Want More Out of Your AI Investments? Think People First
Want More Out of Your AI Investments? Think People First
https://www.bain.com/insights/want-more-out-of-your-ai-investments-think-people-first/
Publish Date: 2026-02-11 14:05:00
Source Domain: www.bain.com
- Companies face challenges like rising costs, aging workforces, and intense competition, with many settling for modest productivity gains despite heavy investments in AI and automation.
- A critical oversight in many AI strategies is not linking workflow modernization with workforce modernization, which is essential for transformational, enterprise-wide value.
- Forward-looking companies achieve higher productivity by adopting four high-gain moves: human-centric transformation of workflows and workforces, continuous improvement engine, addressing accumulated workflow debt, and enhancing the employee value proposition.
- To unlock AI’s potential, organizations need to adopt a smarter way forward that synchronizes workflow and workforce modernization and links technology, operations, and human resources in a continuous cycle.
- Successful AI implementations focus not on micro-productivity improvements, but on redesigning workflows with an end-to-end approach and removing workflow debt to create better synchronization with workforce modernization.
- A leading example is a UK banking group that managed to dramatically reduce a customer engagement process from 60-100 days with over ten handoffs to just one day by redesigning both workflows and workforce roles cohesively.
- Achieving a perpetual productivity engine involves iterative workflow improvements, keeping work balanced between humans and machines, utilizing telemetry, and creating feedback loops to continuously improve and compound productivity.
- Organizations achieving high workforce engagement and productivity see significantly better total shareholder returns, stressing the importance of managing both productivity outcomes and workforce health.
- Realizing the full potential of AI requires companies to address workflow debt, standardize processes, modernize their workforces, and adopt a balanced productivity scorecard that considers both hard and human factors in total workforce productivity.
