Part 1 - The AI Mindset: Why Most Companies Are Stuck in AI Purgatory
Nearly half of technology leaders say AI is "fully integrated" into their companies' strategy. Yet 74% of companies struggle to achieve real value from AI. What's going wrong?
This is Part 1 of my AI Mindset series. While most people focus on tools and techniques, I've discovered the real barrier to AI success is psychological, not technological. This post explores why and what to do about it.
The Great AI Paradox
We're living through one of the most fascinating contradictions in business history. Organizations are investing billions in artificial intelligence. Almost all companies are investing in AI, with 78% reporting they use it in at least one business function—up from 55% just a year earlier. The technology is advancing at breakneck speed, with new capabilities emerging monthly.
But something apparently isn't working. 74% of companies struggle to achieve and scale value from AI. Only 1% believe they are at maturity. Despite all the investment, training, and implementation, most organizations are stuck in what I call "AI purgatory": they have the tools but can't unlock the transformation.
Personally, I think that the problem is human.
The Human Story
I’m sure you know of people who say they aren't familiar enough with AI technology, and who say it's not useful for them. They aren't experiencing technical limitations, but perceptual ones. It’s not well understood that working with AI is not really technical.
There are professionals in many lines of work who worry they'll lose their job if they don't learn AI, yet most don't know how to get the most value from it at work. Fear and confusion cause slowdown, these are not capability gaps.
There are companies like Shopify, Canva who invested in the mindset shift. When people's thinking shifted, their relationship with AI transformed.
AI adoption isn't failing in a company or sector because the technology isn't ready or necessarily because they picked the wrong tools. It's failing because the people are not ready or prepared adequately.
The Old Playbook Doesn't Work
Most organizations are treating AI like they treated previous technologies: as tools to optimize existing processes. They're asking things like, "How can we use AI to do what we already do, but faster and cheaper?"
This approach worked for spreadsheets, CRM systems, and project management software. AI isn't just another productivity tool. This is a fundamentally different category of technology that requires a fundamentally different approach.
Consider the difference between Excel and ChatGPT:
Excel processes data you give it according to formulas you specify
ChatGPT collaborates with you to explore problems you didn't even know you had
Excel amplifies your existing capabilities. AI can help you develop entirely new ones.
The Five Human Barriers to AI Success
I think that there are five distinctly human barriers that have nothing to do with technical capability:
1. Fear Masquerading as Skepticism
"I don't trust AI" often translates to "I'm afraid of becoming irrelevant." This fear creates a closed loop: people avoid AI because they're afraid of it, but they remain afraid because they avoid it.
Experience dissolves fear, but fear prevents experience.
2. Identity Attachment
"I'm not a technical person" has become the new "I'm not good with computers." But AI doesn't require technical expertise, it requires conversational skill. You don't need to understand machine learning any more than you need to understand combustion engines to drive a car.
The real barrier is identity: if you define yourself as "non-technical," you create artificial limitations that have nothing to do with your actual capabilities.
3. Perfectionism Paralysis
Many people won't experiment with AI until they can use it "properly." They want complete understanding before taking action. AI fluency develops through practice, not study. People who shift from asking AI for answers to asking AI to collaborate on thinking are reaping the rewards. ChatGPT is not a search engine, we have failed to ready people for how to make that shift and how to think about all things AI.
4. Control Addiction
AI introduces uncertainty into previously predictable processes. For people and organizations addicted to control, this feels dangerous rather than exciting. They want AI to behave like traditional software: deterministic, predictable, controllable.
AI's greatest value comes from its ability to surprise you with connections, possibilities, and perspectives you wouldn't have discovered alone. Embracing this uncertainty is a feature, not a bug.
5. Scarcity Mindset
"If AI can do my job, what value do I provide?" This question reveals a zero-sum view of human-AI collaboration. It assumes that AI capability diminishes human value rather than amplifying it.
The reality is the opposite: as AI handles routine cognitive tasks, uniquely human capabilities become more valuable, not less. Creativity, judgment, empathy, strategic thinking, and wisdom become premium skills in an AI-augmented world.
The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything
The organizations and individuals succeeding with AI have made a fundamental cognitive shift. Instead of viewing AI as a threat to human capability, they see it as an amplifier of human potential.
This shift shows up in the questions they ask:
"What will AI replace?" —> "What becomes possible?"
"How can I compete with AI?" —> "How can I create with AI?"
"What if I make a mistake?" —> "What might I discover?"
Success with AI isn't about the technology, it's about the mindset to leverage it effectively. This mindset can be developed, but it requires an intentional practice.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
This is not about just adopting new software and navigating the procurement process. We're participating in a phase transition in human capability. PwC research indicates that AI can deliver cumulative value through 20% to 30% gains in productivity, speed to market and revenue, with these gains compounding as companies move from incremental improvements to full transformation. Gains don't come from deploying AI tools. They come from reimagining what becomes possible when human creativity meets artificial intelligence.
The companies that figure this out first will not only have a temporary advantage, they'll help define what the future of work looks like. Because AI offers such transformative potential for new operational and business models, those that pull ahead of the pack will likely stay there. They will trace the course of the next decade for everyone else.
The Human Solution to the Human Problem
If the AI problem is human, then there is plenty we can do to find solutions here. It's never about becoming more technical but rather becoming more intentionally human and more tolerant and open to ambiguity. How can we be more curious, more experimental, more collaborative, more adaptive?
The good news: Research shows that with the right approach, organizations can significantly boost AI acceptance and adoption among their teams. The transformation is possible. It just requires focusing on the right place: not the technology, but the human minds that use it.
What Now?
Recognizing that teams and individuals need support in shifting their mindset is the first step: use a compassionate, supportive and thoughtful apporach. Nobody need to worry about becoming an AI expert. It's about developing three core capabilities that allow you to thrive in collaboration with artificial intelligence.
In my next post, I'll explore these three pillars of the AI Mindset and show you how they transform not just how we work with AI, but how we approach uncertainty, creativity, and growth in all areas of our life.
What resonates with you from this exploration? Have you noticed these human barriers in yourself or your organization? The conversation continues in the comments and in my next post on the three pillars of the AI Mindset.