Send in the Clowns — The State Of Automation in 2025.
The automation space is undergoing a seismic shift, but not all is for the better. While no-code and automation platforms promise democratization and efficiency, they often create a dangerous illusion that anyone can solve complex problems by dragging and dropping nodes into a flowchart.
This oversimplification has birthed a culture of overconfidence, in which self-proclaimed "experts" sell incomplete solutions that crumble under the complexity of real life.
No — you won't use that all-in-one Telegram bot, and no, good automation doesn't start by dragging nodes. 2025 seems to have already chosen a reoccurring theme across the board, so whilst the world crumbles around us ... Let's send in the clowns.
Imagine this scenario:
You: Hey, Google. Here are the directions to the airport.
Them: Oh, that's simple. Two trains, a bus, and $200 for the home stretch taxi - It shouldn't take more than a couple hours, as long as you don't miss your connection. Don't forget to charge your pods.
Twelve hours later...
You: Shit. I'm at the wrong airport.
This is precisely what happens when we approach automation backwards. We're so fixated on the tools that we forget what problem we're trying to solve or whether it's even the right one. The elegant interface of modern automation platforms has created the illusion that complexity can be tamed by simply connecting colourful blocks.
But who is to blame? A workman or his tools?
Blinded By The Lights
It's easy to get caught up in the glitz and glamour of pay-to-win productivity: " Just one more flow, maybe the right one this time, another expert might do better, no; it's the tool that's wrong."
Many in the automation space focus on showcasing flashy workflows or selling pre-packaged solutions without understanding the underlying issues they claim to solve. The result is a frustrated business with brittle systems that fail at the first sign of an exception or edge case.
No-code platforms like Make.com or n8n hit the market as tools for everyone—accessible, easy, and empowering. To many extents, they are. They've helped me bridge the non-technical gap by speaking in a language that those outside development understand.
But their limitations are glaring:
- Lack of Customization: Pre-built nodes rarely account for unique business needs, forcing users into costly workarounds. To combat this, platforms offer a custom/community node focus which extends the platform, but to what extent?
It wouldn't be fair to say these platforms struggle with large-scale operations, making them unsuitable for growing businesses. It's just not true; n8n is a product I've followed and used since its public launch years ago, and for all the shortcomings it might have, it's a fantastic tool...
But those buildings on top of it aren't fantastic engineers. They lack the core concepts of software development, the patterns, the gotchas, and the experience of creating a scalable. These are the noobs wielding lightsabers instead of training swords.
And what about the hidden costs of no-code platforms? Subscription fees and API call expenses can spiral out of control, especially when poorly designed automation runs inefficiently. Tool sprawl is real; there's always 'just one more' API key, subscription, and more.
This often leads to frustration, as users blame the tools or themselves rather than recognizing the inherent limitations of working with these platforms.
Chaos In The Machine
The no-code revolution promised to democratize automation, but instead, it's created a playground of false solutions. Most business processes aren't neat enough to fit into pre-built nodes. They're messy, contextual, and riddled with exceptions that only humans fully understand.
Enter the Automation influencers—those YouTube gurus with polished demos—those that capitalize on this ecosystem. They sell courses, templates, and "expert" advice, but their solutions often fall apart under scrutiny:
- Edge Cases Ignored: Their workflows rarely account for real-world exceptions or dynamic business environments. Another telegram AI agent might sound like the buzzword you're missing in your life, but nine times out of ten, you need an operating procedure revamp.
- High Maintenance: These "set it and forget it" flows require constant upkeep due to API changes or evolving requirements. If you haven't built with future-proofing in mind, something that software professionals have burned into their minds, you'll have a bad time.
- Partial Vision Sold as Omniscience: They present incomplete solutions as universal answers, leaving businesses to deal with the fallout when things go wrong.
These so-called experts are the one-eyed kings in a land of the gullible, ruling over fragile kingdoms built on overpromised fixes. But what happens when that land is just a hastily scaffolded marketplace of overpriced LEGO blocks?
They don't show you the 99% of edge cases their solutions break on or the hours of maintenance their "set it and forget it" flows require.
These false monarchs rule over kingdoms built on digital sand, where citizens pay tribute in monthly subscriptions and course fees, all for the privilege of building castles that wash away with the first unexpected API change.
The True Engineers
Real engineers don't start with tools. They begin with problems. Before reaching for the shiny new automation platform, they ask: "What actually needs solving here? What's the real bottleneck? What's the human context?"
Real engineers know better. They know that automation isn't about having the biggest library of nodes or the slickest interface. It's about understanding the problem space deeply enough to know:
- What should be automated
- What shouldn't be automated
- How humans and machines should collaborate
The most elegant solution is rarely the one with the most connections. It's the one that solves the right problem, respects human content, and creates genuine value — not just the illusion of productivity.
But Doug, why are we then still riddled with these same issues despite being surrounded by devs? My engineering team can build me a stairway to the moon but my invoices still need chasing manually. Indeed, if they were as great as you suggest, you wouldn't be reading this article, searching for answers.
I can't tell you why the pendulum swings too far the other way—the reasoning is too broad. Engineers championing pedanticism, disregarding time-to-revenue, and providing a healthy smattering of willful ignorance? We're only breaking the surface here.
If developers are so adamant that they're not being replaced, then why do they see RevOps as a typo, and not a valid career path to pursue outside the Product feature slog?
That is what we're trying to fix — By encouraging entrepreneurs & problem-solvers that build cash—through code.
Beyond the Playground
To escape the automation playground, we must think like engineers, not consumers. But we must also act like owners, and not just problem-solvers.
We need to:
- Start with the problem, not the tool:
- Identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies before selecting a platform.
- Map the territory before plotting the route:
- Understand your workflows deeply to avoid automating inefficiencies. The best way to automate a process is to obliterate it.
- Consider the human elements that no flowchart can capture — balance the human/machine dynamic. Automating repetitive tasks while leaving nuanced decisions to people might not feel quite as magic, but you'll dodge all the headaches along the path of progress to automation zen.
- Understand how our work directly relates to revenue, sales, marketing, CX, and not just Jira ticket volume. Oftentimes, the wrong thing gets automated.
- Build resilience and adaptability, not just efficiency. Invest in scalable, adaptable systems rather than quick fixes. What does that mean? Write your code, own your code, and extend your code.
The future of meaningful automation isn't in having more colourful nodes to drag around. It's in having the wisdom to know when, what to automate, and how to build systems that genuinely improve work, not just different with bells attached.
Sometimes, that means using n8n. It means bridging the non-technical/technical gap. It means taking the team to upskill your colleagues, and it means saying No to the clowns at all costs.
Otherwise, you'll keep finding yourself at the wrong airport, with a dead phone, wondering how you ever thought you'd be getting home for Christmas on time.