In the previous part of the blog series, we discussed the scale of the change in work and the importance of critical competence. In this part, we focus on the kind of culture and leadership on which the change in working life rests.
The tremendous development of language models opens up new opportunities to redesign work and business. When everything is possible, the most important thing is the ability to identify which problem is worth solving and what should be improved: the customer experience, the everyday work of employees or business results. Once again, technology is not a goal in itself; better business, customer retention and working life are. Nevertheless, AI is easily introduced into current processes as they are, without stopping to consider what change is to be achieved or how it will be brought about. The broad deployment of AI is above all an organisational and human change, not a technical project.
In June 2026, we at AIRI Works studied how large Nordic companies put AI into practice through four areas1: strategy and leadership, governance models, competence, and bringing AI into products and services. One finding was clear: leadership and the broad use of AI distinguish the forerunners from the rest. These companies also had a leadership-team-level owner responsible for AI, AI in use across different business functions, and results measured in euros. Being a forerunner does not come from technology but from leading it purposefully.
A leader’s most important task is to give the organisation a common direction and the opportunities to move towards it: a meaning must be found for the use of AI that inspires rather than paralyses. Direction-setters are also needed outside the leadership team: the role of managers is emphasised when teams’ workflows are redesigned. However, this is not yet reflected in recruitment: in September 2026 we studied what kind of AI competence companies are hiring right now2, and concrete AI competence was expected in only 19 per cent of director-level and 7 per cent of manager-level advertisements. This is an important observation, as these people are in a key position in how the transition from individual-level efficiency to team and organisational level is achieved.
The discussion about the opportunities of AI has focused largely on efficiency. Even more important, however, would be a discussion about how AI now enables tasks that it has previously not been sensible or possible to do. As new opportunities open up and routines disappear, incompleteness and being on the threshold of the new become a permanent state. Those who navigate this change more smoothly are those with a natural ability to attune themselves to the new. The truth, however, is that most people in work do not belong to this group. Guidance can be found, for example, in the diffusion of innovations curve3, according to which only 16 per cent of any group belong to the forerunners who find it easy to adopt new ideas. The remaining 84 per cent of the organisation need active, tailored change support and the continuous removal of obstacles.
Change requires a culture in which people dare to experiment and fail. A prevailing fear of failure is typically one of the most effective ways to slow down development, and when working life is in such significant upheaval, fear about one’s own position and its future is natural. Building psychological safety is not a separate project alongside AI work, but a prerequisite for the organisation to be able to learn and renew itself at the pace of AI at all. That is why the best way to respond to fear is to address it actively: a clear direction, open communication and space to experiment without fear of mistakes. Culture does not automate itself along with technology; it is a conscious choice by leadership, and that is precisely why it ultimately distinguishes the forerunners from the rest.
Part 1 of the series: AI forces us to ask what the organisation of the future looks like
Sources
- AIRI Works (2026). Nordic AI Index 2026.
- AIRI Works (2026). Nordic AI Job Benchmark, September 2026 edition.
- Rogers, E. M. Diffusion of Innovations.
