The workplace has entered a new era of AI acceptance, with trends like “tokenmaxxing” becoming part of the conversation as employees figure out how to use the technology at work. While most organizations have embraced AI as a useful investment, just 9% have made meaningful progress building complex autonomous workflows, according to ServiceNow.
But speaking at Fortune’s inaugural AIQ Summit, Stacy Dillow, executive vice president and chief people officer at HPE, told Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell that the hardest part isn’t experimenting with technology—it’s rethinking how work gets done, and the structures companies have built around it.
“We’ve got to force ourselves to think differently because if we’re not trying to change how we work, we’re just trying to retrofit and put AI in a process that isn’t going to give us a different answer,” she said.
That shift is increasingly becoming a responsibility for corporate leaders as AI moves from an experiment to an everyday part of how companies operate.
“If you’re in the C-suite today and you’re not doing some level of AI adoption implementation or everyday thinking about transformation, you’re not going to be doing your job,” Dillow said, adding that using AI is necessary “to survive.”
Danielle Gonzalez, chief people officer at Palo Alto Networks, is seeing that shift firsthand. The cybersecurity company has introduced tools including NotebookLM, Claude and Gemini for employees to experiment with, while a custom AI agent has reduced IT tickets by 83% and now manages workflows across HR, finance and legal.
“They’re no longer calling Danielle or their HR business partner or someone in the business, but rather they’re self-serving, and they’re asking the agent a question. It’s querying and it’s giving them the right answer for where they sit in their respective globe,” Gonzalez said.
A successful workforce needs to learn—and unlearn
As AI changes the way work gets done, companies also have to rethink the workforce they need to do it. That means hiring for adaptability and giving existing employees the tools and training to keep up. But perhaps most importantly, it means finding people who are willing to question old processes—and recognize when it’s time to let them go.
“We’re looking for curiosity,” Gonzalez said on stage. “We’re looking for agency, and we’re looking for those people who can not only learn something at a fast rate of pace, but also unlearn what they thought to be true, so that they can make space to move forward.”
At Palo Alto Networks, which ranks No. 49 on the Fortune AIQ 75 list, that means changing how the company evaluates potential hires. Rather than asking candidates to simply recount their accomplishments, the company uses “observable interviews” and hackathons to see how they actually approach problems—with and without AI.
“Gone are the days where you’re sitting there and you’re interviewing someone and you’re having them tell you all about their achievements,” she said. “We want to see what you can do.”
For existing employees, the expectation is similar: Companies can provide the tools and training, but workers also have to take responsibility for developing new skills. Drew Holler, chief human resources officer at $19 billion homebuilder Lennar, put it bluntly.
“We’re going to give you all the tools, but it’s your responsibility to upskill yourself as well,” Holler said. “We’re going to give you trainings, but you, as an individual, have to upskill.”
