Adoption of AI tools is a journey. One that starts with small steps, builds momentum over time, and becomes a powerful driving force at the heart of transformation.
At LACE, we are constantly exploring and leading the discussion around AI’s impact across HR and transformation. In this blog we begin by exploring ‘Level one – the starting point’ in our ‘Three levels of AI impact on transformation’. Alongside sharing practical advice on how to keep the human touch at the centre of AI enabled change, and how to unlock your change team’s potential when working with AI.
Look out for our next blog describing Level two.
Three levels of AI impact on transformation
From doing faster → to thinking smarter → AI as a change agent.
Each level builds on the last.
AI’s impact on transformation shows up in three distinct (and achievable) levels:
Level one – Starting point: AI supports transformation tasks
Doing the work faster and better: content creation, comms drafting, visuals, templates and frameworks.
Level two – Where it gets interesting: AI supports transformation thinking
Thinking smarter: brainstorming interventions, analysing adoption data, identifying gaps and blind spots.
Level three – The frontier: AI as a change agent
Delivering at scale: AI interacting directly with people, in real time, adapting to everyone.
Level one (Starting point): AI supports transformation tasks
AI offers a treasure trove of ways to streamline the classic “engine room” of change delivery, freeing time to focus on the work that only humans can do: relationships, trust and influence.
Streamline routine change tasks
AI can help you move faster on repetitive but essential tasks. Used well, it reduces manual effort by turning notes into crisp project updates, provides instant translation across multiple languages, proofreads while strengthening consistency, engagement and follow-through. This is often where many teams see their first, tangible benefits from AI, less time spent on administration and more time available for meaning change interventions.
In practice:
Use system tools such as Copilot Facilitator to actively support change critical meetings. AI can track alignment to the meeting agenda in real time, prompt facilitators when conversations drift, and analyse live participation patterns, for example, flagging low engagement in large town halls or identifying groups that consistently disengage during key updates.
Persona-led communications
AI can analyse data to create detailed user personas, helping you segment audiences, understand sentiment and cultural nuances, identify preferred communication routes and tailor your communication. Done well, this enables far more precise targeting and avoids “one-size-fits-all” engagement plans that miss key groups.
In practice:
Use AI to support the creation of practical audience personas based on real stakeholder input, such as workshop insights or existing engagement data. Then provide AI with examples of effective communications for a specific audience and ask it to adapt core change messages to align with that style, tone and set of concerns.
Build change impact assessment analysis
AI can accelerate the development of robust organisational impact assessments by pulling together and cross-referencing data from multiple sources like your personas, updated process maps, role profiles, behavioural assessment, programme plans and engagement insight and translating these into structured impact views. This significantly reduces manual effort while improving consistency, traceability and confidence in change impact assumptions particular in complex or fast-moving programmes.
In practice:
Use AI to scan relevant programme documentation and auto populate the change impact assessment templates as a starting point. AI can then identify where change will be felt across roles, highlighting gaps inconsistencies across sources and free the change team to focusing on shaping mitigations rather than labour-intensive data collation.
Create learning journeys and training materials
AI can be used to support training needs analysis and personalise the delivery of bespoke bitesize training and learning experiences, tailoring content to different roles, levels and learning needs. It enables more target, “in the flow” learning that complements day-to-day work, rather than just classroom style events.
In practice:
Use AI tools to analyse role impact, identify learning needs and draft learning journeys. It can be used to bring static training materials to life through engaging bitesize Avatar explainer videos and tailored learning content that aligns to identified gaps and supports ongoing adoption.
Generate engaging programme visuals and imagery
AI has put design capability in the hands of change teams, and they can now produce their own on-brand visual campaign assets. Beyond brand consistency, this opens up new and more innovative ways to communicate change, enabling teams to move faster, test new approaches and communicate more creatively and effectively.
In practice:
Develop a clear programme identity that enable in-house teams to confidently use AI image and design tools to create campaign assets, visuals, infographics and digital content.
Keeping the human touch
While AI offers automation and efficiency, the real power lies in how it helps change professionals become more strategic and combine stronger insight with stronger human connection to deliver more sustainable adoption. The skill of the change manager becomes knowing the possibilities of AI and turning AI-generated insight into the right business driven change decisions.
Use AI well and you amplify that connection. Use it carelessly and you lose it.
Here’s a few things to look out for to ensure you are not falling into the AI slop trap:
When every message sounds the same
AI can generate communications at extraordinary speed but if everything reads like it came from the same machine, people stop engaging. Sameness is the enemy of trust.
When efficiency replaces empathy
Speed is not the goal. Landing the change is. A communication drafted in seconds still needs to feel like it came from someone who understands what the change means for real people.
When data replaces dialogue
Sentiment scores and adoption metrics are useful but real resistance often lives in conversations no algorithm can reach. You can’t survey your way to understanding how people really feel.
When people comply but never commit
The risk isn’t rejection it’s silent disengagement. People comply, complete the training and move on without ever truly adopting the change. Compliance is not transformation.
Unlocking your change team’s potential
Upskilling change teams and colleagues in AI fluency is crucial. Everyone needs a basic understanding of how to use AI effectively and how to use it to take care of mundane, routine work so that human creativity and judgement can flourish.
Practical actions that help set AI adoption up for success include:
- Understanding impact: Explore where AI can shift your transformation approach the most and what opportunities and challenges may emerge.
- Demystifying AI: Change teams don’t need to become AI experts they need enough confidence to start experimenting with the tools in front of them.
- Leading by example: Encourage leaders to invest in pilots that demonstrate real value across your transformation efforts. Visible sponsorship builds confidence.
- Beyond the hype: Focus on real use cases that make transformation work better and show individual benefit.
- Adoption is key: Don’t let AI tools gather dust or be discouraged when limitations show up. Champion use, show value and support colleagues as new habits form.
One of the biggest hurdles to AI adoption is fear, and it must be addressed head-on. That includes reassurance, visible leadership sponsorship and space for honest conversation about concerns. Focus on the positive impact and opportunities AI can create for both the change teams and your organisation.
Getting started
Look out for our next blogs giving you the insight to ‘Level 02: AI supports transformation thinking’ and ‘Level 03: AI as a change agent’.
AI is changing what transformation delivery looks like and the best change teams are already thinking about how to use it. Want to talk about where you are on that journey? Get in touch and tell us what’s on your mind.
