NOTE: We will be welcoming Dr. Gleb to our community for an interactive webinar November 25th. To go deeper on this episode and take the opportunity to connect with Dr. Gleb live, register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/HfJOZAaIRI6DBXc84CSCSA. Hope to see you there!
Most AI adoption strategies start with tools, training and governance.
But what happens when the real barrier isn’t knowing how to use AI?
Employees may be wondering whether the technology will eventually replace them. Experienced professionals may feel that work they spent years learning to do can suddenly be generated in seconds. Others are already using AI successfully but are reluctant to admit it because they worry it will make them look lazy, less capable or as though they have somehow cheated.
Those aren’t technology problems. They’re human ones.
In this episode of foHRsight, Naomi Titleman is joined by behavioural scientist Dr. Gleb Tsipursky to explore what leaders often miss when trying to drive AI adoption at work.
They unpack three very different forms of resistance: fear and anxiety about job security, threats to professional identity, and the social stigma that can keep productive AI use hidden. Gleb shares practical ways leaders can respond, including starting with the work employees actively want off their plates, modelling AI use openly, creating opportunities to share what is working, and giving people genuine space to experiment.
The conversation also looks at the growing problem of AI-generated “work slop,” why critical thinking becomes more important rather than less important in an AI-enabled workplace, and how psychological safety needs to be paired with accountability and human review.
For HR leaders navigating AI adoption, the challenge is no longer simply choosing the right technology.
It is creating an environment where people can learn how to use it without feeling that doing so puts their job, identity or credibility at risk.
About Our Guest
Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is a behavioural scientist, seven-time bestselling author and author of The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work: From Resistance to Results. His work focuses on how leaders and organizations make better decisions and adapt to changes in the future of work, drawing on extensive research and consulting with organizations navigating AI adoption.
Resources Referenced
- The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work: From Resistance to Results — Dr. Gleb Tsipursky’s latest book. Georgetown University Press
- Free book sample + AI adoption resources — disasteravoidanceexperts.com/aibook
- MIT research on GenAI ROI — referenced in the discussion about the majority of AI pilots failing to show ROI. MIT Project NANDA
- Harvard Business Review on AI “workslop” — referenced in the discussion about poor-quality AI output creating more work for colleagues. Read the article
- Amy Edmondson on psychological safety — referenced in the conversation about balancing experimentation with accountability. Amy Edmondson
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