AI copilots gain traction in organizations: Forrester’s research reveals a surge in AI copilot adoption, with 51% of global information workers reporting their organizations are embracing solutions like Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 and ChatGPT Enterprise.
- Despite widespread adoption, organizations are struggling to quantify the return on investment (ROI) for AI copilots, creating a dilemma for leaders.
- The challenge lies in balancing the potential future benefits of generative AI (genAI) against the difficulty of measuring immediate results.
A pragmatic approach to AI copilot implementation: To resolve the genAI business case conundrum, organizations need to address four key areas: benefits, adoption, funding, and responsibility.
- Benefits: The immediate payoff of AI copilots starts with improved employee experience, which is crucial for driving productivity gains.
- Adoption challenges stem from employees struggling to master new technologies, potentially leading to diminished productivity or outright rejection.
- Funding for AI copilots often falls to tech leaders, but the report suggests that corporate priorities should be backed by corporate funding.
- Responsibility for successful implementation requires a collaborative team approach, involving various stakeholders across the organization.
Understanding the true benefits of AI copilots: Leaders must recognize that the path from implementing AI tools to realizing productivity improvements is not immediate and requires significant effort.
- The focus should be on human factors such as employee experience, collaboration, and culture to ensure successful integration of AI copilots into daily work.
- Organizations need to be patient and understand that there is a delay between launching AI tools and seeing tangible productivity gains.
Overcoming adoption hurdles: Successfully implementing AI copilots requires a human-centered approach and comprehensive support for employees.
- Many employees lack the understanding, skills, and ethical awareness necessary to use genAI effectively.
- Organizations should focus on human-centered design, proper employee training, process change, skills development, and continuous support to address adoption challenges.
- Misconceptions about genAI are common, even among decision-makers, highlighting the need for education and awareness programs.
Navigating funding challenges: The report outlines key practices to guide budget conversations for AI copilots, recognizing that funding models may vary based on the type of copilot being implemented.
- General-purpose copilots available to all knowledge workers should be funded from corporate budgets.
- Expert systems integrated into practitioner workflows may be funded from departmental or operations budgets.
- Task-specific copilots, such as those used by contact center agents, should be funded from operations budgets.
- While IT can administer these budgets, they shouldn’t be expected to cover the new costs entirely.
Creating a collaborative ecosystem: Successful implementation of AI copilots requires a diverse team of stakeholders working together.
- The traditional IT + business + operations team model needs to be expanded to include domain experts, ensuring genAI models make valid intellectual contributions.
- Data, AI, HR, customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX), and learning and development leaders should also be involved in the planning and implementation process.
- Organizations are encouraged to conduct workshops that bring together this “village” of stakeholders to develop a comprehensive copilot strategy.
Looking ahead: The evolving landscape of AI copilots: As organizations continue to grapple with the challenges and opportunities presented by AI copilots, several key considerations emerge for future success.
- The focus on employee experience and adoption will likely become increasingly important as organizations seek to maximize the value of their AI investments.
- Developing more sophisticated methods for measuring ROI and productivity gains from AI copilots will be crucial for justifying continued investment and expansion of these technologies.
- As the AI landscape evolves, organizations may need to remain flexible in their approach, adapting their strategies to accommodate new developments and emerging best practices in the field of AI copilots.
It Takes A Village To Make AI Copilots Successful
