The potent amalgam of AI ambassadors, a failure culture and openness to change
I recently visited the Hannover Messe, which prides itself to be “most important international platform and hot spot for industrial transformation” The impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was the topic of discussion of quite a few panels. As a transformation management expert, I was particularly interested in panel conversations shedding light on the “how tos” of this challenge.
How do you get the members of an organization - especially a large one featuring thousands of employees - to leverage AI tools speedily?
By chance, I stumbled upon a panel titled “Intelligent product development for sustainable products - can AI save the world”? featuring Matthias Heinrich, Senior Director Data Driven Services at GEA, a German company that in its own words is the “world's largest systems suppliers for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical sectors”. GEA is divided into five divisions, each of which offers leading technologies in the global B2B business. GEA's headquarters are located in Düsseldorf, but the world's largest site with a history of over 130 years is located in Oelde, nestled into picturesque Ostwestfalen Lippe in Western Germany. GEA is listed on the German technology index MDAX, European STOXX® Europe 600 Index and is one of the companies that make up the DAX 50 ESG, MSCI Global Sustainability as well as the Dow Jones Sustainability World and Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Indices.
Matthias mentioned the need to have AI evangelists spread the message about the benefits of AI tools to get organizational members to use these tools eventually.
Matthias didn’t quite say “Make use of AI tools your new normal”, but that was the message.
The below is a summary of an in-depth conversation I was privileged to have with Matthias.
Embracing AI in the Workplace: Strategies for Successful Integration
As the digital landscape evolves, companies face the imperative to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) tools into their operations. This integration not only enhances productivity but also ensures competitiveness in an increasingly AI-driven market. In the German context, the appetite and positive stance towards the use of AI tools seems to exist: 96% of companies participating in a recent survey conducted by the German Association for the digital economy (Bundesverband für Digitale Wirtschaft, BVDW) together with the University for Media Stuttgart (Hochschule für Medien Stuttgart) stated they can positively impact their business success leveraging AI. What is more, 60% confirmed that leveraging generative AI is part of their business strategy. Only 7% of those polled never use AI tools in business.
While this paints a rosy picture, it does not shed light on the extent and the how of AI usage in companies.
The transition to AI requires a combination of favorable strategy, effective change communication, and internal advocacy.
At times, a marriage of top-down and bottom-up change is required. What does this mean? The corporate strategy advocates for the use of AI tools and sets the framework. Employees are encouraged to experiment with AI tools.
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What makes AI adoption particularly effective?
Honoring the human aspect of change - having AI ambassadors that explain the benefits of AI tools and rendering these tools less abstract.
The case study of GEA features simple yet powerful strategies for getting employees to embrace AI tools, highlighting the importance of being early adopters, the roles of strategy, internal AI ambassadors and evangelists, and a failure culture.
Strategic Planning for AI Integration: Combining the strategic imperative with a bottom-up approach
A well-defined strategy is the cornerstone of successful AI adoption. Luckily, this condition is met in the case of GEA. It’s Mission 26 corporate strategy incorporates two relevant pillars, innovation and digitalization”. A special taskforce, ‘team GEA Digital’ at headquarters, has taken the necessary steps to translate the strategy into more actionable items. It identified and clustered activities that can be implemented at the business division and business area level. At first view, this is a classical top-down approach. In GEA’s case, it is set in an organizational culture open to experimentation and a certain degree of freedom to do so.
Everyone seems to be aware that decisions regarding the rollout of AI tools have to be taken in a speedy manner given that innovation happens so quickly. Matthias anticipates more use cases for AI to emerge in the next few years, in particular affecting “sales, service and knowledge documentation”.
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Communicating the benefits of AI tools on all levels and channels
It helps that the degree and extent of communication efforts at GEA matches the tone set by the Mission 26 guideline. GEA reaches out to employees on various channels, informing them about what’s new (when it comes to AI) and how to address this and react to it. When easing the transition to AI tools, frequent and varied communication is key.
The communication team also encourages members of the organization to think on their feet: “Do you have any ideas yourself?”.
This taps into the tacit know how of employees, unearthing suggestions for continuous improvement and quick wins (that so many organizations choose to ignore).
Honing in on AI’s benefits
Generally speaking, employees need to understand the benefits of AI and how it will impact their roles. Transparent communication helps to mitigate fears and resistance. This involves regular updates, informative sessions, and open forums where employees can ask questions and express concerns. Highlighting success stories and case studies can also demonstrate the positive impact of AI, making the abstract benefits more tangible.
