One of the more interesting conversations we’ve been having with clients recently isn’t about which AI platform they should invest in next. It’s about the capabilities they already have access to and aren’t using.
As organisations continue to explore artificial intelligence, many are approaching it the same way they’ve approached previous technology changes. Strategies are being developed, roadmaps are being built, and governance frameworks are being established to support adoption. While these activities are important, they can sometimes overshadow a simpler question: are people making the most of the tools they already have?
I was reminded of this during a recent conversation with a client. We were discussing AI adoption and the challenges many organisations face in moving beyond the hype and into practical application. As part of the discussion, I asked whether their teams were using the AI functionality available within Jira.
The response was immediate. “I didn’t even know Jira had AI.”
For those unfamiliar with the platform, Jira is a commonly used workplace tool that helps organisations manage projects, track work, assign tasks and monitor progress. It is widely used across technology teams, government agencies, professional services, and, increasingly, broader business functions. As with many modern workplace platforms, AI capabilities have gradually been embedded into the product, giving users the ability to summarise information, generate content, identify trends, and find information more efficiently.
The interesting part of the conversation wasn’t that the client wasn’t using these features. It was that they weren’t aware they existed.
When you start looking across the workplace landscape, this isn’t unusual. Microsoft has embedded AI across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. Google has done the same throughout Workspace. Many organisations are already paying for functionality that has the potential to save time, reduce effort and improve productivity, yet adoption remains surprisingly low.
The assumption is often that people are resistant to change. In our experience, the reality is usually much more practical.
Most employees aren’t spending their day thinking about how AI might transform their organisation. They’re focused on delivering projects, supporting customers, managing competing priorities and getting through increasingly demanding workloads. If a new capability is presented as another initiative they need to learn, it can quickly feel like one more thing competing for their attention.
However, when people can clearly see how a tool helps them complete a task more efficiently, the conversation changes.
A project manager who can quickly summarise weeks of project updates before a steering committee meeting sees immediate value. A leader who can identify themes across hundreds of survey responses without manually reading every comment understands the benefit straight away. A team member who spends less time searching for information and more time acting on it doesn’t need to be convinced that the technology is useful.
These examples are not transformational in isolation. They are small improvements to everyday work. Yet when those improvements are repeated across teams, functions and organisations, they begin to create meaningful change.
Perhaps this is where we are getting AI adoption wrong. We have become conditioned to believe that every new capability requires a rollout, a communications campaign, training sessions and a formal change program. While there are certainly situations where this level of structure is required, not every capability needs to be introduced as a standalone transformation initiative.
Sometimes the most effective starting point is much simpler. It begins with helping people understand what is already available to them, demonstrating practical use cases relevant to their work, and building the confidence to experiment in a safe and appropriate way.
This isn’t to suggest organisations shouldn’t continue investing in AI. Technology will continue to evolve, and there will always be new opportunities to enhance the way we work. However, before looking outward for the next solution, it is worth taking a closer look at the tools already sitting within the organisation. In many cases, there is untapped value hiding in plain sight.
The future of work undoubtedly involves AI, but successful adoption isn’t driven by technology alone. It will come from helping people integrate new capabilities into the way they already work, rather than asking them to completely reinvent it.
After all, driving transformation doesn’t always mean introducing something new. Sometimes it simply means helping people make better use of what is already there.