The debate over AI ownership in the workplace: Advocating for decentralized management
In today's digital age, the question of who owns Artificial Intelligence (AI) at work is being asked in many organizations. However, the focus should be on what AI can do: enhancing human capability and creating value.
Recent research by Culture Amp into Inc. 5000 organizations shows that this shared responsibility, or stewardship, of AI matters in high-performing companies. These organizations invest in people and AI infrastructure that supports their performance over time.
To ensure AI amplifies both people and organizational performance, stewardship should be distributed across a diverse group of stakeholders from multiple parts of the organization. This group ideally includes cross-departmental leaders, frontline users, technical experts, data stewards, ethics and compliance representatives, and an AI ethics board or advisory group.
The distributed stewardship model promotes collaboration, trust, and accountability, ensuring AI tools are designed and used to augment rather than replace human judgment while supporting organizational values and performance goals.
Successful AI stewardship requires clear ownership and accountability integrated into performance metrics, involvement of stakeholders with local trusted relationships and coordination power, governance policies embedded into workflows with checkpoints before AI deployment, ongoing evaluation, risk mitigation, and transparency to prevent bias, privacy issues, and loss of trust, and alignment of funders, vendors, and researchers around meaningful needs and equitable outcomes.
AI mirrors culture and is a pervasive force that can either amplify or erode organizational value and values over time. To avoid building AI systems with a constrained perspective on what it takes to succeed, diverse voices are needed in AI strategy and governance. All stewards must use AI-powered tools themselves to have a stronger understanding of its capabilities and limitations.
AI's reach at work is expanding and exceeding sole occupancy within the IT department, as it becomes pervasive and cross-functional, impacting every corner of many organizations. In AI in HR, for example, there is a specific need for stewards who understand both human dynamics and technical possibilities. A cross-functional AI working group can ensure solutions are technically sound, align with the company's needs, values, and ethical practices.
To succeed, AI needs buy-in and understanding from leaders across the company. When grounded in People Science and evidence-based insights, AI can help managers set better goals, analyze sentiment, and surface trends that inform both human and business outcomes. Leadership trust, accountability, and connection to the company's mission are among the strongest predictors of sustained success.
In conclusion, the stewardship of AI should be a shared responsibility involving leaders, frontline staff, technical and data experts, and ethical oversight bodies to ensure AI amplifies both human and organizational potential effectively and responsibly. This approach not only enhances performance but also fosters a culture of collaboration, trust, and accountability, ensuring AI tools are used to create value rather than replace human judgment.
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