Why doesn't AI make projects faster?
AI made drafting fast. Approval kept its old pace. Amdahl's law explains why projects still crawl, and how one approver and one feedback round fix it.
TL;DR
- Amdahl's law says the step you don't speed up sets the pace.
- AI cut production time, while review and approval kept their old speed.
- Faster drafting means more drafts to review, so the queue grows.
- Space speeds up the decision with one approver and one consolidated round.
AI made the making faster. The deciding kept its old speed. Amdahl's law says the part of a system you don't speed up caps the whole thing; in brand work, that part is approval. A deck that took a week now takes a day. Then it waits on five reviewers. A project moves at the pace of its slowest sign-off, so that's the step worth fixing.
Stage | What AI changed | What it left alone |
|---|---|---|
Drafting | A week of deck work can now take a day | Someone still has to pick a direction |
Internal QA | Agents check more work, faster | A senior person still signs it |
Client review | More versions to look at | The same people with the same calendars |
Approval | Nothing | Everything waits here |
What is Amdahl's law?
It's a 1967 idea from computer architect Gene Amdahl. Speed up part of a job; the part you left alone caps the total gain. Say approval takes half a project's calendar. Even infinitely fast drafting only makes that project twice as fast.
Amdahl wrote it about processors. It fits any workflow with steps, which is every workflow.
Where does the time go once AI speeds up drafting?
Into review. Futurist Amy Webb told Fortune about teams whose decks dropped from a week of work to a day. The same people now receive five times as many of them. Cheap drafts don't stay cheap once a human has to read each one.
The talk around the work grows too. ActivTrak tracked 10,584 workers for 180 days on either side of adopting AI. Their time in chat and messaging rose 145%.
I think most agencies are selling the wrong speed. Clients rarely feel production time. They feel how long the decision takes.
How does Space speed up the decision?
We design the review before we start the work. Space, the AI-native brand agency, runs sprints of two to eight weeks. Every project runs on these four rules.
Rule | What it replaces | Wrong call for |
|---|---|---|
One approver makes the final call | Consensus across every stakeholder | Regulated claims, where legal keeps a veto (as a reviewer) |
One consolidated feedback round, due in 48 hours | Comments that trickle in for weeks | Early mood boards, where quick gut reactions help |
Each review says what's open and what's locked | Fresh notes on copy that was already approved | Very small jobs with one reviewer |
Each phase locks before the next starts | Design reopening in the middle of the build | Work where the brief itself is still moving |
We also share full rounds live. The creative director walks the client through the work, so the reasoning sits in the room with the pixels. Async shares follow a fixed template that names the round. (When options are free, one recommendation beats three for the same reason; fewer choices, faster calls.)
If a project has two approvers, it has none.
What can a team do this week to ship faster?
Count your approvers first. Name one, in writing, before the first draft exists. Then set the feedback window before you set the deadline.
Last, pull up your most recent project calendar. Mark the days nothing moved. AI didn't touch a single one of them.
Say hi anytime at sp-ce.co. Bring a project that's stuck in review.
Facts verified October 18, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
- Why hasn't AI made our projects faster?
- AI sped up drafting, but review and approval still run at their old pace. Under Amdahl's law the slowest step sets the total, so projects now wait on decisions.
- What is Amdahl's law in simple terms?
- Speeding up one part of a job only helps as much as the rest of the job allows. Gene Amdahl described it in 1967 for computers, but it applies to any workflow with steps.
- Does AI create more review work?
- Often, yes. Amy Webb described teams getting five times as many decks after AI cut build time from a week to a day. ActivTrak measured a 145% rise in chat and messaging time after workers adopted AI.
- How do you speed up client approvals?
- Name one approver at kickoff. Then collect every reviewer's comments in one round with a firm due date. Tell reviewers what's open and what's already locked.
- Should every project have a single approver?
- Most should. Regulated work is the exception, where legal or compliance can block a claim. They review with a veto, while one person still makes the final call.
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