AI integration is about people, not technology, says report

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Introducing advanced AI into an organisation is never going to be a seamless transition, but companies can make it easier on themselves by focusing on the right aspects.

Research suggests that around 266m organisations worldwide are either using or experimenting with AI, which is roughly 82pc of companies globally. Whether it is through content creation, HR and asset management, workflow, analytics or one of the dozens of other case uses for organisational AI, it is a technology that is quickly becoming a company staple. 

But for Aalto University’s Dr Natalia Vuori, who is a co-author of a recent study into the impact of AI adoption on employees, the successful uptake of AI is a matter of emotions, and company leaders are failing to capitalise on it. 

Vuori’s study, titled ‘It’s Amazing – But Terrifying: Unveiling the Combined Effect of Emotional and Cognitive Trust on Organisational Member Behaviours, AI Performance, and Adoption’, was published yesterday (22 January) in the Journal of Management Studies. 

For more than a year, her research team studied a team of 600 employees in a consulting company, to determine how they managed the development and introduction of a new AI tool. “What we learned is that success is not so much about technology and its capabilities, but about the different emotional and behavioural reactions employees develop towards AI and how leaders can manage these reactions,” said Vuori.

The idea behind the AI-powered tool was that it would gather information on an employee’s digital footprint, tracking their skills and abilities, which could then be used to build a map of the company’s overall capabilities. The data could inform organisational leaders and enable the streamlining of the team selection process for consulting projects. 

The hope was that the tool would eventually reach a stage where it could be offered as an aid to the company’s own customers; however, after almost two years, it was scrapped. But why? 

Transparency is power

AI integration is a tricky beast and despite a company’s best efforts, any number of factors can cause the project to be delayed, derailed or just a disaster. Often it is because of a lack of strategic planning, other times resources are in short supply or are of less than ideal quality. Sometimes it is the external factors that cause the most internal disruption.

For the consulting company that participated in the study, as shown in the report, it was a disconnect between the technology, leadership and the employee experience that led to the downfall of AI integration into this particular organisation. While many of the workforce found the tool to be a potentially valuable asset, overall they were uncomfortable with the depth of information that was being collected, namely calendar notes, internal communications and daily activities. 

Consequently, employees began to omit and manipulate data to ensure that they would not adversely or unknowingly harm their future career prospects, which rendered the AI tool ineffective and inaccurate, making it difficult for anyone in the organisation to have faith in its potential. 

“Leaders couldn’t understand why the AI usage was declining. They were taking a lot of action to promote the tools and so on, trying to explain how they use the data, but it didn’t help,” explained Vuori, who is of the opinion that this particular example of the improper adoption of AI and advanced technology is actually common practice. 

What’s to be done?

Ultimately, if employers are committed to developing and eventually capitalising on AI tools and technologies, then the research finds that they will have to ensure that the workforce is emotionally resilient and informed enough to withstand setbacks. According to the data, four distinct groups emerged in the case study. Those who fully trusted the tech, those who fully distrusted it, those who held an uncomfortable trust and those who blindly trusted it. 

It was found that a failure to cohesively trust the tech is what led to employees withdrawing and manipulating their digital footprint and therefore skewing the results and further diminishing belief in the system. Essentially, transparency and a system that encourages feedback, constructive conversation and training could make all of the difference when attempting to introduce new and advanced processes. 

“AI adoption isn’t just a technological challenge, it’s a leadership one. Success hinges on understanding trust and addressing emotions, and making employees feel excited about using and experimenting with AI,” says Vuori. “Without this human-centered approach and strategies that are tailored to address the needs of each group, even the smartest AI will fail to deliver on its potential.”

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