Hello Automation Experts!

Yesterday’s OpenAI Dev Day 2025 caught my attention. It’s not because of the technology specifically - we’ve seen workflow tools released before. I’m excited because the release of OpenAI’s Agent Builder puts automation closer to ChatGPT’s 300 million users.

At this point it’s not about if, but when everyday people will be able to leverage AI & workflows in their day-to-day lives.

But as technology like this becomes more common with end users, it’s important to understand how it can negatively impact your business - and how you can roll out technology changes more confidently.

The Workslop Problem

MIT found recently that 95% of AI pilots are failing at companies - not a good sign. A more recent article from Harvard Business Review may have the answer in what it’s called: “workslop”.

Workslop is when employees offload tasks to ChatGPT without properly considering and validating the output. This then leads to more work from high functioning employees correcting the issues that result. For instance an incorrectly generated AI quote - with missing info or incorrect data - leading to back-and-forward follow up to correct the information.

AI can help employees check boxes rather than provide results. So the question is: how do you implement technology effectively in your organisation?

Leadership Alignment, Gather Input

Before introducing any new tool or process, it’s important that you & your leadership team (if you have one) are aligned on the decision to leverage new tools. Then, once you’ve got buy in, you need to gather input from those front-line employees who will be most affected.

This can be as simple as 15 minute interviews about repetitive or tedious work that needs to be improved. The concept of “fair process“ is that employees care as much about why something is changing as what is changing.

So if you are clearly able to articulate why a change is being made; and that you’ve genuinely considered their objections and concerns; you’ll have a better time with adoption.

Putting in 3 - 4 hours of effort to gather feedback can save months of quiet resistance later down the line.

Start with Champions

During the feedback sessions, consider who is most enthusiastic about the changes and consider them as potential champions for the new tools and technologies.

Don’t: Select champions purely on seniority or technical background

Do: Select those who are:

• Curious enough to explore and learn the tool without much of a push

• That are working on or with the front-line employees regularly

• Go-to people or those who are influential to other employees

Give your champions the early access to tools before the company-wide rollout. Provide them with training if possible so that they can become a “centre of excellence” where best practices can be developed that can be shared with others in the organisation.

These champions become your go-to people that help spread the benefits of the new tools to others in the organisation. They also act as a way to gather feedback on how employees feel about the new technology.

Quantify Results

Nothing is better at convincing people that something is working more than raw data and facts. Part of the role of the champions will be to measure baselines for tasks as they are before and after the new tool is introduced.

With metrics on how much time is saved, you as a leader can present this info to your team. Be specific about the impact and give context. For example: “This gives back half a day that you can focus on improving relationships with suppliers“.

These results validate your champions’ work and credibility; create strong evidence that motivates others and justifies investment in the technology to those who are doubtful.

This week’s action (90 minutes)

To get started think about the following:

1. Conduct 4 - 6 interviews with front-line workers to identify where there is a need for process improvement. It might be responding to clients, managing inbound logistics etc.

2. Review your notes and think of people that would make good champions - who showed the most enthusiasm.

3. Gather the champions, give them access to the new tool and task them with learning and trying to solve the biggest challenge from your interviews.

4. Have the champions report back in 2 or 3 weeks on the baseline time that the process currently takes.

Next Steps: With the baseline set and your champions starting to learn about the new tools, meet with them & task them with trying to create a solution to the challenge. Present the results to the wider team.

If there is improvement you can start to roll out the solution to other parts of the business.

Need help finding AI solutions?

If you want some help implementing some of the tools in this newsletter, feel free to reach out to me in a reply to this email, or feel free to book:

A free 30min automation & workflow audit

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