Some of you may know I’m a bit of a technophile (that’s technology, not techno music). Early in my career, I was a software developer and web designer. I’ve been a CIO twice, and I now have the privilege of chairing AAMVA’s IT Advisory Committee (ITAC).

Digital identity is a passion. One of the big messages I have pushed is that IT is part of what we all do. It is the way we deliver services to our customers. As such, we all have to understand it—maybe not to the degree of a developer—but we must be tech-literate to succeed. It will be no surprise that (spoiler alert) technology will be part of our annual international conference theme (that’s all I’ll say about that).

Given my background, it may be a little surprising when I say technology is not a solution to all of our problems. Turns out, there are no magic digital beans (pun intended for you Java aficionados), and the IT Fairy is a lie. Don’t get me wrong, I still love technology, but no tech solution will overcome bad processes or misdirected focus.

So, where does that leave us?

Technology is a powerful tool, but it will be wasteful unless it is implemented by focused leaders on strategically important processes. The first step is always to understand what problem we are trying to solve and then improve the underlying processes at the root of the problem. Sometimes, technology will be a tool in fixing those root causes, and sometimes it won’t.

I suggest a two-prong approach. First, understand your processes. Look at your experience from your customer’s perspective. What do they want? What do they value about the thing they want? What does “good” look and feel like for them? Remember that, as leaders, your customers include your employees and traditional customers. Once you understand what your process is delivering and what your customer actually wants, you can start to see the gap between the two and find ways to adjust your process to better deliver what your customers are looking for.

Shameless plug: AAMVA’s new MVA Operations and Customer Experience Committee and programs promise to be invaluable in this step. Look for their topics at upcoming conference sessions.

Second, get tech-literate. It’s time to build technical capacity so that, as we look for ways to address the gaps we identify, we recognize where technology can help and where it’s not needed. It’s easy to get caught up in the latest tech fad, so understanding how things work will help us decide which tool to use. No one is an expert at everything, so build teams to understand new tools. (And yes, that includes tech like mobile drivers’ licenses and AI.)

True, there is no IT Fairy. But with some focus and knowledge, we can implement flexible and powerful solutions to deliver real value to our customers.