Rethinking AI: Why the Real Challenge Isn’t the Tech—it’s the People
As companies race to embed AI across every function, new jolting data is emerging: early adopters of generative AI reported a 37% surge in job anxiety and a 22% drop in team cohesion, according to a 2024 University of Chicago/MIT Sloan study. That’s a people failure, there's just no other way to look at it.
Values Matter: The Human Fix for AI Anxiety
We talk about this all the time, how culture is really just a group of people coming together because of shared values. Values drive the culture. So and it stands to reason that the companies that win with AI aren’t just implementing tools—they’re understanding people.
Consider these real-world interventions:
Colgate‑Palmolive launched an internal “AI Hub,” enabling teams to build their own AI tools. Result: employee skepticism fell sharply.
Rent a Mac appointed frontline “AI champions” who shared tooltips and real use-cases—leading to wide enthusiasm and adoption.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan embedded an AI leadership team to foster peer education and responsible AI use—it saved over $10 million in one contract review alone.
These are value-driven cultures in action. They speak to core human values like Trustworthiness, Community, and Personal Growth, not just efficiency.
But for every Colgate Palmolive or Blue Cross story about a company doing it right there are 1000 stories of companies that messed things up. Even with the best of intentions, unless you know precisely what matters most to people – what they value – you're left guessing about what will work.
We have profiled some organizations where the value of Personal Responsibility ranked high, and was key to the success of AI adoption. People wanted to feel like they were doing it for themselves. Putting programs in place that allowed employees to feel a sense of agency around AI was the winning strategy. But that same straegy would fail miserably in other organizations that we've looked at, where Personal Responsibility doesn't matter at all.
Valuegraphics: The Secret Weapon in AI Leadership
At Valuegraphics, we use our proprietary database to identify what truly drives your workforce. A valuegraphic profile gives you:
A cultural compass: map what matters most to your teams.
Targeted messaging: connect AI to shared values like Employment Security, Personal Growth, or Community
Cohesion tools: AI Hubs, peer champions, transparent comms: find out which ones match the values of your people
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Workers using GenAI report 5+ hours saved per week—the equivalent of 5.4% more productive time.
IDC data: AI delivers $3.70 in business value for every $1 spent.
But these boom times don’t come automatically. Without a values-based strategy, morale erodes. And so does ROI.
A Call to Action: Lead With Values
If you're planning or already deploying AI, here’s your playbook:
Analyze first. Use valuegraphic profiling to uncover the core values your teams hold dear.
Link purpose to tech. Show employees how AI helps them achieve what matters to them.
Empower from within. Identify the right programs, things like peer-led AI Hubs, Champions, and open channels, grounded in trust.
Track, evolve, repeat. Use data to monitor morale, cohesion, and adoption—and adjust in real time.
Your AI Strategy Starts Here
Understand what truly drives your people. Align AI to those values. Embed adoption in trusted, human-first structures. And the result will be less fear, more cohesion—and exponential returns.
Interested in valus-driven AI adoption strategies? Schedule a call with us.
Values are the answer.
Let's put them to work.
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A look at Valuegraphics Founder David Allison’s latest best-selling book.
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