Is your company making this common mistake about AI?

Many companies I speak to think of AI as something that their IT department can implement, but this is impossible. Let me explain why. 

Remember back when companies had typists? If you needed a letter typed, you'd take your hand-written notes to a typist who would type them up for you.

Sounds really strange now, doesn't it? We're so used to typing our own emails as this is a fundamental skill that we all have.

Just as typing evolved into a universal skill, the ability to use and interact with AI tools will become fundamental for everyone in the workplace.

Why? Because AI tools are largely job specific.

Every department—be it marketing, HR, or operations—will utilise AI tools tailored to their specific needs. Marketing teams might use AI for content creation and customer insights, HR could leverage AI for recruitment, employee engagement, and training, and operations teams may turn to AI for process optimisation, predictive maintenance, and forecasting.

Each of these tools requires an in-depth understanding of the relevant job discipline to use them effectively because what you are using the AI for, is to augment the skills required for that job. So it would be absolutely impossible for your IT team to implement AI for every single job role.


The digital skills needed to work with these AI tools must become as commonplace as typing your own emails.

Yes, everyone might use tools like ChatGPT for certain tasks, but the purpose and outputs will be specific to each job role. This is why every company will rely on a SUITE of AI tools tailored to different functions, not just a single solution.

The future of work isn't a world where only a few specialists know how to use AI; it’s one where everyone has the basic proficiency to incorporate AI into their role.

So this is a call to action for companies: Start thinking beyond the IT department. AI is everybody’s business.

Has this changed your perspective on how you would approach AI implementation?