Can Machine Learning Go the Other Way?

I tend to book fun at maybe more on the business side of things, but be in the more on the tech side. I definitely have a weakness for the shiny objects for sure. And that could be a problem with, you know, team comes up and says, "We want to do machine learning" But when you get down to it, is that really what they need? Are they just asking a question that could be answered through things you already have available? It's always the important thing to me is like, take a step back from the technology,. discuss the needs, discuss the purposes, discuss who's going to be using it.