GEA experienced that from a strategic and change communication perspective, there is also a need for permanent contact persons for colleagues and employees worldwide as they have a global footprint. Like Matthias, working for the GEA division Separation & Flow Technologies in Oelde. Employees are aware they can reach out to Matthias and his colleagues.
The company can bank on its own AI success story: it developed its own internal ChatGPT together with Microsoft.
This helps to make AI tools much more tangible for “regular” employees. Looking at the greater implication for communication work, GEA actively talks about which tools and updates are already available and advocates for its own ChatGPT tool for example.
The Role of Internal AI Evangelists
As stated in my opening paragraph, Matthias Heinrich is the poster child of an AI evangelist - he is a professional who knows his generative AI in and out and thus has established a lot of credibility with his peers. As the Senior Director Data Driven Services, he experiments with AI tools all the time. He seems to also do that in his time off, testing image processing tools, conjuring up use cases and engaging in big picture thinking about the future of generative AI.
Internal AI ambassadors such as Matthias play a vital role in promoting AI tools within the company. They put a human face to an abstract set of tools.
I got the impression he enjoys this role, musing about topics such as “the challenge for all organizations currently is how can we ourselves educate our colleagues?”. With consultants not being any wiser than their clients, companies really must figure it out themselves. It is clear that Matthias and his team are early adopters who understand generative AI and its benefits. AI ambassadors serve as a bridge between the more technically inclined teams and the rest of the organization. By showcasing the practical benefits of AI and providing ongoing support, these evangelists help to build enthusiasm and confidence among employees.
Fostering a Culture of Failure and everyday Creativity
While Matthias explicitly defined the corporate culture as such, it quickly became clear to me that GEA has a failure culture. Failure culture is commonly defined as a culture that veers towards a set of shared values, goals and practices that encourage learning through experimentation.
When you introduce quickly evolving tools into an organization, give employees opportunities to try them out first hand!
Several pilots are being run (testing AI tools and enabling employees to do so). As one of the strategic pillars of GEA, the company has a deep and general trust in the power of innovation. Matthias highlighted that given the speed at which AI tools are being overhauled and new ones are being introduced by players such as Microsoft and Google, they motivate and encourage people to learn about AI tools by using them. I took a positive note of this - isn’t this an effective way of making an organization more agile without explicitly stating so?
GEA lets itself get inspired by startups, known for their propensity for pivots and experimentation.
GEA recognizes that start-ups play a vital role in fast-moving industries by providing momentum and flexibility. The collaboration between investors, established companies, and entrepreneurs benefits all parties involved, resulting in innovative solutions and products being delivered to customers faster and more efficiently. GEA's integration of start-ups into its business and product development processes has proven successful, much to the satisfaction of its customers.
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A culture of decentralized decision-making
Decentralized decision-making is particularly conducive to running pilots and empowering employees to experiment. What does that mean in practice? When it comes to purchasing AI tools, individual business units need to have a certain procurement autonomy. Says Matthias “Business units must be able to pilot quickly when they identify an AI tool they really want to test and implement”. The Data Driven Services unit has an interface with the central office. This in turn leads to joint (and speedy) procurement decisions, bestowing onto them licenses for AI tools they can test quickly.
Matthias sheds light on the other side of the coin:
“I have to have patience if I want (widespread use of an) AI tool to scale”.
Engaging with Internal and External Stakeholders
Successful AI integration requires ongoing engagement with both internal and external stakeholders. By staying in constant contact with colleagues, customers and start-ups, GEA's experts also have access to the latest research, best practices and collaboration opportunities through partnerships with universities, think tanks and other stakeholders.
With GEA’s largest site being located in Oelde, Ostwestfalen-Lippe, a Western German region that has traditionally been very industrious, tapping into the regional OWL knowledge cluster is a given.
The OWL network consists of industry players such as Miele, Claas, Hettich and hidden champions such as Beckhoff. By exchanging notes on AI, they keep each other informed and on their toes. According to Matthias “we use the infrastructure in a conscious manner”. They also leverage the many universities and think tanks that are in close proximity, such as Fraunhofer Institute, to keep in line with industry benchmarks.
Conclusion
Integrating AI tools into the workplace is a multifaceted process that requires strategic planning, effective communication, and a supportive culture. GEA does so well by fostering internal advocacy, encouraging experimentation, and engaging with a broad network of stakeholders. Whether by choice or by design, they have unearthed a winning approach to get employees on board when it comes to using AI tools.