I recently spoke with an employee at a global professional services firm, and it was clear that AI was weighing heavily on their mind.
As part of a team responsible for porterage and office equipment set-up, they’d been told that discretionary bonuses would, in part, be linked to how much AI they used in their role.
Understandably, this had created real anxiety.
🤷♀️ “How can AI move heavy equipment?”
🤷♀️ “How can AI rearrange office furniture for multiple room set-ups every day?”
The reality is that AI can probably add value to almost every role in some way. It might help with planning workloads, scheduling tasks or improving communication. But it can’t physically move furniture……yet!
The challenge is that this employee isn’t responsible for planning or allocating work—that sits with management. So, they were left wondering what “using AI more” actually meant for their job.
This highlights an important lesson for organisations.
Setting AI adoption targets is one thing. Helping people understand how AI can genuinely support their role is another.
Without that guidance, well-intentioned AI initiatives can create confusion, anxiety and disengagement rather than innovation.
I’m left wondering how many organisations are rolling out AI strategies without investing enough time in helping every employee understand what success using AI looks like in their specific role.
Have you seen examples of AI implementation creating unnecessary anxiety because people were told to use it, but not shown how?