What do businesses mean when they say they want to ‘manage AI’ like humans?
A survey published by Expleo reveals a fundamental shift in how Irish businesses view artificial intelligence. Rather than treating AI as just another software tool, 70% of large enterprises now believe AI should be managed like an employee – complete with performance oversight, cultural integration, and ethical guidelines.
Interestingly, this implies that despite the breathless press coverage – and the Silicon Valley propaganda – presenting AI as the ultimate knowledge worker, or even replacement for knowledge workers, in reality businesses recognise that implementation of the technology has to be done not only in a way that is compliant with regulations but that also actually helps staff to achieve their goals rather than just ratcheting up the speed of the production line.
Phil Codd, Expleo Ireland’s managing director, said that successful AI deployment “will always depend on the humans and data that back it up”.
By treating AI systems with the same organisational consideration given to human employees – including performance management, cultural fit, and ethical oversight – companies can better navigate this technological transformation while maintaining team harmony and compliance standards.
The figures come from Expleo’s 2025 Business Transformation Index, where other findings of note include that 67% of enterprises in Ireland believe they can’t effectively use AI because their data is too disorganised, while 25% are not sure if they are compliant with the EU AI Act.
The strongest theme to emerge, however, is a slightly inchoate one: while AI is an impressive technology, it needs to be used in a humanistic manner.
Indeed, although this is not how the Expleo study puts it, it is quite clear that truly successful AI implementation is rather unlike the autonomous, human-replacing technology promised by the tech titans.
Codd compared the chatbot frenzy as akin to previous epoch-defining technological shifts.
“The pace of change that we are seeing from AI is like nothing we have seen before – not even the industrial revolution unfolded so quickly or indiscriminately in terms of the industries and people it impacted. And, the workforce’s relationship with AI is complicated – on the one hand, they are turning to AI to make their jobs more manageable and to reduce stress, but at the same time, they worry that its broad deployment across their organisation could impinge on their work and therefore their value as an employee,” he said.
The problem? Given that the survey also revealed 68% of enterprises who are deploying AI have stopped hiring for certain roles entirely because AI can handle the requirements, it is far from clear that businesses are ready to take a humanistic approach to humans, let alone to technology.
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