AI will not solve your organizational problems if you’re not clear about the “why” behind the transformation.

For years, we have talked about organizational transformation as if it were a destination. But transforming an organization has never been about changing processes, implementing methodologies, or digitizing tasks.

It has always been about something deeper: how an organization behaves, how it makes decisions, and how it learns.

Five years ago, we identified the main challenges holding modern organizations back. Today, with the massive arrival of Artificial Intelligence, those challenges have not disappeared: they have become more visible… and more costly.

AI does not replace organizational transformation. It is an accelerator. And like any accelerator, it does not only boost what works: it also amplifies what is broken.
To understand this, we need to revisit the core challenges that are still present.

1 Communication: the root of almost every problem

In many organizations, formal communication does not flow to decision-makers. Information arrives late, biased, or incomplete. This leads to endless meetings, poorly informed decisions, and documents that nobody reads.

Informal communication, which should act as a lubricant, turns into rumor when trust and psychological safety are missing.

What happens when AI arrives?

• You have more information than ever.
• But not more clarity.
• Nor more alignment.

AI does not fix poor communication; it makes it more evident. You can have spectacular dashboards, but if people do not speak honestly, the quality of decisions does not improve.

2 Alignment: if every area optimizes its own goals, the organization loses

Misalignment is not a lack of good intentions; it is a lack of a shared framework. Objectives defined in closed committees, departments competing with each other, priorities changing without warning… This generates duplication, conflict, fatigue, and loss of focus.

What happens when you introduce AI in this context?

• AI optimizes locally.
• But the organization needs global optimization.
• And without alignment, AI generates more noise, not more impact.

AI can provide valuable insights, but it cannot decide why one objective is more important than another, nor resolve tensions between departments. That is still leadership.

3 Lack of focus: doing everything is the fastest way to achieve nothing

A lack of focus is a clear symptom of an organization without real priorities. More projects are started than can be sustained. People attend ten meetings and make zero decisions. Initiatives drag on because nobody knows what should stop or what should continue.

What happens when we add AI?

• AI generates more possibilities.
• But more options without focus = more dispersion.

AI does not provide focus. The organization must define it, sustain it, and protect it.

4 Adaptation to change: structures designed for stability, not learning

Organizations have innovated in technology… but they continue operating with structures designed for a different time and context. Strong structures, yes, but rigid ones. Structures that slow down today’s market speed.

What about AI?

AI requires fast cycles, experimentation, and distributed decision-making. If your structure does not allow this, AI will simply collide with existing bureaucracy. AI does not make a slow organization agile. It makes its slowness more visible.

5 Talent: attracting is difficult, wasting is easy

New generations seek purpose, autonomy, growth, and balance. Rigid structures, lack of clarity, and limited internal mobility generate frustration and talent loss.

What happens when AI arrives?

Talent wants to leverage technology to learn, create, and deliver more value. But if the organization does not enable it, AI becomes a threat rather than an opportunity. Wasting talent is, more than ever, losing competitive advantage.

6 Customer proximity: more data does not mean more understanding

Paradoxically, the more many organizations grow, the further they move away from real customers. No direct contact, no feedback, no deep understanding.

And here AI can be misleading

• You may have thousands of data points about your users.
• But if you do not understand their context, emotions, or intent… you will not make the right decisions.

AI does not replace empathy. It complements it.

The real problem is not AI

The problem is not being clear about why we want to transform.

AI can:

• Automate
• Accelerate
• Recommend
• Optimize

But it cannot, on its own:

• Generate clarity / build trust
• Align teams
• Resolve tensions
• Set priorities
• Define purpose
• Rebuild culture

…unless we are all AI agents (Skynet muhahaha).

Organizational transformation remains a human process. AI is a powerful tool that only creates real impact when the organizational system is ready to adopt it.

That is why, before asking “How do we implement AI?”, the critical question is:
“Why do we want to transform as an organization?”
“What behaviors, beliefs, and dynamics must change for AI to create impact?”

If we do not address cultural, structural, and leadership challenges, AI will not be the transformation lever we expect. It will be a mirror that amplifies our inefficiencies.

Conclusion

AI is the multiplier.
Culture is the enabler.
Transformation is the purpose.

The organizations that will survive in the coming years will not be those that adopt AI the fastest. They will be those that have:

• A culture that enables learning,
• A structure that enables decision-making,
• The clarity that enables prioritization,
• A leadership that enables trust,
• And a purpose that guides every decision.

AI needs all of that to create real impact.

Is your organization preparing the ground for AI… or trying to implement it on structures that cannot sustain it? I’d love to read your thoughts 👇