When I mention streamlining or automation in legacy business and departments, the most common objections are "our stuff can't be automated," and "if it were, we would have done it already."

Consistent processes can be automated. The more consistent, the easier to automate, even if the rules are complex.

For most tasks, the reason those processes aren't consistent is because there's a human disconnect somewhere.

Traditionally that has been managed with a project manager, change manager, endless Jira boards and SOP docs, etc. but the true fix is finding someone in the org who is an excellent communicator, and knows enough about IT and enough about business concepts to take lead, using the existing IT infrastructure and gathering business requirements from users.