3 Ways to Invite AI Into Your Business Without Scaring Your People

Corporate leaders are reevaluating their stance on AI, transitioning from skepticism to recognizing its necessity in business processes. A notable challenge is the integration of AI into corporate culture and operations, as evidenced by a survey showing only 9% of companies have an AI vision statement. The key to bridging the gap and implementing AI successfully is using ethical AI adoption, practical AI training, and transparency in AI use to build trust among employees. This approach aims to leverage AI’s potential while addressing ethical concerns and aligning with corporate values — crucial for thriving in the contemporary business environment.

Only a couple of years ago, three-quarters of executives said they didn’t have a lot of faith in their data. Is it any wonder that two-thirds listened to their guts instead of their numbers? That was then, though. This is now, and things have changed.

Leaders are waking up to the fact that they can’t just push data and technology aside, especially AI tools and systems. However, many are still perplexed by how to properly incorporate AI into the fabric of their corporate processes and cultures. A 2023 survey found that only 9% of organizations had an AI vision statement in place, and more than one-third of respondents had no plans to create such a statement.

Admittedly, it’s a tall order to ask executives and directors to navigate AI. It’s only been a little over a year since ChatGPT rattled the world. However, the time is now for leaders to put measures in place that allow them to get the most out of AI and everything it can bring to the table.

If you’re confused about how to make use of AI for yourself and your colleagues, keep the following suggestions in mind. They’ll move you forward in a way that not only protects your company and people, but also allows you to gain AI’s intrinsic advantages:

1. Put ethics front and center.
   One of the reasons many people have taken a fearful, distrusting stance toward AI is because of ethical and privacy considerations. Certainly, AI isn’t without its ethics-related problems. Generative AI solutions have especially come under the microscope for producing and spreading inaccurate information — or just hallucinating altogether. Plus, there’s worry about AI stealing intellectual property and ideas from creators.

   The way to deal with this as a responsible leader is to insist on only ethical AI adoption at your business. Peter Mulford, chief innovation officer at management consulting firm BTS, says that maintaining the highest degree of ethics can be daunting but is essential to gain AI’s benefits. “Done well, AI can actually bring diverse perspectives to the table, fostering a more inclusive decision-making process and eliminating biases that hinder human-only decision-making as we go,” he explains. “As AI becomes more prevalent, the firms that ‘get it’ will make cultural shifts toward more agile, data-driven decision-making. This shift will encourage a culture of innovation and experimentation.”

   How can you make sure AI is approached from an ethical perspective to get those positive outcomes? Consider setting up an AI ethics committee. Many companies are redesigning their team setups to include ethics advisors and insider groups. Empowering some of your people to take on this role sets up guardrails and protections around AI adoption.

2. Concentrate AI training around real-life applications.
   You’ve probably noticed that discussions around AI can become somewhat esoteric and philosophical. While it’s fine to muse about AI from a 30,000-foot view, bring your internal AI training down to earth. Otherwise, you may find that your teams won’t actually know how to accurately or safely use AI — or the data that comes from it.

   To ensure your AI training has real-world applications, start by identifying all the places where AI tools and advancements can assist you and your people. Then, find AI training and coursework to support those use cases. For example, if you want your marketing and sales departments to add generative AI into their everyday workflows, you’ll need to find training specific to that subject.

   As a final note, do what researcher Graham Walker recommends in his academic study on the value of participatory training experiences: “Allowing participants freedom — i.e., agency, autonomy, and environments to foster self-efficacy — to develop skills that match real-world activity and, critically, provide scope for participants to discover and create what is most relevant to them — what they identify with at a deeper level … programs need to create space for participants to discover it themselves.”

3. Fuel a culture that promotes transparency.
   Employees are human beings, and human beings dislike the feeling of being “out of the loop.” Therefore, it’s important that you remove any implication of secrecy around your intentions to add more AI to your operations. And this can be done by acting transparently. In his writing about AI and workforce management, Nick Bandy, chief marketing officer at LiveVox, puts special emphasis on the importance of transparency. “By creating a culture of transparency and trust around AI-driven decision-making, companies can help employees feel safe and respected,” he writes. “When employees have insight into how AI systems make decisions, they are more likely to trust these technologies as valuable tools that augment their expertise instead of viewing them as intrusive ‘black boxes.’”

Transparency can be achieved by talking openly about AI during all-team meetings, one-on-ones, and distributed communications. The less clandestine you make AI seem, the easier it will be for employees to view it as something advantageous — and not a threat to their positions.

It’s clear that all modern businesses are going to have to figure out how to make AI work. Just be sure that you create a path forward that allows you to get all the upsides of AI and none of the pushback.

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