A cultural shift must take place to implement AI effectively, executives say

AI has shifted the way of working that has existed since the industrial revolution, and company executives believe that organisations must bypass comfort inertia and start using AI for substance.

Contrary to being terrified, LinkedIn research found that 80 per cent of employees reported feeling relieved by the idea that AI can take over some tasks. Still, one in three Australians reported feeling the pressure to keep up with rapidly changing technology and understand how to use AI, LinkedIn found.

There is currently “ungovernable change” (coined by Gartner) rippling across the workforce since the rapid rise of AI, said Jessica Farrell, chief people officer at Publicis Groupe, at a panel discussion at LinkedIn’s Open to Work book launch.

At the book launch on Wednesday, 1 April 2026, a panel of executives discussed how AI is changing the fabric of the workforce and how organisations can navigate its implementation.

AI has challenged the fundamental way employees work, a way of working that has been built for the industrial era, said Sarah Carney, chief technology officer at Microsoft ANZ, during the discussion.

Despite this fundamental shift, Carney stressed that AI implementation in the workplace is not simply a set-and-forget. Workers will always return to how they have always worked if their company’s AI-upskilling programs are inadequate, she warned.

“That comfort inertia is where we always move back to because we haven’t changed the shape of work,” Carney said.

Technology and people teams must come together to implement tech tools; something that not all organisations are doing, she emphasised.

“If you’ve got the tech team rolling out a tech tool, you are actually lining yourself up for failure. You have to do this in concert with your HR and talent teams … that is the magic formula,” Carney said.

In the face of the AI transformation, many workers still view AI use as cheating, causing them to turn to shadow AI, Carney said. With teams being silent about AI and not bringing up its use during meetings, the best foot forward would be to make these conversations culturally normal, she added.

At the panel discussion, The Daily Aus co-founder Sam Koslowski agreed, saying that AI implementation is a cultural shift rather than a technological shift.

“We just haven’t completely normalised it. I would estimate 80 per cent of people are using AI as a ‘fancy Google’,” Carney said.

“No CFO anywhere in the world is going to pay for more AI based on productivity outcomes.”

She emphasised that instead of using it as a “fancy Google”, organisations must implement AI for substance and problem solving rather than just for productivity.

Finally, Farrell and Koslowski emphasised the importance of curiosity atop the cultural shift. Koslowski stressed that curiosity is more important than technology skills in implementing AI, and Farrell added that teams must retain critical thinking in their AI plans.