Are We Upgrading The Roller Or Removing The Walls?

Much of the conversation around AI focuses on the technology itself. Organisations discuss automation, productivity and efficiency, exploring how new tools might help people work faster or complete tasks more effectively. In many cases, the assumption is that AI will improve existing ways of working rather than fundamentally change them.

Yet some of the most interesting questions have less to do with the technology and more to do with the organisations adopting it.

During a recent conversation about AI and organisational change, Michelle Ansell, Douglas Jackson reflected on a metaphor they had encountered elsewhere. The original comparison suggested that organisations were treating AI as though they were upgrading from a paintbrush to a roller. Michelle then added a twist that has stayed with me ever since:

What makes the quote so powerful is that it captures a tension that appears in many discussions about AI. Organisations often approach new technologies as implementation projects. A tool is introduced, processes are updated and productivity improves, while the underlying structure of the organisation remains largely intact.

The implication of this metaphor is very different. If AI changes how work is organised, how expertise is shared, how decisions are made and even what jobs exist, then the challenge may not be about improving existing systems. It may be about rethinking assumptions that have been embedded within organisations for years.

That does not mean every prediction about AI will come true, nor does it suggest that organisations should abandon everything that already works. However, it does raise an important question about the nature of the change that leaders are preparing for.

Are organisations planning for a new tool, or are they preparing for a different way of working altogether?

The answer may determine whether AI becomes another efficiency initiative or something far more transformative.