Hi Dan,
given your obvious experience I assume that you have a clear understanding already what scripting can and can not do at current; and I realise that your post is purposefully concerned with the bigger picture. But just in case: as I have stated occasionally, there actually is a lot more possible with scripting already than one would think. So, if there are certain things on your mind that you would like to do, but think they are probably not solvable via scripting, feel free to send me a pm. (But again, given your experience, the most probable outcome is that I answer with my agreement about a certain task’s impossibility.)