The other weekend my niece got married

It was a wonderful event, full of family, friends, and love

Weddings are a bit like networking events, you end up talking to people outside your usual “bubble" 

One such conversation turned out to be eye-opening

I met a subject matter expert (SME) responsible for rolling out Microsoft CoPilot in their organisation

Now, I live in the LinkedIn echo chamber, where if you’re active on the platform, you’re probably already using AI in some form

So, naturally, I asked how things were going. The answer? “Terrible"

She explained that her training approach had to pivot

Initially, she assumed people would be eager to sign up for “How to Use CoPilot” courses

Instead, she discovered the bigger barrier wasn’t how to use AI, but the fear of using it at all

Her new training? “There’s Nothing to Be Afraid of in AI.”

Why? Because people were scared

Scared it would take their jobs

Scared that using it would accelerate their own redundancy

And when they did try, many dismissed it as “rubbish"

But as she explained, the problem wasn’t the technology, it was the lack of consistent use

Without training on their style, the AI couldn’t deliver real value

Take one example: external job adverts

When employees ran them through AI, the results seemed underwhelming

But when she processed the same text through her well-trained CoPilot, the feedback was, “Wow, that’s amazing!”

Conclusion

The biggest challenge with AI adoption isn’t capability, it’s confidence

Until people stop fearing it and start using it consistently, AI will continue to look like it’s underperforming

In reality, the gap isn’t in the tech, it’s in our mindset