Want More Out of Your AI Investments? Think People First

Source Domain: www.bain.com

Rising costs, aging workforces, and relentless competition from native AI and tech-forward competitors are pressuring companies to increase productivity. But while billions have been spent on automation and artificial intelligence, few organizations have achieved transformational, enterprise-wide value. So far, most companies and industries have had to settle for something narrower: faster reports, fewer coders, and modest micro-productivity gains.

What’s missing? A critical focus on linking workflow modernization to workforce modernization. Workflow modernization requires deep process reengineering, simplification, and targeted technology application. Workforce modernization relies on smarter teaming, more robust strategic workforce planning, and dynamic reskilling and redeployment. The two are inextricably linked, but too often, workforce modernization trails behind workflow redesign. If technology’s impact on people is treated as a downstream change management challenge, AI won’t get past micro-productivity improvements. Instead, companies will settle for less ambitious goals, less creative technology deployment, and lower adoption and scaling—leading, in turn, to disappointing ROI, workforce disengagement, and technology skepticism.

Why AI investments stall at micro-productivity

There is a better way. Forward-looking companies are converging on four high-gain moves:

Deploy AI in a human-centric way that transforms workflows and modernizes workforces in parallel to boost engagement, experimentation, and adoption.
Invest in building the technology and HR capabilities underlying a next-generation continuous improvement engine that dynamically links workflow and workforce as technology continuously changes the allocation of work between humans and agents.
As part of the AI transformation, systematically address the accumulated workflow debt that has built up over time in knowledge-based workflows.
Reimagine and strengthen your…

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