The AI Trap: Why Bolting AI onto Old Processes Fails

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-16

AI is moving into boardrooms faster than many businesses can figure out what to do with it. For 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 transformational results. In an exclusive interview with the AI Speakers Agency, Harris explains why companies need to redesign processes from scratch, how leaders can reduce employees' fear of AI, and why keeping humans involved remains critical as adoption accelerates. Harris advises executive teams and has worked with organizations including 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. ### Creating Psychological Safety Around AI When introducing AI, leaders must first address the elephant in the room: fear. "The majority of people in developed nations actually fear AI," Harris says. "They fear job loss." That fear can sabotage even the best AI initiatives if not handled with care. So what should leaders do? Harris suggests three key steps: - **Reassure employees about job security.** Make it clear that AI isn't replacing them. - **Provide training.** Equip people with the skills to work alongside AI. - **Highlight the benefits.** Show how AI will enhance their skill set and employability. "It's important to create psychological safety," Harris emphasizes. Without it, resistance will be high, and adoption will suffer. ### Why Sprinkling AI Fairy Dust Doesn't Work Harris shares a striking example from Ernst & Young (EY), a global professional services firm with 400,000 employees and $1 billion invested in AI. EY had a risk management process that took 46 hours. They applied AI to it and, with the original process designers, reduced it to 32 hours—a 20% improvement. Not bad, but not transformational. Then they tried something different. They paired tech-savvy new hires with risk managers who had never been involved in the process. The result? The process dropped to just 15 minutes. After adding back necessary compliance steps, it settled at six hours. > "You can't just sprinkle some AI fairy dust on your existing processes and hope to get the greatest gain," Harris warns. "You really need to start with a blank sheet of paper and say, if we were designing this process today from first principles, what would we do?" The lesson? Incremental improvements are possible, but true transformation requires rethinking the process entirely. As Harris puts it, "46 hours down to six hours—that's a more than 80% reduction. That is staggering." ### The Need for Fresh Eyes Another critical insight: the people who designed the original process are often too attached to it. "Unconsciously or consciously, they're wedded to it," Harris says. Bringing in fresh perspectives—people who aren't burdened by legacy thinking—can unlock breakthroughs. This doesn't mean discounting experience. Rather, it's about combining domain expertise with outside-the-box thinking. The EY example shows that when you mix AI-first minds with seasoned professionals, magic can happen. ### Beyond ChatGPT: AI's Transformational Potential Harris has seen AI's potential up close. He's interviewed Demis Hassabis, founder of Google DeepMind and a Nobel Prize winner in 2024. "There's so many examples," Harris says, "but AI can go far beyond tools like ChatGPT." From drug discovery to climate modeling, AI is solving problems that were once considered impossible. But capturing that value requires more than just adopting the latest tool—it demands a fundamental shift in how we approach work. ### The Human Element As AI adoption accelerates, Harris stresses that humans must remain in the loop. AI should augment human judgment, not replace it. "We need to keep humans involved," he says. That means designing processes that leverage AI's speed and scale while preserving human oversight and creativity. For business leaders, the message is clear: don't just sprinkle AI on top of old processes. Rethink from the ground up, bring in fresh perspectives, and create a culture where employees feel safe and empowered to work alongside AI. Only then can you unlock its true potential.