Stop optimizing the chaos. Fix the system.
Bill Gallagher. Illustration: Inc.; Photos: Courtesy subject; Adobe Stock
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You invested in the software, unleashed the AI agents, and bought into the promise of getting your time back. Instead, the tools meant to free you up have left you busier than ever. What went wrong?
Bill Gallagher understands exactly why this happens. He spent more than 40 years as an executive and grew two different startups from zero to past $550 million in revenue. Today, he coaches leaders across 39 cities in 18 countries. He also happens to be the father of a prominent AI scientist at Anthropic. The dinner table conversations at his house revolve entirely around how technology impacts human productivity. He knows what the absolute frontier of intelligence looks like.
He recently published a new book titled Busy Is Broken. During a recent conversation, he shared a brutal truth about modern leadership.
Busyness is not a time problem. It is a system problem. If your underlying business structure is broken, AI simply runs that broken system much faster.
Refreshed leadership advice from CEO Stephanie Mehta
Stop becoming a software manager
Founders naturally want to do everything themselves. New tools make this dangerous habit significantly worse.
Gallagher noted that if you use an automated agent to handle your own bookkeeping, you are still operating in an area you should not touch. You did not actually solve your capacity problem. You just gave yourself a new job as a software manager.
The secret is not finding the perfect productivity application. The secret is redesigning the actual system that produces the chaos you constantly manage. You have to undergo a massive psychological shift. You must transition from the driven individual who started the company to the leader who builds a team that solves problems.