The adoption of artificial intelligence in the workplace is progressing more slowly than many business leaders expected, presenting an opportunity for employees. Since the arrival of ChatGPT, companies have anticipated a radical transformation driven by AI, but three years later, that change has not fully materialized. What is causing this delay, and how can companies accelerate the process? These questions were central to discussions among executives at the Davos Forum, where Business Insider organized a roundtable with 15 senior HR executives. One of the most frequently mentioned reasons was employee resistance or skepticism towards AI, driven by uncertainty about its impact on their jobs and the proliferation of ineffective tools. To counter this, some companies have tried to impose the use of AI, even integrating it into performance evaluations. However, Cisco's experience shows that mandatory training can be counterproductive. Francine Katsoudas, the company's Chief People Officer, explained that mandatory AI training not only did not increase usage but also generated backlash. In contrast, offering employees the choice of various tools and how to use them proved to be much more effective. Another identified barrier is the lack of specific skills to leverage AI. Some executives, like Kyle Lutnick from Cantor Fitzgerald, advocate for hiring recent graduates who are more familiar with these technologies. However, Elizabeth Faber, Global Chief People Officer at Deloitte, emphasizes that investment should also focus on training the current workforce, as the focus has so far been more on technology than on people. A third obstacle is the need to redesign internal processes. According to Faber, 84% of workflows remain the same after the introduction of AI, limiting its impact. Startups, starting from scratch, are better positioned to adopt AI-native organizational models, unlike large corporations, which require a deeper and slower transformation. These solutions, while promising, take time. Motivating employees, training them, and redesigning jobs are complex and lengthy tasks. Many companies do not even have a detailed record of their employees' skills and tasks, making it difficult to identify what can be automated. When asked if they foresee a significant reduction in staff in the coming years, only two out of fifteen raised their hands. Gina Vargiu-Breuer, Chief People Officer at SAP, noted that as long as the company continues to grow, they will maintain a stable workforce, although she acknowledges that if productivity increases and growth stagnates, they might reconsider this stance. The general conclusion in Davos was that the total transformation of work by AI is still far off. The integration of new technologies in companies has always been a slow process, and while short-term changes may be limited, long-term changes could be much deeper than we imagine. This gradual evolution gives workers time to adapt, acquire new skills, and participate in the debate about the future of work. However, it would be a mistake to think that the AI revolution will not come; when it does, its impact will be significant, both in challenges and opportunities. (Source: businessinsider.es)