Equip your people to make AI work

New technology. The same leadership challenge.

For more than 20 years, enterprises have introduced new technology without giving enough attention to how people will use it. ERP, CRM, collaboration platforms, cloud. The pattern keeps repeating.

AI is the latest shiny toy.

The technology changes.

The need to prepare people, redesign work, and clarify accountability remains.

You can redesign a process and still leave people unprepared to use it.

In my previous post, I discussed the Technology Trap: expecting technology to fix a broken process.

The people side deserves equal attention.

A new The Wharton School - GBK Collective study illustrates the gap:

• 78% of managers and above say employees receive adequate AI training.
• Only 56% of entry- and mid-level employees agree.

These are survey perceptions.

But that gap should prompt a conversation in every leadership team.

My takeawaygiving people access to AI is only the beginning.

They also need answers:

• How will my role change?
• Which decisions remain mine?
• How do I check the output?
• When should I stop and escalate?
• Will I have time to learn?

For executives, this means making people part of the redesign.

Start with a real problem. Involve the employees who do the work.

Train them on actual tasks, including exceptions and mistakes.

Give managers time to coach.

Keep accountability clear.

Then measure whether people can deliver better outcomes: fewer errors, less rework, better service.

Training attendance alone won’t tell you that.

Technology amplifies what your enterprise can do.

Skills, judgment, trust, and ownership help turn that amplification into a POSITIVE impact.

Before your next rollout, ask your team:“What do you need to make this work?”

And build their answers into the plan.