Fifty-four percent of C-level executives in Constellation Research's 2018 Artificial Intelligence Survey report that they need to acquire the skill "to restructure the organization to accommodate new business models" as their firms adopt AI. Also top of mind is how to "motivate and manage an AI-augmented team" (48%). Fifty-percent are focused on their own data expertise. My double exclamation points in this post's title come from the insight illustrated by these results. AI alone will not lead to success, and we need to follow the lead of the executives in this research and manage people, technology, and organization design in concert as we introduce this latest wave of technology into our organizations.

The big payoffs come from the integration of technology, business models, and work practices

AI is just the most recent technology tool where we need to do more than focus on a silver bullet. With each wave of technological innovation, organizational dynamics must also shift before the benefits play out:

• Electrification and redesign of factories - Paul David  
• Human capital management software, HR analytics, & pay for performance - Sinan Aral,  Erik Brynjolfsson, & Lynn Wu
• More generally: radical shifts in technological constraints and possibilities - Zlatko Bodrožić & Paul Adler

Higher hopes for this wave

That executives are focused on organizational redesign and the issues of AI-augmented teams at a relatively early stage of AI introduction suggests to me that this transformation may come faster -- and be more effective -- than we might have expected based on past approaches. Whether we call it Plugged-In Management, Thinking in 4T, or something else, it is critical that we keep this organizational focus as we bring more AI to bear.

Constellation Research Survey & Participants

These results are from the 2018 Artificial Intelligence Survey of C-level executives in the Constellation Research subscriber base. Fifty executives responded in January 2018. Download the full report here. (One of the benefits I get as a member of Constellation's Orbits thought leader community is early notification of some of their reports -- Thank you, Constellation Research!)

Constellation’s subscribers likely have more experience with AI than the average organization, with 70% reporting that they are already using AI of some form: AI, machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, cognitive computing, etc. It is exciting to see these efforts reach across the organization with both back-office and customer-facing use and pilots.