The AI Mistake That's Costing Companies Millions

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-16

AI is moving into boardrooms faster than most companies can figure out what to do with it. But according to Jim Harris, a specialist in GenAI and disruptive innovation, the bigger risk isn't moving too slowly. It's bolting new technology onto old ways of working and expecting magic to happen. Harris has advised executive teams at American Express, Barclays, IBM, SAP, Walmart, and the UK Cabinet Office. In 2024, he was named Speaker of the Year by TEC Canada for his work on AI. In an exclusive interview with the AI Speakers Agency, he shared why companies need to rethink their processes from scratch, how to ease employees' fears, and why keeping humans in the loop still matters as adoption speeds up. ### The Fear Factor: Getting Employees on Board When you bring AI into a company, the first hurdle is often psychological, not technical. "The majority of people in developed nations actually fear AI," Harris says. "They fear job loss." That fear can quietly sabotage even the best-planned rollout. So what should leaders do? Harris suggests creating psychological safety by being upfront. Tell your team three things: their jobs are safe, you'll provide training, and this will enhance their skills and employability. "Those are a few things organisations have to do," he adds. ### Why Sprinkling AI on Old Processes Fails Harris points to a striking example from Ernst & Young (EY). The firm has 400,000 employees and had spent a billion dollars on AI. They had a risk management process that took 46 hours. When they applied AI with the original process designers, they got it down to 32 hours—a 20% improvement. Not bad. But then they tried something different. They paired tech-savvy new hires with risk managers who had never been involved in the process. That team got it down to 15 minutes. After adding back compliance steps, it landed at six hours. That's an 80% reduction from the original 46 hours. > "You can't just sprinkle some AI fairy dust on your existing processes and hope to get the greatest gain." – Jim Harris Harris's takeaway? Start with a blank sheet of paper. Ask: If we were designing this process today from first principles, what would we do? Don't try to enhance a 2018 process with AI. Redesign it. Also, bring in fresh eyes—people who aren't wedded to the old way of doing things. ### AI Beyond ChatGPT: Transformational Gains Harris recalls interviewing Demis Hassabis, founder of Google DeepMind and a Nobel Prize winner in 2024. Hassabis shared a story about a PhD student who used AI to solve a problem that had stumped scientists for years. It's a reminder that AI can go far beyond chatbots and deliver breakthroughs in science, medicine, and business. But Harris stresses that humans must stay involved. "You need to have people who understand the process and can verify the output," he says. AI is a tool, not a replacement for judgment. The bottom line? Don't just add AI to old processes. Rethink everything. And bring your people along for the ride. *This interview was conducted by Tabish Ali of the Motivational Speakers Agency.*