CR Series – AI and the importance of Humans (after all, Change = Humans)

Can we talk about something else please

I’ve certainly felt a strong sense of AI fatigue over the past year or so, I’m sure it’s the same for most people reading this article. This presents a challenge in itself. As we start to implement more AI tools and technologies into our organisations, this degree of apathy amongst users is inevitably going to lead to poor adoption levels and issues with successful implementation, not from a technical perspective but from a user (human) perspective. This will no doubt increase the risks associated with the deployment of AI across our daily operations. A really easy way to alleviate this is through effective business change, specifically change that is devised and delivered by human beings, to alleviate the fears and anxiety that come with any form of change, but especially with AI.

Transformation programmes often fail, AI transformation will be no different

The rate at which new technologies, AI or otherwise, are being implemented across organisations is increasing every day. Business transformation is nothing new, neither is transformations failing, IBM has that figure at north of 80%. It’s well documented that one of the key reasons for this failure is a lack of business change, often because it’s an afterthought or budgetary pressures mean that change is sacrificed in order to prioritise ‘successful’ requirements gathering, solution development or technical implementation. The risk of failure with AI related transformation is even greater than traditional tech transformation. The likelihood of failure is also higher, it’s no secret that the average person feels varying degrees of fear and anxiety when it comes to AI, often due to a lack of understanding. These fears can most easily be alleviated by effective business change, I think organisations will quickly start to realise that. A small investment in change management can lead to a much smoother transition for employees and a much healthier relationship with AI in the workplace, massively benefiting both employees and businesses alike. To counter my own point, I would say that I expect that AI and the impact on data will increase the chances of successful transformation in a lot of instances but that doesn’t negate the need for strong business change capability, which only humans can provide!

Governance, ethics and best practice

“The risks — from the core data, to the management of data, to the nature of the output of the generative AI — will simply keep multiplying.” (Source: Harvard Business Review).

Something that all organisations are grappling with right now is how to implement the right governance, processes and behaviours when it comes to the deployment and utilisation of AI technologies. Microsoft research earlier this year found that 78% of AI users (of which around 75% of all workers are AI users) are bringing their own AI tools to work (BYOAI). This figure is even higher at SMEs at 80% (Source: Microsoft). Whilst it’s better than four out of five people BYOB’ing in the workplace, it definitely presents risks. Much of this is still uncharted territory for most, getting this right for the user is vital, ensuring everyone is clear on ethical use, adhering to governance and process and following best practice. All of this is enabled through effective business change, comms and training. There’s a whole host of issues that organisations are struggling with right now when it comes to unintended consequences. Take the gender bias issue, for example, given all AI technologies are built on data we provide, and that data is, for the most part, full of biases, this could present a number of issues for users and organisations alike. Joe Kipling, one of our Partner’s, will be exploring this issue in detail in the coming months.

Slow down…

One of the reasons people are BYOAI’ing is because organisations are struggling to keep up with the pace. The speed of development in the past two years of AI technologies is quite scary, but also exciting. One of the main benefits being discussed by business leaders is the impact AI will have on decision making. If we can collect more data, better data (noting my point above around biases), and do it more quickly, then those responsible for making the big decisions in organisations can do so at an increased pace. As a result, the pace of changes being made across a business will increase dramatically, meaning organisations will need to become increasingly more agile to change so expect investment in business change functions and more dedicated training of change networks. With this comes a risk of change fatigue and change apathy, which makes the business change process even more critical, organisations will have to ensure they’re getting it right and dedicating the necessary time, thought and resources to delivering effective business change in order to maximise ROI. The benefits won’t magically be realised without supplementary change effort.

The value of human-led change

“Research by EY teams and the University of Oxford indicates that a human-centered approach to transformation can increase the likelihood of a successful outcome by 2.6 times.” (Source: EY).

To end on a rather simple point, with the focus on data, AI and other technologies, the need and frequency of human interaction for a lot of teams will likely decrease. Some of this is good as it presents increased efficiency, but some of it not so good as people become isolated and get used to relying on the support of several virtual assistants rather than their human colleagues. This is where I expect the softer side of business change to be welcomed as a breath of fresh air with its human interaction, comms, engagement and adoption support. Where people are nervous at the pace of change and number of new technologies being deployed, they will look for comfort in the very human, reassuring, knowledgeable and understanding change management function who care about their experience as a human, not just a ‘user’. We have added an extra feeling of loss to our model, which is the feeling of discomfort when it comes to being exposed to change. This is particularly apparent when it comes to introducing AI into organisations, especially those who are from earlier generations. I would imagine that there is still a large proportion of the workforce who feel discomfort when it comes to AI, whether that’s from a mistrust perspective, lack of understanding, or more brutally from a job security point of view. A human-centred, ‘fluffy’ bit of change management could go a long way…

Conclusion

“Research by EY teams and the University of Oxford indicates that a human-centred approach to transformation can increase the likelihood of a successful outcome by 2.6 times.” (Source: EY).

To end on a rather simple point, with the focus on data, AI and other technologies, the need and frequency of human interaction for a lot of teams will likely decrease. Some of this is good as it presents increased efficiency, but some of it not so good as people become isolated and get used to relying on the support of several virtual assistants rather than their human colleagues. This is where I expect the softer side of business change to be welcomed as a breath of fresh air with its human interaction, comms, engagement and adoption support. Where people are nervous at the pace of change and number of new technologies being deployed, they will look for comfort in the very human, reassuring, knowledgeable and understanding change management function who care about their experience as a human, not just a ‘user’. We have added an extra feeling of loss to our model, which is the feeling of discomfort when it comes to being exposed to change. This is particularly apparent when it comes to introducing AI into organisations, especially those who are from earlier generations. I would imagine that there is still a large proportion of the workforce who feel discomfort when it comes to AI, whether that’s from a mistrust perspective, lack of understanding, or more brutally from a job security point of view. A human-centred, ‘fluffy’ bit of change management could go a long way…

Now, it wouldn’t be a LinkedIn article talking about AI without some input from ChatGPT. This is what the Open AI LLM thinks about the role business change will play moving forward “…the increasing importance of business change is driven by the need to stay competitive, comply with evolving regulations, manage economic uncertainties, meet changing consumer and workforce expectations, and foster innovation and sustainability. Businesses that embrace change proactively are more likely to thrive in the rapidly evolving global marketplace.” A pretty solid take on things, especially the final point. Business Change as a function and a profession will bring immense value not only to the implementation of AI but to the ‘new world’ that is left behind through its expansion into all corners of a business and its operations. Then of course, there’s the impact that AI will have on the way change is delivered which is pretty exciting but that’s a whole other topic. One thing that’s certain to add value is the impact of predictive analysis and machine learning in identifying behaviours and attitudes to change before these can begin to derail things.“Once these hurdles are identified, organizations can devise strategic interventions to address resistance. This builds a proactive, resilient change-ready culture and encourages adaptation and innovation.” (Source: Change Management Review).

Next in the CR series we’ll be looking at other rapidly advancing technologies and innovation cycles, and the heightened role of business change in this context.

Author: Harry Rawson