𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐈. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.

Your AI plan did not fail.

It failed to win over the person who could have made it work.

I see the same scene in retail training rooms.

An AI-generated plan arrives. The training manager reads it.

“That’s not how we do things here.”
“That’s not my experience.”

The plan gets tested. Half-heartedly.

The verdict comes back: “AI doesn’t work for us.”

Everyone returns to safety.

It’s tempting to blame the manager.

Don’t.

They’re not the problem. They’re the missing piece.

We asked them to execute somebody else’s AI plan instead of helping build it.

That’s the mistake.

Your competitors can access increasingly similar models.

𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭.

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭.

China even calls its national push “𝐀𝐈+”

I like the metaphor.

The AI is increasingly available to everyone.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 “+” 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.

Twenty years of street smarts.

Customer instinct.

Knowing what actually sells on a slow Tuesday.

Knowing which process looks perfect on a PowerPoint slide but falls apart at 5 p.m. on a Saturday.

McKinsey’s latest research found that nearly three-quarters of AI high performers fundamentally redesign workflows.

Among everyone else, it’s about one-quarter.

That redesign cannot come from the model alone.

It needs the people who understand the work.

Toyota demonstrated this four decades ago at NUMMI, its joint venture with GM in California.

A workforce associated with a deeply troubled GM plant went on to produce dramatically better results under a different production system.

The lesson wasn’t that the people had suddenly become better.

The system around them had changed.

That’s the opportunity with AI.

𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐈 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧.

𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐢𝐭.

What did the model miss?
What won’t work in the real world?
What will the customer actually do?

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

AI drafts. Experience challenges.
Together, they redesign the work.

And when it’s ready, let the people who helped build it show the rest of the team.

Put their name on it. Give them ownership.

Because the competitive advantage isn’t the intelligence you rent.

It’s the organisational capability you build around it.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.

Who wrote your AI plan?

And who is expected to make it work?

#ChinaAI+ #AITransformation #FutureOfWork #ChangeManagement #RetailLeadership

Contact

bruno.gentil@sherpaconsultingasia.com

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