--- title: Lean Tech & AI Journal description: Weekly insights on lean thinking applied to technology transformation. Articles, webinars, and resources from lean practitioners. No hype. --- [![LEI LeanTech Logo](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/raw_assets/public/tech-lean-org/images/lean_AI_logo_wht.png) LeanTech](https://tech.lean.org/) [Lean Practice](https://tech.lean.org/lean-practice) [Lean AI smart\_toy](https://tech.lean.org/lean-ai) [Journal](https://tech.lean.org/journal) [lean.org arrow\_outward](https://lean.org) [Start a Conversation](https://tech.lean.org/book) menu [Lean Practice](https://tech.lean.org/lean-practice) [Lean AI](https://tech.lean.org/lean-ai) [Journal](https://tech.lean.org/journal) [lean.org](https://lean.org) [Start a Conversation](https://tech.lean.org/book) ![Background](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/raw_assets/public/tech-lean-org/images/backgrounds/bg2.png) # Lean Tech & AI Journal Weekly insights on lean thinking applied to technology transformation. Practical guidance from practitioners who've been there. No hype. mail ### Get Weekly Insights Join 30,000+ practitioners receiving weekly insights. No spam. ## [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/40%20hours%2030%20mins-1-LinkedIn.png) Editor's Pick Sep 16, 2026, 5:00:00 AM From 40 Hours to 30 Minutes: How AI Will Remake the Shopfloor and Empower Workers  A month ago, I spoke with an engineer who spent 40 hours drafting a meticulous time study of a 20-hour custom fabrication job. He painstakingly analyzed 18 timelapse videos, at times scrubbing frame by frame, to mark each work element, bit of waste, and their durations. In total, he recorded nearly 1,000 rows in Excel detailing how the operator spent his time. Read Article arrow\_forward](https://tech.lean.org/journal/from-40-hours-to-30-minutes-how-ai-will-remake-the-shopfloor-and-empower-workers) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Deployed%20or%20Developed-1-llinkedin%20The%20Engineer%20You%20Develop.png) Deployed or Developed: The Engineer You Develop  Sep 2, 2026, 5:00:00 AM](https://tech.lean.org/journal/deployed-or-developed-the-engineer-you-develop) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Deployed%20or%20Developed-1-LinkedIn-We%20Have%20Seen%20This%20Play%20Before.png) Deployed or Developed: We Have Seen This Play Before  Aug 26, 2026, 5:00:00 AM](https://tech.lean.org/journal/deployed-or-developed-we-have-seen-this-play-before) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Deployed%20or%20Developed%20The%20Purple%20Unicorn%20Problem-2-LinkedIn.png) Deployed or Developed: The Purple Unicorn Problem Aug 19, 2026, 7:46:49 AM](https://tech.lean.org/journal/deployed-or-developed-the-purple-unicorn-problem) ## Browse the Archive search search Search ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/40%20hours%2030%20mins-1-LinkedIn.png) article Article Sep 16, 2026, 5:00:00 AM From 40 Hours to 30 Minutes: How AI Will Remake the Shopfloor and Empower Workers  A month ago, I spoke with an engineer who spent 40 hours drafting a meticulous time study of a 20-hour custom fabrication job. He painstakingly analyzed 18 timelapse videos, at times scrubbing frame by frame, to mark each work element, bit of waste, and their durations. In total, he recorded nearly 1,000 rows in Excel detailing how the operator spent his time. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/from-40-hours-to-30-minutes-how-ai-will-remake-the-shopfloor-and-empower-workers) [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Deployed%20or%20Developed-1-llinkedin%20The%20Engineer%20You%20Develop.png) article Article](https://tech.lean.org/journal/deployed-or-developed-the-engineer-you-develop) ### [Sep 2, 2026, 5:00:00 AM Deployed or Developed: The Engineer You Develop ](https://tech.lean.org/journal/deployed-or-developed-the-engineer-you-develop) [A forward deployed engineer is dropped into your domain. A forward developed one is built out of it. This is the final part of a](https://tech.lean.org/journal/deployed-or-developed-the-engineer-you-develop)[series](https://www.lean.org/?s=%22Deployed+or+Developed%22)1 on the forward deployed engineer. [Part 1](https://www.lean.org/the-lean-post/articles/deployed-or-developed-the-purple-unicorn-problem/) followed the money into the role and asked who owns the intelligence that compounds. [Part 2](https://www.lean.org/the-lean-post/articles/deployed-or-developed-we-have-seen-this-play-before/) traced the pattern from Frederick Winslow Taylor and the soldiering it produced through Meta this spring. I then observed that in Toyota the capability to improve the work has been built into the people doing it; this final part is about doing that on purpose. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Deployed%20or%20Developed-1-LinkedIn-We%20Have%20Seen%20This%20Play%20Before.png) article Article Aug 26, 2026, 5:00:00 AM Deployed or Developed: We Have Seen This Play Before  The choice between renting expertise and building it is a century-old decision, and both experiments have run at scale. Only one of them compounded. