“Hey Meta, look and tell me if this outfit is appropriate for a keynote presentation in Kuala Lumpur.”
My friend Anna is wearing a tailored pantsuit and standing in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom. She’s trying on the outfit she intends to wear onstage at an upcoming industry event in Malaysia, where she’s been invited to present the keynote. Her Meta-Rayban glasses beep and pause for a few seconds before responding in a gentle, articulate male voice: “The outfit is appropriate for a keynote presentation. Consider adding some accessories, such as jewelry or a watch to enhance the overall look and add professionalism.”
AI’s impact
That’s not the only help she gets from AI in preparing for the big presentation. When it comes time to sit down and write slides, she uses AI to help create the content, suggesting wording and generating images in real time as she types. She’d recently completed an AI course at the University of Oxford where she’d developed a prototype of a “Super Colleague”, a chatbot modeled on her ideal teammate. She uses it now to bounce ideas back and forth for the storyline of the keynote, helping to refine her thoughts and make her key messages more crisp.
I think of Anna as an everyday AI pioneer. She’s not living in the future; she’s making the most of the tools available now to solve problems today.
Unfortunately, not everyone shares this opinion. When I first tell people Anna’s story, they seem genuinely impressed, and their eyes grow large with curiosity and wonder… until they find out where she works; you see, Anna is my former teammate. She works at Meta. Enthusiasm often turns to cynicism when I say, “Well, of course your friend can do so much with AI; she works at a tech company!” This sentiment sums up what’s holding so many professionals back. There seems to be a self-limiting belief in the corporate workforce that AI tools are relevant – just not to them.
Despite all the noise and constant chatter about AI’s economic impact, only one-third of companies in the US have adopted AI in any form. One explanation for this is certainly fear of the unknown—nearly half of CEOs in a recent PwC survey expressed fear that their company wouldn’t survive 10 years thanks to AI.
But there’s more to it than fear. Seventy-three percent of HR leaders say the balance of their department’s work is mostly administrative and process-focused, complaining that there is limited time to focus on more strategic tasks. However, when we look at the current use cases for AI in the workplace, 9 of the top 10 uses are administrative, process-oriented tasks.
AI is delivering what professionals have been asking for and is available here today. Yet they are choosing not to use it.
So, what is Meta doing differently to generate such productive adoption of AI in the workplace? How can other companies create their own Annas?
Unsurprisingly, L&D plays a large role in driving this behavior change. Here are three behavioral shifts L&D teams can focus on to maximize the uptake and impact on people’s day-to-day work:
Shift from “permission” to “forgiveness”
We’ve all heard the saying, “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission”. While it can be controversial in a corporate environment, the truth is that policies and controls will always be playing catch-up with technology. L&D programs can help this process by creating a mindset shift toward experimentation. Part of this is training and education, but also working with business teams to embrace and celebrate small failures in testing and learning. Removing the fear of trying new things is one of the biggest keys to progress.
Shift from “tech-first” to “human-first”
The worst kind of tech requires time, effort, and switching costs without any tangible returns. L&D teams can serve a critical role in demonstrating the value of AI. One company we worked with created an “Apple Genius Bar” style rollout for a new tool where people could attend a regular monthly masterclass in-person or virtually, see live demos, have their questions answered, and hear from peers on how they were putting the technology to use in their day job. Best of all, they could choose to attend when it was most relevant to them, rather than attending a training course months before they ever had a use for the new tool.
Shift from “wait and see” to “pilot and amplify”
Many IT departments are busy figuring out detailed governance models, privacy and security policies, and organizational architecture surrounding the new technology. This is vital work, but it will be an ongoing process in such a rapidly evolving space. Rather than choosing to sit around and wait, L&D teams can get a headstart in creating a level of comfort around everyday AI. Are AI tools available today that can be used on tasks that don’t pose a significant risk? By identifying small, risk-free pilot cases, the behavioral shifts occur before the enterprise solutions land on their desk.
L&D will ensure a company’s workforce extracts maximum value from AI. Making hundreds of everyday tasks more efficient across a company has a huge potential upside. Imagine a world where every employee is given the confidence, training, and support to unlock their inner Anna—and the good news is that it’s available right now.
