Episode #8
#130 - Kate Coelho on Why AI Transformation Isn't a Technology Rollout
What happens when AI can do parts of the job you've spent years learning how to do? For many people, that question isn't merely technical. It touches their sense of expertise, relevance, control, and even identity. Kate Coelho, Director of AI Change and Adoption at Microsoft, argues that AI transformation can't be treated like a conventional technology rollout, because the tools and the end state are changing too quickly. Instead of preparing people for a fixed destination, leaders have to help them build the muscle to keep adapting. In this conversation, Kate explains why apparent resistance to AI usually has something deeper beneath the surface, why psychological safety and leadership vulnerability matter more than ever, and how organizations can create space for people to experiment openly. She also digs into one of the most urgent capability gaps emerging in the workplace: judgment. As AI makes it easier to produce polished work at extraordinary speed, how do you stop people from outsourcing their thinking, and how do you reward discernment and impact rather than adoption, volume, or velocity? If you're leading change with no stable end state in sight, this conversation will help you focus on what actually matters: whether your people are becoming more capable alongside AI, not less.
