HR’s AI moment - why people leaders must own the cultural transformation

Recently, I’ve been noticing a common thread in my peers' discussions about AI. Across the enterprise, leaders are paying outsize focus on tools, models, and infrastructure. But we’re spending less time figuring out why so many of us have yet to see meaningful ROI from AI.

In large part, Atlassian’s AI Collaboration Index — CXO Insights report echoes this idea. Just 4% of companies are seeing real ROI from AI, and just 1 in 5 leaders say AI has improved their org’s innovation. Worse yet, over a third say AI has actually slowed their teams down.

So where are we going wrong?

Here’s what I can tell you as Chief People Officer — too many companies are over‑indexing on technological transformation and under‑investing in cultural transformation. AI shouldn’t be treated as a technology roll out led by the IT function alone — it must also ...