Designed by Nobody: The State of AI & Automation | C TWO Connect 2026

Why are so many enterprise AI programmes struggling to show value? Wayne Butterfield argues it's because the most important parts were designed by nobody. Recorded at C TWO Connect London 2026, Wayne (Founder of STX-AI and fractional Chief AI Officer, formerly ISG, BT and O2) gives an independent, outside-in view of where AI and automation really stand in large enterprises: what's working, what isn't, and the three decisions most organisations haven't made yet. In this talk: → Why the analyst categories (BOAT, RPA, agentic) are moving faster than the products inside them → Why RPA isn't dead: the toolkit just got a lot bigger → Agentic hype vs what's actually running in production → New research on value seekers, value warriors and value realisers, and what separates them → Why AI costs have moved from predictable to probabilistic → Measuring cost per decision, not per token → Who owns the layer that governs bots, agents and people? → Value leakage: when human review quietly eats the savings CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction: 15 years in automation 02:29 From consultant back to builder 03:09 Three real-world AI stories 06:47 The automation periodic table and acronym soup 10:44 BOAT: five markets in one quadrant 12:49 When the category changes, not the product 14:44 RPA isn't dead: a bigger toolkit 15:40 Agentic AI: hype vs production reality 17:39 Value seekers, warriors and realisers 21:47 "Nobody counted the PowerPoints" 25:50 From deterministic to probabilistic costs 27:30 How work will get done by 2027 30:09 Three decisions designed by nobody 32:38 What does a decision cost? 36:40 Unit economics per decision, not per token 38:31 The prescription for controlling AI cost 39:54 Who owns the layer? 42:18 Value leakage and the redesign of work ABOUT C TWO C TWO is the independent control layer for enterprise automation. It orchestrates, governs and measures every bot, agent, script, API and person across your estate, regardless of vendor. Learn more: ctwo.com More sessions from C TWO Connect London 2026 on our channel #AIAutomation #AgenticAI #RPA