Make's Darin Patterson on the Visibility Problem Blocking Enterprise AI Scale

Most enterprises aren't failing at AI because the technology doesn't work. They're failing because no one can see what's working. Darin Patterson, Vice President of Market Strategy at Make, describes a recurring pattern he calls "Solo AI": employees experimenting independently, producing results that no one else can learn from, replicate, or govern.

Key Takeaways

• 40% of employees use AI multiple times per day, yet organizational AI automation averages only 25%, according to Make's AI Adoption Journey research across 540 respondents in 16 industries and 35+ countries.
• Patterson identifies visibility as the missing ingredient for enterprise AI scale: when teams can see how AI is being used and where automations interconnect, they can identify what works and improve it.
• Conversational AI has lowered the barrier to building automations, letting non-technical employees describe what they want in plain language rather than requiring coding or syntax knowledge.

Patterson's guidance is to start small and iterate. The primary hesitation he observes is not reluctance to use AI but being overwhelmed by the pace of change. Real-time visual logic in Make's Maia assistant helps employees see what automation is doing, building confidence through transparency and enabling gradual adoption across more complex tasks. He emphasizes investing in people as much as the tools themselves.

Read the full article on AI Magazine