The beat of AI’s drum is deafening. We are surrounded by a mixture of hype, fear and intense pressure do something This technology seems to be moving at the speed of light. For CIOs and enterprise technology leaders, the path ahead may be unclear and fraught with risk of missteps. But I believe the biggest risk is not to be wrong; It is waiting for a “perfect” AI strategy while the world races ahead. The real impact with AI doesn’t start with flawless, gorgeous designs. It starts with access, trust, and a commitment to hands-on learning.
My journey with technology, even before my corporate career, has been a constant lesson in understanding the challenges and opportunities of innovation. I remember experimenting with early expert systems, which resulted in my first venture into helping people choose outfits. When we introduced it, potential investors scoffed that people would never buy clothes online. This and many subsequent experiences taught me an important lesson: new technologies often face resistance – which, in hindsight, is usually short-sighted.
This pattern continued when I began my CIO career in state and local government. There was a natural inclination towards caution, a priority to stay safe. However, I also saw the significant costs of this hesitation – missed learning opportunities, stifled innovation, and struggles to build a visionary culture. When we wait too long to understand and adopt new technologies, we risk being left behind. When I talk to colleagues about AI I often think of the initial skepticism around online shopping or the initial resistance to SaaS. We’ve seen this movie before. Now is the time to embrace the immense potential of AI and not let fear dictate your momentum.
From control center to innovation enabler: The evolving role of IT
The role of IT leadership is undergoing profound change. We were once the gatekeepers of technology. Then along came SaaS, which began to democratize technology access by putting powerful tools directly into the hands of employees. AI represents an even more significant change. It can seem intimidating, and as leaders, we have an important responsibility to demystify it and make it accessible. Like the dot.com boom, we are witnessing a transformative moment, and IT leaders must harness this potential to foster innovation.
Consider the approach to AI adoption at Workday – we’ve been deliberate and iterative. We didn’t wait for a comprehensive, end-to-end strategy. Instead, we started by focusing on creating awareness and excitement. We integrated readily available AI features within the tools our employees were already using every day. The goal was to make AI accessible, intuitive, and useful. This allowed employees to quickly incorporate these tools into their daily work, demystifying AI and finding ways to generate real excitement.
Building trust by putting AI in the hands of employees
Simply providing access is not enough; Employees need to learn how to use these tools effectively. this is our AI Champions The initiative became invaluable. These individuals, hand-picked from different teams, focused on socializing personality-based AI use cases. They became internal advocates, sharing real-life examples of how their teammates were using AI to improve workflows. This peer-to-peer approach was helpful in building trust and making AI feel less like a top-down mandate and more like a shared opportunity.
As we move towards 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 the experiential world
This journey also required significant changes in the way AI investments are evaluated. We established an AI Advisory Council, which brings together leaders to guide our decisions. We quickly realized that traditional evaluation criteria, with their rigid focus on immediate, quantitative ROI, were inadequate for the dynamic nature of AI.
We need to adopt a more open mindset, recognizing that even projects without clear, immediate financial returns can achieve incredible value through learning, momentum and uncovering new possibilities. For example, one of our teams, with minimal resources, developed a valuable tool for earnings reporting in just a few weeks. This demonstrated the potential for rapid, impactful growth and informed our future planning. Mistakes, especially small-scale mistakes, are not simply acceptable; They are essential for fast learning. Waiting for AI technologies to fully mature means missing out on important opportunities to bring new energy and innovation to our companies.
Call to action: fostering 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 understand AI tools and how they work. Some companies are training employees on AI models and learning accelerated engineering, which is a great way to take the mystery away and show people how AI really works. We’re encouraging our teams to write prompts and train chatbots, with the goal of making AI a true co-pilot in their daily tasks.
Think of it like an athlete who constantly trains, honing 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 enjoyable. My own mother’s relationship with her voice assistant, which has become an integral part of her life, is a simple reminder of how seamlessly integrated technology can be when it’s truly helpful.
So, to my fellow CIOs and technology leaders: Don’t let fear or the pursuit of perfection hold you back. Start by creating awareness. Make AI tools accessible. Empower your champions. Redefine your investment criteria to value learning and iteration. 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 lead in shaping it.
Rani is the CIO of Johnson weekday,
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