AI in practice
The top 3 success factors in AI adoption strategies
All the classic transformation and technology implementation mistakes from the last 30 years are being repeated with AI adoption. As such, I'm not surprised that AI adoption within large organisations is not really taking off and showing disappointing results. Based on the conversations I have had, a core ingredient is missing: the human aspect. I thought, let me list the top 3 success factors that are often missing, so you can prevent these mistakes from happening in your own organisation. Listed in random order.
1. Acknowledge reality
I have yet to meet the organisation that gives employees access to the same level of AI that they have access to at home. Most people use ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude, while many organisations are making some internal version available of their own ChatGPT, or have a limited Copilot licence available. Anyone understands that there might be risks (and budget challenges) in rolling out the newest models. That's not my point. My point is to be honest about it!
Employees are not stupid. You create a campaign to get them excited to use your internal AI, only to make them feel super frustrated because they can barely use it for their most important pain points. Be transparent, be honest, share the timeline ahead and explain why current access is limited. Or don't go on a full campaign when you know the limitations are too frustrating. Then just wait, create a group of pioneers willing to test a version that they feel is adding value, and only start scaling it internally once that version is live.
2. Understand the relevance
As a CEO or senior leader, you get visits from companies specialising in the newest, latest, most amazing applications of AI. There is a huge disconnect between what they are showcasing and what is needed and relevant for the daily work of your employees. Be very aware of this gap. Challenge each possible supplier to first talk to your employees to understand their daily work and daily struggles. Only when the supplier can come back with a super clear added value for their AI solution, continue the conversation.
This might seem super obvious, until I saw in this IBM study on AI that 64% of CEOs say that the risk of falling behind drives them to invest in some technologies before they have a clear understanding of the value they bring to the organisation. Stop FOMO-ing! The vast majority of companies are not seeing the ROI of their AI investments, so take your time, make sure your AI investment actually solves problems for your employees. Make it super relevant to them, so adoption is a non-issue as it will enhance their daily work, either by removing tedious tasks to have more time for value adding tasks, or by creating new possibilities and new solutions for clients. Both roads lead to more purposeful work for your employees and a buzz of excitement around using AI to create more value for the world.
3. Understand their emotions
Design your AI adoption programme around different types of employees. You can assess their skills and experience with AI, and that is already a valuable way to segment that most companies would benefit from. Just don't underestimate the importance of also segmenting based on emotion. The employee who is fearful of their job will need a very different route to using AI than the employee who is super excited to use it but very frustrated because the internal AI tools cannot do what they are used to when using it in their personal lives.
Instead of creating this feeling that everyone should jump on the exciting AI train, acknowledge these emotions, create a safe space for employees to share their doubts. This technology is so new and so quickly evolving that as a leader, it's impossible to have all the answers. The technology might be evolving fast, the emotions that people go through when a profound transformation is happening are not. Listen, pause, take the time to understand them and their context. It might take more time at the start, but will save you a lot of time during roll out.
