Minding the Gap between AI Ambition and Real Results
- Christian Heraty
- Feb 13
- 1 min read
Most leadership teams are now fluent in the language of AI ambition. The vision feels polished, the pilots are launched, and the boardroom narrative seems oh so clear. Yet when you zoom in on the day-to-day reality of work, many organizations are experiencing something very different; a widening gap between the promise of AI and the productivity people can actually feel. We need to be minding the gap, where AI is applied so quickly and recklessly, that it ignores the very workflows, governance, and organizational behaviors that it was meant to enhance.
AI is impressive, it's potential is incredible, but it's still not magic. Designed for purpose, it may even live up to its increasable promise, even surpassing the hype, but not without careful application. That means, configured for actual work environments, around real processes. It's not a self-healing quick fix, that will mend any and all problems, while cleaning up previous neglect. We don't want it mirroring or amplifying the wrong behavior, or worse do so without us realizing it.
In their 2025 annual Work Trend Index, Microsoft frames a “capacity gap” where 53% of leaders say productivity must increase, but 80% of employees and leaders report they lack the time or energy to do their work.