Beware: AI is already in your business, perhaps by stealth, and it can destroy customer service and burn out your employees…

Paul Ducie, partner and senior consultant at Oliver Wight, takes a sceptical look at AI, cautioning employers on the pitfalls that can arise from rapid AI adoption

Many people believe that AI is so far only being embraced by large or technologically advanced companies with big budgets.  In reality, it is already being introduced into your company by stealth, whether you like it or not, through system and software upgrades through your browsers, databases, email, cybersecurity, operational planning and HR management tools.

AI will be a game-changing transformational technology, but how it is managed into your business will determine whether that transformation is for the better or worse.

Inadequate Project Planning

Businesses have been sold the benefits of AI delivering higher productivity at lower cost, but a growing number of organisations are reporting that inadequate project planning allied to poor implementation, with little or no change management support, is bringing significant additional tension into the workplace, increasing staff burnout rates and damaging their customer relationships.

Where AI programmes are deemed a necessity, decisions are made at the top by the senior team based on optimistic, unsubstantiated business case promises of greater productivity at a significantly lower cost.  But, in many cases, the gains are oversold and a number of household names who have invested in deploying AI are already scaling back or stopping investment programmes based on unsuccessful trials.

We will also see a growing number of businesses suffering from the growing pains of stealth AI, as the unintended consequences start to appear in software they routinely use following standard upgrades by providers: do you understand what your vendors are planning and how it might impact your business performance, positively and negatively?

Burn Out and the Need for Training

Middle management burn-out from devising plans and deploying AI is well-established. Why?  With AI implementation programmes, we see teams being given little or no training and expected to deliver a major change programme, underpinned by all-too-often unrealistic project and operational expectations from senior management.

It’s the same problem when AI gets included in the latest upgrade of the systems and apps your business uses… no training on getting the most from it, nor any on handling its limitations, never mind the management of unintended consequences.

We are also seeing employee burn-out from dealing with the problems when the hoped-for productivity gains fail to appear. People are not being given the skills and training to properly implement the changes and are additionally having to deal with the consequences of the poor implementation and subsequent performance problems.

Getting Employees on Side

We are also seeing a backlash from employees against the AI-driven push for productivity: not only are people in affected areas feeling less-and-less valued, but they also recognise that often they are now competing against the AI engine and being given unachievable targets to hit.

Many believe that AI will destroy jobs and it’s certainly generating high emotion in the workplace.  Inevitably some roles will disappear but, certainly for the foreseeable future, AI will create more and different jobs: AI strategy, project management, implementation, ongoing development, and no doubt additional customer service and operational roles to mop up the problems it generates in the short-term!

A good example of this is customer service deterioration. Every business currently seems keen to implement ChatBot technology, yet every one of us hates the prospect of dealing with one !

Do your customers REALLY want automation?

Most businesses claim they want to delight the Customer when really they are managing cost out rather than challenging themselves as to how they can drive profitable growth.

How many Executive surveys have been undertaken where one of their top pet-hates is their time being wasted: so why then implement technology that has the proven ability to massively frustrate both their employees and Customers – is our time any less precious to us?

Invest in Change Management

Whether it is your own bespoke software or something standard, successfully implementing an AI capability requires investment in change management, including supporting your people so that they understand the reasoning for the change and will ultimately be prepared to own the productivity improvement sought by your business.

Training on how to use it is vital, but more vital is earlier in the process helping them understand both the “why” and the “what’s in it for me”!

Your people need to see how the integration of AI into their working life will make them more effective and successful, not subservient to the machine, with them being able to employ it as a trusted co-pilot to enhance business performance while making the working day better, not worse, for every employee and customer.