Culture is defined as they ‘way we do things around here’ and is unique to any organisation. Culture can either help or hinder workplace success, and it is crucial that there is alignment from leaders regarding an organisation’s culture – otherwise it just happens, which is a missed strategic opportunity.
In a conversation at the ABP Workplace Experience Conference 2025 our Co-Founder, Sarah Clarke, who has spend over 20 years specialising in culture, found many organisations are so focused on Artificial Intelligence, and the opportunities it may bring, that they are forgetting about the fundamentals.
Whilst AI offers plenty of time-saving opportunities, including new ways of working and hopefully an increase in productivity when harnessed effectively. Many leaders are drawn to the shiny new thing and need to recalibrate and focus on what is important – how people work in their organisation, aka culture.
Workplace culture is more important than AI…
…because it determines how effectively any technology (including AI) is adopted, used, and governed.
In your organisation it’s the processes, procedures, ways of working, leadership behaviours and many other elements which create the unique culture. And it is this culture which drives human behaviour in the workplace.
1. Culture Drives Human Behaviour
The culture in an organisation promotes collaboration, trust, accountability, and innovation.
It helps promote certain behaviours, or reduces the likelihood of other behaviours depending on the responses to different behaviours. It is these human factors that are essential to making any technology, including AI, work effectively.
AI is driven by employees and even the most advanced AI won’t deliver any value if employees don’t understand how to use it, or how its power can be used to add benefits.
Many people struggle to trust AI due to the complexity of the algorithms which drive it, and if there is a lack of trust then many people question its output. Plus understanding how to prompt AI is crucial – just like years ago when people learnt how to utilise computers. Over time we became better at it, because culture influences human behaviour.
2. Culture Drives Ethical and Responsible AI Use
People will make decisions based on a a number of factors, including their emotions at the time.
How we work, how we do things and societal expectations all influence how ethical decisions are made. AI is trained, deployed and monitored by people, so it is paramount that this is based on ethical and responsible decisions.
Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should. Without ethical standards, motivations or an approach for doing things, AI can cause more harm than good.
AI can reinforce biases, make dangerous decisions or magnify already irresponsible or harmful ways of working.
Hence, the way we do things needs to be ethical and responsible to benefit all.
3. Culture Influences Change and Adaptation
The way a group collectively approaches situations can either support or hinder change, adaptation, and improvement.
Numerous social psychological theories explain how group dynamics influence these outcomes.
The adoption of AI is linked to change, and people can often resist change that they are not in control of.
A culture that supports learning, curiosity, and psychological safety can help people adapt and evolve their roles, ways of working – and ensure AI adds value to organisations.
4. AI is Built By People
AI is created, trained, implemented and maintained by people, which means it brings everything people have to offer together and extrapolates it.
AI doesn’t operate in a vacuum, it builds on what already exists and learns from others.
The values, motivations and dynamics of people, and their culture, shape the outcomes AI produces – especially in closed loop AI products which organisations may use for security.
After all, what you put into AI influences what you get out because it is in many ways automated intelligence, as opposed to artificial – or is it?
The table below shows the difference between AI and automation, which is vital when working out the best way for organisations to work more effectively with the latest tech available.
5. Culture Is a Strategic Asset
There is a brilliant book we recommend called Measure What Matters, by John Doerr which highlights the need for effective measurement.
Being able to understand, measure and infer what current culture is, has been shown to be vital to our clients, because then culture can be harnessed as a strategic asset.
But the key to this is defining what is meant by culture.
Researchers generally agree a strong culture drives retention, engagement and performance which creates a more sustainable competitive advantage, something that AI alone cannot provide.
Companies with a toxic culture can invest heavily in AI and still fail because of the intricacies of implementation and the way that people interact with the AI.
Therefore understanding your current culture is critical to the success of AI utilisation, because whilst AI is a powerful tool it is the workplace culture which decides how wisely and effectively it is used.
To know more about how to increase productivity in your organisation please reach out to us – sam@thinkorganisation.com.
