Companies are fascinated by the rapid pace at which artificial intelligence (AI) is pushing the boundaries of what is technologically feasible but when it comes to implementation of generative AI (GenAI), they often don’t move beyond individual pilot projects. Alana Kirschbacher, change expert in Sopra Steria Germany’s Telecommunications, Media & Technology (TMT) team, explains the crucial role played by people as change agents in AI transformation success.
Why are companies working so intensively with GenAI?
“On the one hand, the technology enables significant increases in efficiency, resource and time savings and therefore lower costs and freed-up capacities. On the other hand, companies can use the innovation potential to develop completely new business models with GenAI. The opportunity to reinvent themselves is the reason why observers expect major upheavals and a disruptive paradigm shift in the economy in the coming years.
At the moment, we are still at the beginning of this development. But if companies recognise the benefits of AI, and GenAI in particular, and proactively adapt their organisation to the new technologies, they will lay the foundation for tomorrow's success today. So it's not just about optimising business processes but about creating something completely new and evolving as a company.”
What is the best way for companies to get ready for the AI transformation?
“Preparations at an organisational and technical level are necessary in order to be successful. But just as important is a fundamental cultural change in our understanding of where we are and where we want to go.
It is important that all employees are willing to embrace change on a daily basis. In many cases, this cultural change is challenging because ways of thinking and working that have evolved over years or even decades as well as certainties have to be questioned.
At Sopra Steria we support clients with our iTChange approach. In particular, we rely on change agents to support the change in a bottom-up approach across the organisation. In doing so, we ensure that our approach is always geared towards the implementation of a complete AI strategy, the introduction of which we support companies with.”
What exactly do change agents do?
“Change agents are employees who act as ambassadors within the company to promote the AI transformation process and are available to their colleagues as contacts. If, for example, team members encounter challenges during a pilot project to automate customer communication, a change agent first analyses the feedback from employees. Based on this, they adapt the procedure and suggest alternative solutions in order to continue the project successfully and maintain enthusiasm within the team.
In addition to traditional change management tasks, change agents also build a bridge between employees and the new technologies by not only supporting the technical implementation, but also enabling others to identify and implement their own AI-based use cases, for example, by presenting best practices from other departments or companies that show how AI is being used successfully.
In this way, they offer forums to relate the best practices to their own business use cases. Another option is “AI idea pools”, where employees can submit their own suggestions for AI use cases. The change agents assess the ideas and, if necessary, help to provide a support network to implement them.”
What skills does a successful change agent need?
“This demanding role requires a combination of technical expertise, strong communication and interpersonal skills. Technical understanding is essential in order to be able to provide sound support for change. At the same time, a change agent must be able to explain complex issues and engage employees emotionally. Empathy is important in order to understand employees' concerns and perspectives, build trust and deal constructively with resistance.
In addition, a change agent should develop a clear vision of the future that provides direction and remain capable of acting even in challenging situations thanks to a credible attitude. All these skills make them a catalyst for change in the company.”
What results have companies already achieved with change agents?
“As an integral part of our iTChange approach, change agents have already helped us in various projects to significantly increase acceptance of reforms among customers and establish open communication between all stakeholders in the company.
As multipliers, the agents have made a decisive contribution to the sustainable integration of AI into business processes and corporate culture. They also remain important drivers of continuous progress within the company. In general, the iTChange approach builds bridges between the organisation, the new technologies and the people who use them on a daily basis by closely linking technical and human skills.
Our experience shows that people are the key to change - even in the case of AI transformation.”