AI is Changing How We Work. Are Your Employees Ready?

While it’s still in its early days, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is arguably the biggest technology shift most employees have seen in their lifetimes. In just a few years, AI has moved from a future-facing concept to something employees use every day. They use it to write, brainstorm, analyze data, provide coaching, and even make decisions that shape careers and culture.

Recent research shows that 60% of people managers already rely on AI to make decisions about their direct reports. Many use it to inform raises, promotions, and even layoffs, and more than half frequently allow AI to make final decisions without human input. Two-thirds of managers using AI have received no formal training on how to do so responsibly. Much of this is happening without any formal training, guidance from their organization, or policies on ethical use. 

This rapid adoption presents both enormous opportunity and serious risk. Used thoughtfully, AI-powered tools can help people work smarter and make more objective decisions, and it can help companies unlock data that empowers them to create cultures for everyone. But these same tools can perpetuate bias, create confusion, and erode trust.

We’re working with companies across industries to help them harness the power of AI so they can thrive in the future. Right now, we’re seeing companies focusing on two key areas:

Fostering Growth Mindsets to Fuel AI Adoption

AI can feel intimidating. For some employees, new tools spark curiosity and excitement. For others, they trigger worry: will this replace my role? What if I make a mistake? Without support, fear can lead people to avoid using AI or to use it passively, missing opportunities to innovate.

A growth mindset helps shift that dynamic. When employees believe skills can be developed, they are more likely to experiment and learn. They try new tools, test their own assumptions, and refine their approaches over time. Organizations can nurture this mindset in a few different ways:

• Normalizing experimentation and failures by sharing examples of how employees are using AI throughout the organization. 
• Encouraging employees to ask questions and try new approaches. 
• Celebrating early wins and small breakthroughs.

By helping employees foster that growth mindset, organizations can shift hesitation to curiosity. Instead of worrying that AI will make their role obsolete, a growth mindset can help employees look for ways the technology can amplify their impact. Instead of avoiding what they do not understand, a growth mindset can help employees embrace experimentation and iteration. And when curiosity replaces fear, AI becomes a source of creativity and efficiency rather than anxiety.

Reducing Bias When Using AI and Building AI Products

Even with curiosity and enthusiasm, AI carries risk. If employees develop or use AI tools without understanding how the technology works or how to prompt effectively, biases can be perpetuated, inaccurate information can thrive, and dangerous interactions for users can occur. 

With biases, for example, consider a manager exploring AI-generated recommendations for promotions. If the data behind the model reflects historical pay or advancement disparities, those inequities can be repeated and even accelerated. Without training, employees may not know how to question or test outputs before acting on them.

Helping people understand where these biases and other dangers can emerge, from the data used to train models to the way humans interpret and apply AI-generated insights, is essential. Equally important is giving them practical strategies: how to look for patterns that seem unfair, compare AI suggestions against human judgment, and seek input from others before making consequential decisions.

When employees can spot and mitigate bias, AI becomes a tool that supports fairness and consistency instead of undermining them.

How Paradigm Can Help

At Paradigm, we’re helping companies equip their employees to adopt AI thoughtfully and confidently in a few key ways:

• Training on Reducing Bias When Using AI and Building AI Products: Participants learn where bias originates in AI systems, how it appears in real-world tools, and concrete ways to reduce risk. They leave ready to test outputs, ask critical questions, and make decisions that advance fairness and inclusion.
• Training on Adapting to the Modern Workplace With a Growth Mindset: This session helps employees approach change with resilience and agility. They learn how to use growth mindset principles to navigate uncertainty, adopt new tools, and thrive in an evolving workplace.
• (Free!) Checklist on Empowering Employees in the Age of AI: This practical checklist outlines the risks and opportunities that come with AI, and provide five clear steps to help organizations set employees up for success.  
• The Culture for Everyone Platform: Our platform empowers companies to go beyond surface-level culture insights by connecting siloed data, from surveys to HRIS and applicant data to benefits, policies, and practices. With this, companies can better understand, measure, and manage their culture at scale and create workplaces where every employee thrive.

September 30, 2025

If you want to equip your teams to use AI in ways that advance your business and culture goals, contact us today!