AI adoption is rarely a technology problem. Across our analysis of more than 160 change cases, including AI transformations at HubSpot, KPN, Blackstone, REWE and Korn Ferry, the pattern holds: change doesn’t fail at the plan. It fails at the impacts. Here are five ways The Change Shop helps leaders get the people side right.
1. Predict reactions before you launch
Strong AI adopters pilot on themselves first. HubSpot ran chatbots on its own business before releasing them to customers; Korn Ferry calls this being “Client Zero.” Kario AI™ extends that logic to your workforce. Its digital twin simulates how employees will react across five stages of change, so you can test several rollout paths before committing to one.
2. Explain AI’s impact four different ways
Our 2IsC™ Model starts with Impact: defining what is changing and why, knowing it will land differently. Anchors hear purpose. Analysts need evidence. Drifters feel emotional weight. Stormfronts feel threat. Sequencing matters. When EA announced gen-AI-enabled development a week after laying off 670 people, threat perceptions spread across its industry. Unilever took the opposite stance: “jobs become redundant, not people.”
3. Shift to participation in the Middle Stage
Our research with 13,427 employees shows the Middle Stage is where commitment is won or lost. AI efforts that scale invite people into the design. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport began with a frontline workshop to co-prioritize its initiatives. KPN involved frontline employees in building and testing its AI agents and reached 86% adoption. We help leaders create co-design roles for Analysts and visible roles for Anchors.
4. Keep the workload fair
Reskilling adds to the burden of change. AT&T asked employees to retrain on personal time, five to ten hours a week, which strained families. Unilever protected learning time structurally. Our Consistency coaching helps leaders rebalance workloads, show up when the work gets hard, and model new AI habits themselves. Those are the moves that re-engage Drifters.
5. Turn early adopters into proof
In the Finalizing and End stages, Anchors need recognition and Analysts need results. In their early AI adoption phase, Korn Ferry-a global organizational consultancy-measured impact, not just adoption: 75% of colleagues said AI improved the quality, speed or value of their work. We help leaders gather that evidence and celebrate the people behind it, so new ways of working outlast the launch.
The edge is in your people
Every organization can buy the same AI models. The advantage comes from how your people adopt them. Kario AI™ gives leaders sharper signals, and the final call is still yours. See how your workforce will respond.
