An anthropological field note on strategic IT sourcing.
You think you’re buying software.
You’re actually buying a theory of the firm, a theory of time, and a theory of human intelligence.
Let’s meet a few familiar species.
The SAP Executive
“If it’s not in the process, it doesn’t exist.”
Sees reality as validated steps.
Sleeps well with exception-handling for exceptions.
Calls rigidity “stability”.
Cognitive signature
Trusts structure more than people.
Excellent at running yesterday. — slightly anxious about tomorrow.
What SAP gives you
Reliability …
and suspicion toward anything not standardised.
The Oracle Executive
“In Data we trust.”
Sees the company as a very large spreadsheet with feelings.
Believes every problem is one query away from clarity.
Cognitive signature
Speed = intelligence.
Meaning is optional.
What Oracle gives you
Power, speed, control.
And the quiet illusion that numbers decide on their own.
The IBM Executive
“Why decide when a model can?”
Assumes humans are inefficient algorithms.
Automates answers before questions stabilise.
Cognitive signature
Models before humans.
Quantum for machines, determinism for people.
What IBM gives you
Impressive intelligence.
And an organization running after decisions it didn’t have time to understand.
The AWS Executive
“We don’t choose. We enable.”
Refuses responsibility with a smile.
Believes optionality is strategy.
Cognitive signature
Radical modularity.
Allergic to meaning.
What AWS gives you
Infinite possibilities —
And the obligation to think for yourself — finally.
The Pigment Executive
“Let’s talk before we decide.”
Thinks in scenarios, not certainties.
Suspicious of the word “final”.
Cognitive signature
Decision as conversation.
Future > past.
What Pigment gives you
Clarity about choices —
and responsibility for making them.
The uncomfortable conclusion
You didn’t just buy software. You bought:
a relationship to time (past vs future),
a relationship to uncertainty (control vs exploration),
a theory of collective intelligence (centralised, distributed, or denied).
And your organization will slowly start thinking the way your systems think.
If this made you laugh — good. If it made you uncomfortable — even better.
Read the full study: Strategic Investment Systems – How enterprise software shapes collective cognition