AI won’t transform your business—until you redesign work itself

As businesses rush to adopt AI, many of the most pressing questions organizations are asking are focused on people. Should systems be designed as human-in-the-loop or human-in-the-lead? How should you tackle your staff’s fears about AI-driven layoffs? How do you make sure your employees work seamlessly with your AI agents? One answer is to have an AI-people strategy which establishes the best way of working, but most leaders don’t know where to start. At WPP, the Fortune 500 Europe advertising giant, the response has been to establish a role dedicated to solving this thorny problem. Enter Dr. Laura Weis, WPP’s head of human-AI strategy and transformation. “I have a lot of beef around the narrative with AI,” says Weis. “While some people say AI makes you lazy or rots your brain, others claim it makes you smarter. That narrative is not particularly helpful. It’s a bit like saying a spoon will make you fat. Don’t blame the spoon and don’t blame the technology.” Instead, Weis argues for understanding both the power and limitations of AI and people—and designing work accordingly. Here’s her six-step playbook on how to get started. Integrate AI and workforce strategy “We need to stop looking at AI and talent in parallel and understand how they intersect,” says Weis. “Most organizations have a people strategy, and most organizations will have an AI tech strategy, but if they don’t connect in a really meaningful and intentional way, you still won’t get much value from them.” Leaders need to think about their workforce holistically—this includes the digital, agentic workforce as well as the human one. To remove the silos that make so many AI implementation programs harder, leaders must start from scratch and design an organizational structure that allows each member of this blended workforce to realize their full potential. This also means all members of the executive team need oversight of the people strategy—not just the CHRO. Stop chasing eff