Overcoming AI Resistance in the Workplace

If there are concerns around adopting AI into our everyday lives, it stands to reason there are concerns around adopting it at work too. As we’re seeing AI come into more marketing and IT roles, it has been helping in sales and customer service for years now. Afterall, there’s plenty of research to suggest we could all do with either extra hours in the day or a little more time getting some actual work done…

• Users spend 60% of their time on communication apps like meetings, chats and emails and just 40% in creation focused apps like Excel, PowerPoint and Word 
• 85% of emails are read in under 15 seconds 
• The average worker has to read around 4 emails for every 1 sent 

Source

The top three 3 concerns we hear from sales teams:

• "AI will replace sales jobs." This is perhaps the most common fear, but it misses the mark. What we're seeing isn't replacement but augmentation. 
• "AI can't understand the nuances of human communication." While AI still has limitations in understanding context and emotion, it's getting better every day. 
• "Customers don't want to talk to robots." This assumption is increasingly outdated.

In America, we clearly don’t have a problem ‘talking to robots’...  

• Around 84.2 million people using Siri 
• Around 88.8 million people are using Google Assistant 
• Around 75.6 million people are using Alexa 
• Around 98 million households have a smart speaker 

Source

Sales Team Resistance

When it comes to sales teams specifically, resistance often manifests in unique ways: "This will make my job obsolete." "I'll lose my commission opportunities." "The technology is too complicated." "It won't capture my personal touch."

These same fears were expressed when the computer came into the workplace and again when emails came along. What makes AI far superior than computers and email when they first arrived, is its ease of use.

According to LinkedIn the use of learning courses designed to build AI aptitude has spiked 160% among non-technical professionals. The platform has also reported a 142x increase in the amount of users adding these AI skills to their profile.

So the answer is simple: If you’re an employee - take the initiative to upskill yourself. If you’re an employer - start offering training if you want to keep your best staff.

Overcoming Resistance: Practical Strategies

How can business leaders address these concerns and help their teams embrace AI tools? Start with education. Focus on augmentation, not replacement. Involve sales teams in implementation. Provide proper training and support. Celebrate early wins.

Did you know… Only 2% of Chief Human Resource Officers strongly agree that their current upskilling efforts are developing the skills their employees need for the future. Source

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