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/deployed-or-developed-we-have-seen-this-play-before) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Deployed%20or%20Developed%20The%20Purple%20Unicorn%20Problem-2-LinkedIn.png) article Article Aug 19, 2026, 7:46:49 AM Deployed or Developed: The Purple Unicorn Problem Everyone is hiring for a skill set that barely exists. The capability you need is already on your payroll. This first article of a three-part series\[1\] examines the role of forward deployed engineers (how they work and the expense and information ownership associated with these individuals) at companies embracing AI vs. developing AI capabilities inhouse with the people who do the work. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/deployed-or-developed-the-purple-unicorn-problem) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Toyota%E2%80%99s%20Investment%20in%20AI%20Capability-1-LinkedIn.png) article Article Aug 6, 2026, 9:54:42 AM Toyota’s Investment in AI Capability Toyota's AI strategy isn't a platform purchase. It's a bet on its own people. Inside the training, certification, and shop-floor communities building capability. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/toyotas-investment-in-ai-capability) [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Prompting%20for%20Problem%20Solving-1-LinkedIn.png) article Article](https://tech.lean.org/journal/prompting-for-problem-solving) ### [Jul 22, 2026, 8:35:43 AM Prompting for Problem Solving](https://tech.lean.org/journal/prompting-for-problem-solving) [The PDCA loop that every lean person already knows also applies to working with a large language model (LLM), but with Prompt replacing Plan. The model does the Do. Check and Act stay mainly with you. Our previous article (“](https://tech.lean.org/journal/prompting-for-problem-solving)[Prompt, Do, Check, Act](https://www.lean.org/the-lean-post/articles/prompt-do-check-act-the-new-pdca/)”) covered this loop at a higher level; today we go deeper into the most important part of it, the initial prompting and discussion with the model for best results. We will use problem solving as an example throughout, as anyone can relate to the topic. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/lean%20tech%20gene%20art%20tyson%20podcast-1-LinkedIn.png) article Article](https://tech.lean.org/journal/past-present-and-future-of-lean-and-ai) ### [Jul 8, 2026, 5:00:01 AM Past, Present, and Future of Lean and AI](https://tech.lean.org/journal/past-present-and-future-of-lean-and-ai) [Gene Kim, DevOps leader and co-author of ](https://tech.lean.org/journal/past-present-and-future-of-lean-and-ai)[*Wiring the Winning Organization*](https://itrevolution.com/product/wiring-the-winning-organization/), joins Tyson Heaton, LEI Executive Director of LeanTech/AI, and Art Smalley, Toyota veteran and LEI advisor, for a lively, enlightening, and wide-ranging conversation about artificial intelligence. They discuss how AI is forever changing the work of individuals and organizations, and explore the good, bad, and ugly of AI today and tomorrow. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Lean-tech-whos-thriving-1-LinkedIn-1.png) article Article Jun 24, 2026, 5:00:01 AM Who Thrives in the AI Workforce? Anthropic and OpenAI are following SpaceX and moving toward massive IPOs in the coming months. Meanwhile, college graduates are booing commencement speakers who even mention AI. At the University of Arizona this spring, Eric Schmidt faced backlash for talking about AI and the future of work. A recent Gallup poll found that a third of Gen Z Americans describe their feelings toward AI as anger.1 This May, viral videos of graduates booing AI-focused speeches became their own genre. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/who-thrives-in-the-ai-workforce) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Untitled%20-%20June%2016%2c%202026%20at%2016.18.49-1-LinkedIn.png) article Article Jun 17, 2026, 5:00:01 AM The Next Value Stream: What Lean Can Learn from the Internet Most organizations are still trying to apply AI to existing workflows: faster coding, faster document generation, faster analysis, faster search. This risks paving the cow path — making the existing process faster without asking whether the process still makes sense. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/the-next-value-stream-what-lean-can-learn-from-the-internet) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Lean-Tech-PDCA-1-LinkedIn.png) article Article May 27, 2026, 5:00:00 AM Prompt, Do, Check, Act: The New PDCA  Every lean person knows PDCA. Plan, Do, Check, Act. It is one of the most familiar disciplines in our field. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/prompt-do-check-act-the-new-pdca) Loading more articles... You've reached the end of the archive 9 of 0 articles shown ## Want to Go Deeper? The Journal is just the beginning. Book a conversation with our team to explore how lean thinking can accelerate your organization's technology transformation. [Start a Conversation →](https://tech.lean.org/book) ![LEI LeanTech Logo](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/raw_assets/public/tech-lean-org/images/lean_AI_logo_wht.png) LeanTech LeanTech is a practice of the Lean Enterprise Institute, helping technology organizations apply lean thinking principles to drive sustainable transformation. 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