Fascinating little story in the WSJ this week by Walden Siew. It’s so on the nose that it feels like a just-so story, but I can see how this could easily happen.

This is one of the big issues every organization is facing, whether they know it or not. It rhymes with the early days of cloud computing, when well meaning team members could rack up eye watering bills as part of the broader “shadow IT” problem.

In my early days at Barracuda I didn’t manage a MongoDB cluster well enough and we had an extra $1k spend that month. It wasn’t much, but I felt dumb. It did make me double check my cost assumptions going forward, so it was probably money well spent, but still I’m not a fan of waste.

Cost is the most visible problem, but security, compliance, and team strain are there too. We often start with policy and later build platforms that put guardrails around the problem. In between, teams can feel like they can’t both get their jobs done and stay within the rules.

But removing the risk isn’t the answer. I’ve used the analogy before that a kitchen needs sharp knives. Sharp knives are dangerous, but there’s no good way to cut up a pile of potatoes without a sharp edge somewhere. The answer isn’t to ban knives. It’s to teach people how to use them, make the risks clear, and put reasonable safeguards around them.

I think we’re in a similar place with AI. Experimenting matters, but it can’t happen in a vacuum. People need time to learn, share their work, and build judgment about where these tools make sense. And yes, something else likely needs to come off their plate while they do it.

I’ve always been a fan of frequent demos for this reason. Every week or two, give people a few minutes to share what they’re working on outside their immediate team, especially unfinished things and early ideas. Putting work out into the sunlight is one of the best ways to keep it healthy.

Would that have solved this bill problem? No way for me to tell. But I’ve seen smart people demo great ideas that didn’t make it to production once they talked with their peers about the real costs involved.

Teams need to know the cost of the services they own just as much as they need to know how those services are used. Don’t hide this from them. Most people want to do good, interesting work and be good stewards of company resources.

Platforms can provide guardrails, but they can’t replace good judgment. And good judgment is hard to build alone.

Give people visibility, let them learn from each other, and build platforms that make the safest path the easiest one too.

We need sharp knives. We also need people who know how to use them wisely.