Implementing AI is different than other types of software. Globalization Partners (G-P) Head of HR Laura Maffucci shares her lessons from navigating an AI mandate, handling employee fear, and building a cross-functional AI governance council. Listen to hear how we transition from informal employee experimentation to structured, agentic workflows that enhance productivity without removing the human in the loop.

Key takeaways from the discussion:

Why bolting generic AI tools onto existing, broken workflows fails to deliver much results

How an internal cross-functional AI council enables employee use

The difference between executive perceptions and employee realities

Enabling the desired behaviour

Being real

00:00 Lessons from early enterprise AI implementation

01:13 Scope of AI deployment at GP

02:17 Managing employee fear of job replacement

04:31 Moving from unstructured to structured automation and the change implications

06:00 The differing implementation needs: deep versus broad

08:41 The failure of bolting on AI

10:43 Purpose-built compliance and agentic data scraping

12:43 Managing shadow AI and workflow fragmentation

13:46 Structuring a corporate AI policy council

15:10 Creating positive energy around governance rules

16:40 Executive delusions vs employee realities

18:37 Why rising quality standards impact efficiency

19:21 The role of HR in change management

20:52 Balancing personal skepticism with strategic adoption

22:05 Finding non-technical AI champions in house

24:22 The power of authenticity over corporate jargon

25:27 Where to connect with Laura and G-P

Find Laura

Find Andrea (me)