Why AI Fails on Old Processes: The 46-Hour to 6-Hour Lesson

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-16

AI is moving into boardrooms faster than many businesses can figure out what to do with it. But for Jim Harris, the bigger risk isn't moving too slowly. It's bolting new technology onto old ways of working and expecting transformational results. Harris is a specialist in GenAI and disruptive innovation. He 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. In this exclusive interview, 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. ### Creating Psychological Safety Around AI When introducing AI, business leaders must first address fear. According to Harris, most people in developed nations fear AI—specifically job loss. Adults tend to be uncomfortable with new ways of working. > "Your jobs are safe, number one. And number two, we're going to provide you training. And three, this is going to enhance your skill set and your employability." Organizations need to work hard to communicate these three points. Without psychological safety, resistance will undermine any AI initiative. ### Why Sprinkling AI on Old Processes Fails Harris shares a powerful example from Ernst & Young (EY). With 400,000 employees and a billion dollars spent on AI, EY had a 46-hour risk management process for clients. They applied AI with the original process designers and got it down to 32 hours—a 20% gain. That's good, but not transformational. Then they tried something different. They paired technology-first, AI-savvy new hires with risk managers who had never been involved in the process. That got the process down to 15 minutes. But EY has data compliance requirements. So they added steps back in and landed at six hours. Look at the progression: 46 hours → 32 hours → 15 minutes → 6 hours. That's more than an 80% reduction. Staggering. The lesson? You can't just sprinkle AI fairy dust on existing processes and hope for the greatest gain. You need to start with a blank sheet of paper and ask: If we were designing this today from first principles, what would we do? The people who designed the original process are often wedded to it—consciously or not. Fresh eyes are essential. ### Beyond ChatGPT: Transformational AI Gains Harris points to Demis Hassabis, founder of Google DeepMind and Nobel Prize winner in 2024, as an example of AI's potential. While ChatGPT gets the headlines, the real breakthroughs are happening in specialized applications that redesign workflows from the ground up. ### The Human Element Remains Critical As adoption accelerates, keeping humans involved isn't optional. AI can process data and automate tasks, but judgment, creativity, and ethical oversight still require people. The goal isn't to replace humans but to redeploy them for more important activities. ### Key Takeaways for Business Leaders - **Create psychological safety**: Assure employees their jobs are safe and provide training. - **Redesign from scratch**: Don't just apply AI to old processes—reimagine them entirely. - **Bring in fresh eyes**: Pair AI-first talent with domain experts who weren't involved in the original design. - **Keep humans in the loop**: Use AI to augment, not replace, human judgment. The businesses that win with AI won't be the ones that move fastest. They'll be the ones that rethink their processes from the ground up.