The gap between AI ambition and AI readiness is often not a technology problem. It is a culture problem. As AI becomes embedded in daily work, organizations are discovering that the harder questions are not about what the tools can do — they are about trust, leadership, and what employees need to remain engaged, safe, and effective in an environment that is changing around them.

This session, the third in the AI Collaboratory series, focuses on the cultural dimension of AI adoption: what it disrupts, what it requires of leaders, and how HR can shape the conditions that determine whether adoption takes hold or generates resistance.

The session is designed for senior HR leaders at any stage of the adoption journey. For those earlier in the process, it offers a framework for getting ahead of cultural risk before it becomes visible. For those further along, it offers a structured opportunity to examine what is actually happening inside their organizations — and what to do about it.

What the session covers

Culture change in AI-enabled organizations rarely unfolds the way leaders expect. Resistance, anxiety, and unintended consequences tend to surface at the intersection of speed and trust — when the pace of adoption outstrips an organization’s ability to bring people along with empathy and regard for what they are navigating. This session examines those patterns and what HR leaders can do to get ahead of them.

Across the session, we explore:

• How to move from managing cultural disruption reactively to building an AI-enabled culture with intention and purpose
• How AI adoption reshapes trust, psychological safety, and what employees expect of leaders
• How unintended cultural consequences emerge during AI adoption, and what they tell us about the organizational conditions that either support or undermine change
• How to embed transparency, empathy, and learning into AI transformation efforts without slowing them down
• How AI adoption is changing the way organizations are structured over time — and what that means for roles, decision rights, and where work gets done
• What HR’s role is in setting cultural norms that others in the organization will follow

Speakers

Nanjappa Palekanda

VP, Global HR Strategy & Enablement

General Motors

Kathryn C.

Executive Advisor

Kathryn Cavanah

Ryan Kalomo Fortman

Director, HR Business Partnership | Creativity & Productivity (C&P)

Adobe

Alexis Fink, Ph.D

Principal

Propeller Insight

Alec Levenson, Ph.D.

Director and Senior Research Scientist

Center for Effective Organizations

University of Southern California

Nick Fitzpatrick

Director

AI Solutions and Enablement

Dolby Laboratories

Sasha Arjannikova, Ph.D.

HRSF, Experience Committee Chair;

Director, People Analytics Business Partnering

Adobe

 

Craig Ramsay, M.A.

Principal People Scientist

Microsoft

Shreya Sarkar, Ph.D.

HRSF, Board Chair;

CEO & Founder

Human Capital Growth

Eddie Jerden, Ph.D.

Senior People Analytics Business Partner

Adobe