---
title: "History doesn’t repeat, it rhymes"
author: "Mani Sandher"
published: "2025-04-17T06:41:36.000+00:00"
modified: "2025-04-17T06:41:56.000+00:00"
source: "https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/history-doesnt-repeat-rhymes-mani-sandher-l1poc"
cover_image: "https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D5612AQHQ8wrY45ydNA/article-cover_image-shrink_720_1280/B56ZZCceW7GUAI-/0/1744871489349?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=__7UQTCGLgN2HJ3gvhltQ8NaJNq2Vuyzm2pnlwWSp6M"
---

# History doesn’t repeat, it rhymes

Source: [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/history-doesnt-repeat-rhymes-mani-sandher-l1poc](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/history-doesnt-repeat-rhymes-mani-sandher-l1poc)

Published: 2025-04-17T06:41:36.000+00:00

![Cover image](https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D5612AQHQ8wrY45ydNA/article-cover_image-shrink_720_1280/B56ZZCceW7GUAI-/0/1744871489349?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=__7UQTCGLgN2HJ3gvhltQ8NaJNq2Vuyzm2pnlwWSp6M)

In the mid‑1990s, “Business Process Re‑engineering” (BPR) swept through boardrooms. The promise was simple but radical: tear up legacy workflows and rebuild them around what information technology could suddenly make possible. ERP suites, networked PCs, and early workflow tools weren’t just automating tasks - they were reshaping how companies *thought* about work.

Fast‑forward thirty years. Generative AI has arrived, and history is rhyming loudly. Once again, incremental automation won’t cut it. Chatbots that answer faster or spreadsheets that fill themselves are useful, but they don’t unlock the step‑change in value that today’s technology can deliver. To capture that upside, leaders need the same audacity that BPR demanded: a willingness to question every assumption about how value is created.

But there’s a crucial difference: AI systems *learn* after deployment. Where BPR was often a one‑time surgical strike, AI demands a living, breathing process that continually refines itself through feedback. The organisations that will succeed with AI are those prepared to rethink value streams end‑to‑end - and to treat that redesign as an ongoing, learning‑driven discipline.

Over the past year, I’ve been developing **AI**chemy™ - a structured yet adaptive approach that positions AI as a ‘supernatural ally,’ empowering transformative leadership. **AI**chemy™ synthesises insights from neuroscience, developmental psychology, and systems thinking to guide leaders through the *mindset shifts* required for AI‑centred redesign.

Instead of prescribing another four‑box framework or a one‑off workshop, **AI**chemy™ provides a practical *journey* that helps teams:

- **see** where AI truly changes the game (and where it doesn’t)
- **co‑create** new workflows that balance human judgement with machine intelligence
- **embed** continuous feedback so the process, the people, and the models evolve together

If you, like me, lived through the BPR era, dust off that muscle memory - but update it. Swap “radical, one‑time surgery” for *radical, continuous learning.* Measure not just time‑to‑market but learning velocity. And recognise that the hardest work isn’t writing code; it’s choreographing people, processes, and values so they can flourish alongside AI.

The good news? We’ve done something like this before. The better news? We now have tools - and mindsets - capable of taking us even further.