Insights
Kaizen in the Age of AI
Continuous improvement does not become obsolete when the tools get stronger. It becomes more important.
Seth SagerJanuary 20, 20266 min read
Lean and Kaizen
Kaizen is not a workshop format. It is a habit: see the work, remove friction, standardize what works, look again.
New tools do not replace that habit. They raise the cost of skipping it. A poorly designed process connected to a capable system will produce waste at a higher rate, with more confidence, and with less visibility.
The loop is the same
- See: go to the gemba. Watch how the work actually happens.
- Simplify: remove steps, clarify ownership, define the outcome.
- Build: connect data, documents, software, and people into a working system.
- Learn: measure the result, find the next constraint, repeat.
Improvement never stops. The tools change. The discipline does not.
Used this way, models and automation become part of the standard work — not a side project, and not a substitute for understanding the floor.
What process does your team hate doing?
If a process takes too long, requires repetitive work, depends on scattered information, or repeatedly creates problems, it may be a good place to start.