How AI and Automation are Redefining the role of Business Analyst

Real-World Impacts of AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a buzzword!  It’s changing the way Business Analysts' (BAs) work. I’ve experienced this first-hand on a recent project working with a business reporting tool that integrated data from different business segments. Copilot enabled me to generate a first draft of high-level requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria. What would usually take me two days to produce, I managed to pack into one.  I was then free to spend time improving and reviewing requirements (rather than re-doing them from scratch).

Of course, AI is not infallible.  Initial Copilot responses were sometimes wishy-washy and had signs of "hallucinations" (incorrect, or irrelevant proposals). Through careful iterative questioning, I rapidly shaped the output into meaningful content.

Another AI game-changer for me is AI-powered meeting notes. Chris Voss writes in his professional development book - Never Split the Difference, “listening is not a passive activity. It is the most active thing you can do” (Voss, 2017). AI has allowed me to actively listen in meetings, enabling me to review recapped AI notes and scrutinise  content, producing more accurate notes, all within a shorter-than-usual timeframe.

Reference: Voss, C., & Raz, T. (2017). Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if your life depended on it. Random House Business Books.

 The New BA Toolkit: Attention to Detail and Ethical Stewardship

I think there are two ways AI and automation have drastically changed the day-to-day responsibilities of a BA. The first is the need for increased attention to detail when using   AI. As 2024 IIBA FoBA speaker Damien Wilson aptly put it, AI is like a “junior assistant”, it will do the tasks you ask but you need to check everything! AI prompting and content generation requires a lot of handholding and regeneration, and as BAs, we need to ensure AI tools have enough context, and enough detail to produce meaningful, usable content. Prompting AI is now a core BA skill, and quality control is more critical than ever.

Secondly, BAs are now responsible for using a new, somewhat scary, but powerful tool responsibly and ethically. This means ensuring you're up to date with the latest policies and regulations of AI use (especially for particular workplaces and countries), having a heightened awareness of protecting sensitive data, and ensuring you are transparent on your use of AI... and accountable for what it produces and what you publish.

Embracing Change: The Skills, The Challenges, and The Human Value

AI is a tool, and as with any professional tool, to be able to use it effectively BAs need to learn how to use it, and when in a project environment. Without upskilling and continuous professional development, AI will remain a daunting, overwhelming construct for us.

I’ve found it helpful to ask myself a few questions before using AI: Will it help with this task? Can I prompt it meaningfully? Do I have time to review its output? Is the context I provide safe and appropriate?

AI challenges are real, though – as mentioned earlier, hallucinations and the risk of over-reliance are ever present. Overcoming this requires reviewing and scrutinising AI outputs and reminding yourself of your accountability in the content generated if you choose to share and/or use it.  However, the opportunities are even greater: from drafting requirements and summarising documents, to preparing for stakeholder engagement and sequencing project tasks, AI opens doors and frees up time to let us focus on the high-value, human aspects of our role.

And that’s where BA s remain irreplaceable. Emotional intelligence, navigating complex work environments, and building stakeholder relationships - these are things AI simply can’t replicate. My advice? Use AI for heavy lifting so you can focus on being a professional. And full disclosure – AI was part of the writing process for this article!

Jason Xue (Terra Firma Business Consultant)

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