As we navigate through 2025, the landscape of AI and change management continues to evolve rapidly. The workplace is currently undergoing significant transformations, with AI becoming a central force in driving organizational change. We must start thinking about AI adoption and integration and how this shift will impact employees, managers and leaders and how it will impact their day-to-day jobs.

Organizations are already recognizing the need for robust change management strategies to navigate a new disruption that cannot be ignored. According to a recent Ernst & Young report, a near unanimous 97% of CEOs plan to incorporate AI into their operations, which shows a high level of enthusiasm and preparation for AI adoption and AI ROI. Companies are increasingly learning about and adoptive AI tools and technologies. According to McKinsey’s latest survey, 78% of those surveyed say that their companies use AI in at least one business function – up from 72% in 2024. What began as experimentation is now expanding into practical integration of AI into current workflows.

More and more businesses are beginning to integrate change management services to help with this important integration. These services aim to help make AI tools user-friendly and provide ongoing support to encourage employees to use the new technologies. What is also happening is that AI is impacting many jobs, including both cognitive and non-routine tasks. This means that there is a daily greater need for workforce reskilling and upskilling to prepare for these AI changes. What is also occurring as general artificial intelligence gets smarter every day, is that senior management will face greater challenges in managing employees, and the project workloads as other companies rapidly integrate AI into their businesses.

There is always resistance to change; it’s in our nature as humans. It is the unknown and many of us have real concerns about data privacy and security breaches. However, AI is not slowing down or stopping; instead, we must focus on how to effectively manage AI progress, clearly and openly communicate across the organization, and ensure that everyone is trained, with strong leadership and team support. Change managers are there to ensure smooth transitions and successful implementation.

Change Management also has a role in helping organization with workflow re-alignment to make sure that generative AI works across the board. This means transitioning from role-centric to skills-centric models managed by change managers and partnering with the organization to use AI-driven platforms for skills mapping, gap identification, and targeted upskilling. Today, more than two-thirds of companies report that their employees lack the necessary skills to work with generative AI. Today, HR leaders, along with change managers play a crucial role in navigating the cultural changes brought on by AI and will need to work with senior leaders to address concerns about job security and AI biases.

Overall, the U.S. workforce is undergoing a major transformation with AI entering the workplace. As AI becomes more widely available, the shifts will happen more and more to combine human expertise with AI capabilities – and this means progress and potential. There will be continuous adaptation, and we will all need to continually learn new skills to stay relevant, regardless. However, it is the only way forward to remain competitive in a super rapidly evolving landscape. We can only hope that knowledgeable and progressive business leaders will proactively manage the integration of AI in a comfortable and communicative manner and be sensitive to the human aspects of change, fear and concerns — in order to move forward and drive new areas of revenue growth.