In one sense, AI is nothing new. Fraud detection, social media algorithms, financial trading, all of these have been managed by algorithms for many years now without much buzz. What's changed, however, is the scope of emerging technologies and their abilities to augment and replace human activities across a broad range of working life.
This shift hasn't gone unnoticed by employees, whose negative attitudes have often been driven by concerns about job security. A survey from Cypher Learning found that 45% of people were concerned about their job security, and 33% of people wanted AI banned from the workplace. This sentiment has been mirrored in high-profile rollbacks of AI technology in companies that failed to align their company culture with the introduction of these emerging tools.
Sheerluxe, a lifestyle magazine, faced backlash after introducing their AI-augmented assistant, Reem. The assistant was criticised for exploiting diversity without offering genuine representation, as it replaced potential opportunities for real women of colour. While Sheerluxe acknowledged the concerns, particularly regarding representation and ethical implications, they defended their decision to continue using the AI assistant. They emphasised that Reem was not intended to replace human roles but to enhance content creation, clarifying her role and purpose.
Lattice, the HR tech company, initially planned to give AI assistants formal roles as employees, adding them to organisational charts, assigning managers, and monitoring their productivity. However, after significant backlash from HR professionals and concerns about undermining human workers, Lattice quickly abandoned the idea. Critics argued that this move dehumanised real employees by treating AI like human staff, setting a potentially negative precedent in the workplace.
Similarly, the U.S. National Archives faced employee pushback after introducing a public-facing chatbot powered by Google Gemini. Employees expressed concerns about how the AI was being used and its impact on their roles.
It would be short-sighted to view this as merely an issue of messaging or the nature of the tools introduced. The real problem lies with company culture: it is only at the point of introducing such policies that employee sentiment becomes apparent. Where was the communication between employees and management? Were there no discussions among employees about these changes?
The companies at the forefront of AI innovation are adapting their cultures to put employees in the driving seat when it comes to these transformational technologies. Microsoft is a great case study in AI development done right. They talk about an "AI-ready culture" that "puts people first." Giving employees a voice and fostering a culture of experimentation is crucial to avoid failure in implementing these changes.
Microsoft's company culture has shifted to promote a "learning culture." Where AI threatens the value of experts, a change in company culture becomes necessary. Herminia Ibarra, a renowned organisational behaviour professor, describes the core of this learning culture as "stop saying I know everything and start saying I'm ready to learn everything." Redefining the role of employees as flexible learners shifts the focus of AI from replacing human workers to augmenting them in their day-to-day lives.
Jared Spataro, a senior executive at Microsoft, describes AI as a way to address an employee's "digital debt." On average, an employee spends 60% of their time communicating instead of working on thoughtful tasks. AI assistants and automation have the potential to free up that time, allowing employees to focus on more meaningful work—a promising prospect for companies that have invested in a culture where employees are not threatened by having mundane tasks automated.
The data supports this. An MIT working paper found that 75% of organisations saw improvements in morale, collaboration, and collective learning after implementing ChatGPT. The paper concludes that removing drudgery frees up employees to do more interesting and valuable work.
This suggests a deeper idea: company culture is not just important for successfully implementing AI tools, but AI tools can also have a positive impact on company culture, making human work more engaging than before.
The current discourse around AI implementation largely focuses on mature companies, balancing the threat of replacing employees with the benefits of augmentation and increased productivity. What's missing from the conversation is how startups, with the right culture, can seamlessly marry valuing employees with adopting AI technology.
Startups have the ability to run lean and increase productivity, allowing disruptors to enter markets where the financial barriers to entry once gave established companies a pseudo-monopoly. Implementing AI across development, sales, marketing, and operations means that adaptable startups can scale quickly while maintaining a lean model—a feat that wasn't possible even a few years ago. For those startups ahead of the curve, the sky's the limit.
