The real opportunity isn't connecting everything. It's building something better. Read original article here.
Everybody does everything now. At least that's what we're being told.
A to Z. End to end. Fully automated. AI-powered. Agentic. Autonomous.
Some of these solutions look extraordinary during a demonstration. But follow the actual transaction, ask what the employee still has to do, and you may discover the solution barely makes it to the letter C.
I recently published an article on LinkedIn titled We Built the Foundation. You Build the Future. It challenges something I've watched happen across aviation operations for years: companies spending substantial money to connect processes they should be working to simplify or eliminate.
And with AI making those connections easier than ever, I think this conversation has become even more important.
The $80,000 Question
Imagine someone proposes an $80,000 custom AI solution that connects your marketplace accounts, email inboxes, CRM, spreadsheets, document storage, and ERP.
It might be a terrific solution. It might save hundreds of hours, improve your responsiveness, and create meaningful financial returns. I'm not questioning the talent behind it or suggesting the investment is automatically wrong.
What I'm questioning is whether we've examined the operation underneath it.
Your team may still be maintaining marketplace inventory, saving trace documents to shared drives, tracking supplier performance in Excel, and entering information into multiple systems. The automation might make those activities faster, but the underlying responsibilities haven't necessarily disappeared.
We've become remarkably good at connecting systems without questioning why so much of the work was separated in the first place.
That's a business problem, not simply a technology problem.
What Happens After the Demonstration?
In aviation, an RFQ isn't simply an email that needs a response.
The salesperson needs inventory availability, condition, documentation, vendor pricing, alternates, lead times, customer requirements, and enough operational context to make a commitment the company can actually fulfill.
If that information lives across six applications and three spreadsheets, an AI agent may be able to find and assemble it.
But why should reconstructing that context be the first job we give our intelligence?
I'd rather see AI helping our people make better pricing decisions, recognize supply risks, identify alternatives, and prevent avoidable errors.
The purpose of intelligence should be to improve the operation, not spend its time compensating for the architecture.
And let's be fair. There are legitimate reasons to integrate different technologies. Marketplaces, logistics services, external accounting platforms, and specialized applications all have valuable roles.
The question isn't whether systems should connect. It's whether we're creating multiple competing sources of operational truth and then paying to keep them synchronized.
The Bigger Opportunity Is What You Haven't Built Yet
Here's where I want to change the conversation.
I don't believe ERP.Aero, or any other software company, has a monopoly on good ideas.
Your business has unique customers, processes, experience, and opportunities. Your people may know exactly how to build a better sourcing workflow, a different customer experience, or a specialized repair application.
Why should that idea have to wait for somebody else's product roadmap?
That's why we introduced ERP.Aero's /Build initiative in 2026.
We're extending our aviation operating foundation through sandbox environments, APIs, tokenization, and controlled access so customers and developers can create capabilities around the operational information already in place.
We'll gladly build something for you. But if you've got your own team or an outside developer you trust, work with them.
What matters is that you're building new value rather than creating another independent system that your employees will have to maintain.
It's Time to Challenge What We've Accepted
Before your next major technology investment, ask a few questions.
What work disappears? Which records no longer need to be maintained twice? What happens when something changes or goes wrong? What new capability will the company have that it didn't have before?
And challenge us with those same questions.
I've never believed that the loudest technology company necessarily has the best answer. I also don't believe the next great idea for your business has to originate with your software vendor.
Spend your money creating what your business needs next, not simply preserving the problems it already has.
Read the full LinkedIn article, and if you've got an idea worth pursuing, reach out to request your ERP.Aero /Build sandbox and initial credit allocation.
We built the foundation. You build the future. And if we haven't thought of your next great idea yet, don't wait for us.
About me and ERP.Aero
With ERP.Aero's /Build initiative and the StockERPrp POC, your next great idea doesn't have to wait for our roadmap. Whether you're working with your own developers, an outside technology partner, or our team, we'll give you access to the sandbox environment, APIs, and token allocation to start building around a single operational source of truth. Bring your ideas, challenge what's possible, and create something that makes your business better. Reach out to request your /Build sandbox and initial credit allocation. We've built the foundation. What you build next is up to you.
​