation, but it was quickly brushed aside. The final Q&A went back to discussing technical details before concluding with a talk on creativity.
The experience was both brilliant and disappointing. Brilliant, because the engineers showed that they had the technical ability and a personal goal to be creative. However, it was disappointing because, in two hours, not a single business problem had been solved.
This raises an uncomfortable but important question: Are many technical and creative roles still aligned with the business?
Companies are noticing. More and more, business leaders are asking tough questions about the relevance of certain roles. If the business can run profitably without them, were they ever essential in the first place?
The misplaced blame on AI
It’s easy to point the finger at artificial intelligence (AI) for today’s disruption in the tech workforce. After all, AI is changing how coding, analysis and even project management are done. Entire categories of tasks are being automated. Advocates argue that workers will inevitably be replaced, while critics frame it as the next wave of technological unemployment. Recent surveys have shown that employee optimism is fading.
The 2024 Glassdoor survey revealed that employee confidence has dropped to 45.6 percent, the lowest it’s been since 2016. However, AI, tariffs and layoffs don’t explain the whole story.
Companies that have downsized over the past few years are still operating profitably. Many have displayed resilience even after reducing thousands of jobs. Despite the uncertainty, the famous FAANG companies have achieved revenue growth, appearing on TIME’s World’s Best Companies of 2025. Companies outside of tech, such as JP Morgan (Finance), Allianz (Insurance), Nike (Sporting Goods) and Novo Nordisk (Chemicals) also made the list.
The reality is that firms have proven they can do “more with less.” AI or macroeconomic conditions are not the only factors contributing to job disruption. They have, however, led companies to question the value of certain jobs.
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The rise of “non-business” tech jobs
Over the recent decade, we’ve seen an explosion of creative new job titles in the tech sector. Browse any career site and you’ll see positions filled with words like enablement, innovation, alignment, experience, design, accelerators and success. Even more striking is how these roles lean towards a form of religion. You’ll often hear a designer preach authenticity, empathy and creativity.
While these qualities have their place, these creative roles often drift far from solving any business problem. They are neither professional artists nor business people. If all they offer is creativity, they have not attracted interest from art critics. If they are offering something valuable to a company, we’re yet to see their impact on sales and growth.
Instead of starting with a business problem and finding the right technical solution, many of these roles have resorted to performing arts. It’s like an amateur painter creating an abstract piece and then assuming it must add value to the company because it looks impressive. Without a grounding in business outcomes, the creative workers end up as drama teachers selling something out of context.
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Being analytical for the sake of being analytical
Even traditional technical roles, such as business analysts and project managers, have been criticized for having questionable impact. Historically, these professions thrived on sharp analytical thinking, evaluating data, identifying insights and structuring decisions. Somewhere along the way, the meaning of “analysis” shifted. Instead of uncovering new insights, much of it has become repetitive reporting: collecting, documenting and recycling information without adding much value.
The problem is compounded by the emphasis on being “more artistic” or “more technical.” Both approaches miss the mark. Neither artistry for its own sake nor hyper-technical detail guarantees relevance if business problems remain unsolved.
The technology industry has always experienced cycles of boom and bust. From the dot-com bubble to the recent AI surge, waves of hiring and layoffs are nothing new. What is new, however, is the growing realization that some jobs may not need to come back at all.
The disruption we’re seeing is not simply the result of AI, automation or economic downturns. It’s a deeper structural issue: a mismatch between the roles being created and the business problems companies need solved.
Check your aim
For years, the corporate mantra has been to find employees who blend creative and analytical traits, the “best of both worlds.” Yet the current state of the workforce suggests that this ideal may be misguided.
Analysis without insight devolves into repetitive reporting, adding noise rather than clarity. Creativity without business grounding drifts into theatre, producing workshops and “innovation sessions” that inspire but fail to deliver results.
Both are missing the target. Worse still, companies have proven they can operate without many of these roles altogether. The lesson is clear: being more artistic or more technical is not the answer. If organizations want to close the talent gap between technology and business, they must challenge what they are trying to solve. A few guiding principles can help:
- Start with the business problem. Every role should have a direct line of sight to a problem worth solving, whether it’s reducing costs, increasing revenue, managing risk or improving customer experience.
- Measure contribution, not random actions. Two hours of technical discussions and drama classes are only valuable if they move the needle on business outcomes. Reporting metrics must shift from volume of work to impact delivered.
- Integrate, don’t isolate. Tech teams must operate as partners with business leaders, not as isolated units pursuing technical perfection.
- Challenge role inflation. Companies should resist the urge to create new titles filled with buzzwords. Instead, they should consolidate around roles that demonstrably deliver value.
The tech industry is no stranger to disruption, but today’s turbulence cannot be explained solely by AI or economic conditions. The deeper issue lies in the growing misalignment between certain roles and the business problems companies face.
The true measure of success is not how technical or creative someone appears, but how directly they contribute to solving a real business problem. In the professional world at least, technology and creative pursuits must improve the business, not the other way around.