AI rollouts fail because of culture

STOP AUTOMATING BROKEN WAYS OF WORKING

The most common mistake we see companies make is simple: they automate the old way of doing business instead of redesigning it.

Organizations need to ask different questions. Rather than “How can we do this job faster with AI,” it’s “If we were building this from scratch today, what would humans do, what would AI do, and what should we not do at all?”

Start by picking three to five high-impact workflows—not job titles or departments—and rebuild them from scratch. For example, take M&A due diligence. Document review and analysis that used to take weeks can now be done in days. That’s because the workflow itself was redesigned around what AI does best: synthesizing and surfacing insights at scale.

ADOPTION NEEDS MORE THAN TRAINING

Organizations have a responsibility to upskill their workforce, but upskilling from a central learning department can move slowly, and slow isn’t an option today.

While centralized training is important, you also need to find and leverage your champions. Most organizations already have people leaning in—proactively learning, experimenting, and applying AI to their work. The fastest way to accelerate AI adoption isn’t training alone. The best thing you can do is activate your champion network. Connect them and give them agency, time, and tools so they can inspire others to do the same.

At West Monroe, we brought together our evangelists, empowered them to test and learn, and charged them with bringing others along. Grassroots energy will get you farther, faster, than any corporate-wide training program.

At the same time, leadership must be all in. If leadership isn’t using AI, no one else will believe it matters. Leaders should model the behavior and hold people accountable.

A little fun, healthy, and friendly competition plays a role too. We have a corporate-wide leaderboard. We hold AI challenges, award prizes, and give out innovation bonuses to those who are actively learning, participating, and most importantly, innovating for outcomes. Making work fun helps.

BUILD A CULTURE OF CONTINUOUS LEARNING

It’s our responsibility not only to employ people, but also to keep their skills current so they remain employable whether at our company or elsewhere. There are three clear ways for organizations to do this:

1. Do the hard thing. Be honest about which roles will change and empower those people to learn new skills. Avoiding conversation creates more fear.

2. Real investment and development. For many people, AI proficiency will soon to be a prerequisite for employment. The best thing employers can do is to build a culture of curiosity, learning, innovation, and experimentation. The best thing employees can do is embrace continuous learning and adaptability. Invest in your people.

3. Make it safe to experiment—and fail. Highlight successes, as well as things that didn’t work and what you learned from it. Continual learning is key.

CULTURE IS THE REAL AI STRATEGY

The organizations that close the gap between AI investment and impact won’t be known for having the best tools; they’ll be known for having the strongest learning and innovation culture. AI is not a technology rollout. It’s a business and workforce transformation, and culture is the competitive advantage.

Tanya Moore is the chief people officer at West Monroe.