{"id":11975,"date":"2026-05-01T01:17:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T01:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=11975"},"modified":"2026-05-01T01:17:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T01:17:31","slug":"ai-rollouts-fail-because-of-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=11975","title":{"rendered":"AI rollouts fail because of culture"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n
<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Ask any C-suite leader if AI is a priority in their organization. The answer is yes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The numbers back it up. Menlo Ventures<\/a> reports that companies spent $37 billion in 2025 on AI. But spending does not guarantee success, and many companies are now coming out of major rollouts with little to show for it.<\/p>\n

Adoption is low, productivity hasn\u2019t increased, and ROI is still an idea on a slide because organizations handed AI to their IT team like it was new software to install and called it a rollout.<\/p>\n

Deploying AI is a workforce strategy that demands behavior change and a new operating model. It\u2019s not a technology rollout. It\u2019s a workforce and culture transformation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

STOP AUTOMATING BROKEN WAYS OF WORKING<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The most common mistake we see companies make is simple: they automate the old way of doing business instead of redesigning it.<\/p>\n

Organizations need to ask different questions. Rather than \u201cHow can we do this job faster with AI,\u201d it\u2019s \u201cIf we were building this from scratch today, what would humans do, what would AI do, and what should we not do at all?\u201d<\/p>\n

Start by picking three to five high-impact workflows\u2014not job titles or departments\u2014and 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\u2019s because the workflow itself was redesigned around what AI does best: synthesizing and surfacing insights at scale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

ADOPTION NEEDS MORE THAN TRAINING<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Organizations have a responsibility to upskill their workforce, but upskilling from a central learning department can move slowly, and slow isn\u2019t an option today.<\/p>\n

While centralized training is important, you also need to find and leverage your champions. Most organizations already have people leaning in\u2014proactively learning, experimenting, and applying AI to their work. The fastest way to accelerate AI adoption isn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

At the same time, leadership must be all in. If leadership isn\u2019t using AI, no one else will believe it matters. Leaders should model the behavior and hold people accountable.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

BUILD A CULTURE OF CONTINUOUS LEARNING<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s 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:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

1. Do the hard thing<\/strong>. Be honest about which roles will change and empower those people to learn new skills. Avoiding conversation creates more fear.<\/p>\n

2. Real investment and development<\/strong>. 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.<\/p>\n

3. Make it safe to experiment\u2014and fail<\/strong>. Highlight successes, as well as things that didn\u2019t work and what you learned from it. Continual learning is key.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
    \n

    CULTURE IS THE REAL AI STRATEGY<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    The organizations that close the gap between AI investment and impact won\u2019t be known for having the best tools; they\u2019ll be known for having the strongest learning and innovation culture. AI is not a technology rollout. It\u2019s a business and workforce transformation, and culture is the competitive advantage.<\/p>\n

    Tanya Moore is the chief people officer at West Monroe.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/p>\n

    The final deadline for Fast Company’s Brands That Matter Awards is Friday, May 15, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.<\/p>\n

    <\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n


    \n
    Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ask any C-suite leader if AI is a priority in their organization. The answer is yes. The numbers back it up. Menlo Ventures reports that companies spent $37 billion in 2025 on AI. But spending does not guarantee success, and many companies are now coming out of major rollouts with little to show for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11975","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brand-spotlights"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}