When employees mock colleagues for using AI, it's often not about judging shortcuts. It's a defense mechanism rooted in fear of job displacement, feeling threatened by a new paradigm, or the insecurity of having their hard-won expertise challenged by new technology.
The biggest mistake in corporate AI investment is buying platform licenses for everyone without first investing in the necessary training and change management. This over-investment in tech and under-investment in people leads to wasted resources, as employees lack the skills or motivation to adopt the tools.
While AI excels at eliminating rote tasks, leaders should consider the hidden value of this work. For some employees, these 'mindless' activities provide a necessary mental break and 'cognitive reset,' helping them recharge before tackling more demanding strategic or creative work.
Organizations that default to treating AI as an IT-led initiative risk failure. IT's focus is typically on security and risk mitigation, not growth and innovation. AI strategy must be owned by business leaders who can align its potential with customer needs, talent decisions, and overall company growth.
A leading AI expert, Paul Roetzer, reflects that in 2016 he wrongly predicted rapid, widespread AI adoption by 2020. He was wrong about the timeline but found he had actually underestimated AI's eventual transformative effect on business, society, and the economy.
For executives to truly drive AI adoption, simply using the tools isn't enough. They must model three key behaviors: publicly setting a clear vision for AI's role, actively participating in company-wide learning initiatives like hackathons, and empowering employees with the autonomy to experiment.
A leader's most valuable use of AI isn't for automation, but as a constant 'thought partner.' By articulating complex business, legal, or financial decisions to an AI and asking it to pose clarifying questions, leaders can refine their own thinking and arrive at more informed conclusions, much like talking a problem out loud.
A podcast host and AI expert was stopped in his tracks by a simple question: 'What are you most excited about with AI?' The realization that he could only list worries, not hopes, forced a personal and professional shift, leading him to focus on positive outcomes like entrepreneurship and creativity in his work.