We may have gotten a bit ahead of ourselves.
As generative AI rolls out in the workplace, we’re already seeing the start of its potential, but it isn’t quite where the tech industry thought it would be by now – fundamentally embedded in business processes, a competitive differentiator and much more.
by Ron White 
Still, its impact will be profound, and in client conversations my overarching advice remains the same: at the pace we’re moving, if you get behind, you’ll never catch up. And what’s the one thing that will hold you back even more than technical debt or the wrong decision on a solution? Human emotion.
That’s because generative AI, unlike any other disruptive technology I’ve seen, is sparking workplace fears (or perhaps better put – hesitation, concerns and big challenges) in organizations at all levels through executive leadership. Furthering these fears is a constant push from leadership to unlock the magic and a sense that one must say, “All is well. Yes, we know everything about generative AI.” This makes it even harder at times to address these fears productively. And yet the sooner program owners identify, acknowledge and address them, the sooner they’ll have an environment in which innovative use cases glide from PoC to MVP, from implementation to scale and ultimately to compelling business value.
Here are the six most common fears I’m hearing about generative AI in the workplace and my advice for overcoming them:
- I’m going to lose my job. This fear emerged early and fast and hasn’t gone away, so I’m sure it’s no surprise to see it at the top of my list. What is surprising is that in spite of evidence of productivity gains, employees are still pushing away tools that can help them be more successful. As leaders, we need to reassure our teams that AI is an ally; it isn’t going to replace them. AI instead has the potential to remove some of our mundane tasks, giving us back time, so we can focus on the parts of our jobs that are more interesting. One participant in our recent research on Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 adoption said, “My fear of AI replacing my job shifted to embracing its support. Copilot didn’t replace me; it made me more competent.” In fact, 55% of Avanade AI users believe that the introduction of AI has increased their areas of responsibility in their roles.
- I don’t have the same opportunity to experiment as my co-workers. An unlevel playing field is intertwined with the above fear because once someone is ready to embrace AI as the ally that it is, they may not have access to a license. The reality is that an investment in generative AI results in an incremental licensing cost, so not everyone will receive the tools immediately. Reassure your people that they’ll get their opportunity. In the meantime, provide them with important training that promotes work behavior shifts. Copilot familiarity requires time and repetition, so with our own Copilot implementation, we trained employees on how to use Copilot in their day-to-day work, most importantly with prompt engineering.
- Can I really trust what it creates for me? We see disillusionment from a lot of people with generative AI. They get an amazing output the first time they use ChatGPT, and they expect consistency. But just as human interaction isn’t perfect, neither is generative AI. The technology – like people – needs the right context to respond to a question (see above on prompt engineering). While we’re spoiled by the ease of and seamless interface with modern applications, ChatGPT is more complex. That doesn’t make it a bad technology – just one that requires more practice. In fact, in our study 86% of Avanade people feel that Copilot for M365 is valuable even if it occasionally makes mistakes. And 49% of participants who are using AI in their workflow are using it daily, indicating that once an AI tool is integrated it becomes a critical component of a user’s routine.
- It will reveal holes that I have to answer for. For leadership, the fear of exposure of information that reflects poorly on them or the organization can be stifling. There’s no perfect answer, but I tell clients to view it as an opportunity. Don’t put your head in the sand. The holes of course will be there, but turning on generative AI will give you better visibility so that you can fix them. Embrace its ability to help you iteratively improve.
- There’s too much regulatory risk. This may be the biggest leadership fear. Governments are putting in several new policies that sometimes might be intimidating in how you should react. This could potentially lead to analysis paralysis. My advice is to look at your organization’s risk tolerance, work with your legal counsels, and reevaluate what your typical reaction has been. In adopting Avanade’s own Copilot for M365, we worked with our legal team to understand the risk and address any potential noncompliance. This cross functional discussion, collaboration and understanding of the risk was crucial to a successful global rollout.
- Can I prove the value? There are a lot of questions around the value case for generative AI – how can it be proven when the technology is expensive to implement? Yes, ensuring your ROI doesn’t get off track is imperative, and I can assure you that the productivity savings is real; 87% of Avanade AI users agree that using AI helps them accomplish their work tasks more quickly. Here’s the catch: the baseline is being reset, meaning the productivity you get is now expected. When you reset a baseline to this degree, it’s hard to identify the savings. I believe our research proves the value. What organizations must do is accept the value without slowing down for value analysis.
Finally, a word about failure, the common thread in all these fears. Embracing it is a popular mindset currently, but it’s still not well received in the corporate world. Yet these technologies are so new and challenging that if you’re worried about failing, you’ll never move forward. Generative AI is changing what we do, value and believe, and we’re seeing a lot of missteps, but also a lot of rich learnings. So, prioritize your generative AI gameplan. Determine if you need a partner to help you skip forward. And reassure your people about this exciting new way of working. With the right strategy, change management approach and governance framework, they’ll soon put their fears aside and embrace the new world of work.
Ron White is CIO at Avanade.
Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash
