Trend 6
Employment enhanced
Enterprise-wide cultural change leads to AI gains
Harnessing the full business potential of generative AI demands change. However, successful transformation goes beyond merely adopting new tools; it requires a fundamental reimagining of organisational culture. As we approach 2025, leaders need to recognise that the integration of generative AI isn't just a technological shift but a profound evolution in how organisations operate, engage with customers and empower employees. While change management will certainly be a topline trend for 2025, the priority for business leaders will be less about transformation and more about definition. How can you lead a transformation if you can’t define what the core change is or how that change is going to impact the organisation? Business leaders must familiarise themselves with the current offerings and capabilities within the AI space. This involves a technical understanding of AI and a keen awareness of how customer expectations are shifting. Only with these insights is it possible to visualise how AI technologies will create value and redefine employee roles as well as develop the right change management strategy. Generative AI presents both remarkable opportunities and significant challenges. The potential for enhanced creativity, efficiency and personalisation can revolutionise products and services. However, organisations must also grapple with ethical implications, data security concerns and the risk of job displacement. By understanding and addressing both the technical capabilities and cultural implications of AI adoption, leaders can create a digital culture that acts as a catalyst for change rather than a constraint.
What are the biggest transformation mistakes?
The three biggest transformation mistakes and how to avoid them
Just as with any other technological breakthrough, generative AI isn’t something that your business can simply bolt on to existing processes or operations. True benefits can only come from integrating the technology as part of a wider business transformation. And, when it comes to transformation, although the rate of success is actually much higher than many perceive, it is true that projects focused on digital adoption often fail to deliver fully against all initial goals or business objectives. And this is usually due to one of three reasons.
Limited vision or strategy
In the race to get started, organisations don’t fully define the ultimate aim or objectives and so fail to develop a comprehensive strategy. This can mean wasting resources, adopting technologies that don’t genuinely align with the business, and projects and initiatives that run over budget or don’t deliver a return on investment.
Ignoring change management
Organisations still make the mistake that transformation is only about adopting technology. But of course, it touches all parts of the business — company culture needs to adapt and employees need to be on board to make the most of these changes. Without full buy-in, initiatives won’t gain traction or, worse still, efforts can become fragmented between departments or operations and create silos.
Underinvestment in technology and training
The need to upgrade existing tech stacks or other digital tools in order to support a change can often be overlooked, as can the need to invest in the existing workforce. As well as changing culture, employees will need to change or adapt their skill sets, which requires training. However, even with the right training programs, organisations will also need to hire new employees with new capabilities or expertise.
What each of these mistakes has in common is that they’re easy to avoid if your organisation can establish clear project goals and adopt a clear, proven project management methodology that will help develop a road map and keep the transformation on track.