I fully agree with the article. One thing not mentioned, however probably assumed to be given: domain knowledge. A domain expert using simple methods will probably beat any decent ML model because they are able to define strong features.
Once you have deep understanding of your domain and system, finding the places where ML truly adds value is a lot easier. Also, you'll have a basic understanding of how things are without it and you'll know whether it is working better or not and whether that's worth the trouble.