The drumbeat for AI is deafening. We are surrounded by a mix of hype, fear and intense pressure to do something with this technology that seems to be developing at the speed of light. For CIOs and enterprise technology leaders, the path forward can seem murky and fraught with risks of missteps. But I believe the biggest risk isn’t doing it wrong; it’s a matter of waiting for a “perfect” AI strategy as the world races forward. Real impact with AI doesn’t start with flawless, grand designs. It starts with access, trust and a commitment to hands-on learning.
My journey with technology, even before my career in business, has been a constant lesson in navigating the challenges and opportunities of innovation. I remember experimenting with early expert systems, which led to my first venture designed to help people choose outfits. When we pitched it, potential investors scoffed at the fact that people would never buy clothes online. This, and many subsequent experiences, have taught me an essential lesson: new technologies are often met with resistance – which in retrospect is usually short-sighted.
This pattern continued when I began my CIO career in state and local government. There was a natural tendency towards caution, a preference to play it safe. However, I also witnessed the significant costs that came with this hesitation: missed opportunities to learn, stifled innovation, and the struggle to build a progressive culture. If we wait too long to understand and adopt new technologies, we risk falling behind. I often think back to that early skepticism around online shopping or the initial resistance to SaaS when talking to colleagues about AI. We’ve seen this movie before. It’s time to embrace the immense possibilities of AI and not let fear determine our pace.
From control center to innovation enabler: the evolving role of IT
The role of IT leadership is undergoing a profound transformation. We were once the gatekeepers of technology. Then came SaaS, which began to democratize access to technology, putting powerful tools directly into the hands of employees. AI represents an even more important shift. It can feel intimidating, and as leaders we have a crucial responsibility to demystify it and make it accessible. Like the rise of dot.com, we are witnessing a transformative moment, and IT leaders must harness this potential to drive innovation.
Consider Workday’s approach to AI adoption: we’ve been deliberate and iterative. We didn’t wait for a comprehensive, end-to-end strategy. Instead, we started focusing on building awareness and excitement. We introduced readily available AI features that were integrated into the tools our employees already used every day. The goal was to make AI accessible, intuitive and helpful. This allowed employees to immediately find ways to integrate these tools into their daily work, demystify AI and generate real excitement.
Building trust by putting AI in the hands of employees
Simply granting access is not enough; employees must learn how to use these tools effectively. This is where our AI champions initiative became invaluable. These individuals, hand-selected from different teams, focused on socializing persona-based AI use cases. They became internal advocates and shared real-world examples of how their teammates used AI to improve workflows. This peer-to-peer approach played a huge role in building trust and made AI feel less like a top-down mandate and more like a shared opportunity.
As we moved toward what I call “functional AI” – more complex applications tailored to specific business areas – the importance of collaboration and the willingness to learn from missteps became even more apparent.
Redefining ROI in an experimental world
This journey also necessitated a significant change in the way we evaluate AI investments. We’ve created an AI Advisory Board, bringing together leaders to guide our decisions. We quickly realized that traditional evaluation criteria, with their rigid focus on immediate, quantifiable ROI, were insufficient for the dynamic nature of AI.
We had to adopt a more open mindset, recognizing that even projects without a clear, immediate financial return can deliver incredible value through learning, speed, and uncovering new possibilities. For example, one of our teams developed a valuable earnings reporting tool in just a few weeks with minimal resources. This demonstrated the potential for rapid, impactful development and formed the basis for our future planning. Mistakes, especially small ones, are not only acceptable; they are essential for rapid learning. Waiting for AI technologies to fully mature means we miss crucial opportunities to inject new energy and innovation into our businesses.
A call to action: foster a culture of learning
The key to successful AI adoption is to foster a culture of learning and experimentation. Employees at all levels, whether developers or non-developers, executives or individual contributors, should have the opportunity to get their hands on AI tools and understand how they work. Some companies are letting employees train AI models and learn rapid engineering, which is a great way to take the mystery out of the equation and show people how AI really functions. We encourage our own teams to write prompts and train chatbots, with the aim of AI becoming a true co-pilot in their daily tasks.
Think of it as an athlete who consistently trains and refines his skills to achieve better results. That’s the feeling we want our employees to have with AI – a tool that makes their work faster, better and ultimately more meaningful and joyful. My own mother’s relationship with her voice assistant, which has become an integral part of her life, is simply a reminder of how seamlessly technology can be integrated when it is truly useful.
So to my fellow CIOs and technology leaders: don’t let fear or the quest for perfection paralyze you. Start building awareness. Make AI tools accessible. Strengthen your champions. Redefine your investment criteria to value learning and repetition. Most importantly, foster a culture where experimentation is encouraged and employees feel empowered to explore. The future of work is intelligent, and it is our responsibility – and our opportunity – to take the lead in shaping it.
Rani Johnson is CIO of Working day.
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