Why the real AI transition is human, not technological | nasscom
Why the real AI transition is human, not technological | nasscom
https://community.nasscom.in/communities/ai/why-real-ai-transition-human-not-technological
Publish Date: 2026-03-18 05:19:00
Source Domain: community.nasscom.in
Let’s be honest, AI didn’t quietly enter the workplace. It kicked the door open. In less than two years, generative AI has gone from “interesting experiment” to “boardroom mandate.”
According to McKinsey’s State of AI 2025 report, 88% of organisations now use AI in at least one business function, up from 78% just a year ago. Yet only 39% report any measurable impact on enterprise-level profitability, and among those, most say AI accounts for less than 5% of their EBIT. The adoption wave is real. The value is not arriving at the same speed.
Source: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai
So what’s going wrong?
“We overestimate what technology can do in the short term and underestimate what people need to change in the long term.”
The AI Productivity Paradox
AI tools are everywhere. Real transformation is not. Employees are caught between alarming headlines (“AI will take your job”) and daily reality (“How exactly does this help me work better?”). Leaders, meanwhile, face a different challenge. Huge expectations, fragmented pilots, and very little visibility into what’s actually happening on the ground.
The result?
- AI adoption looks high
- Productivity impact remains unclear
- ROI feels more like hope than evidence
This isn’t a technology problem. It’s a visibility and behaviour problem.
You Can’t Improve What You Can’t See
Every major shift, automation, RPA, digital workflows, has taught us the same lesson: speed matters, but baselines matter more.
Without understanding:
- who is using AI,
- how consistently,
- and whether effort is truly shifting,
organisations are left navigating the AI transition with dashboards full of assumptions.
The Missing Link: Measuring Real Adoption
Many organisations track AI rollout through high-level indicators, licenses issued, tools enabled, access granted.
But the real questions are far more human:
- Are employees actually using AI…
