The industrialization of AI fails because it is treated more as a technical test than as an organizational transformation combining strategic vision, overhaul of professions and skills mix
In discussions about artificial intelligence, the shortage of talent is often singled out. However, almost 90% of projects do not go beyond the pilot stage. The technological building blocks exist, the tests are numerous, the offers to carry out pilot projects within companies are multiplying… But the move to scale fails, massively. This blockage reveals a persistent confusion, AI is still perceived as a “magic” solution, when in reality it is a structuring and transversal subject.
The real challenge, moving from experimentation to industrialization
In the field, we see that AI is still too often approached as an exploratory subject. We test, we identify uses. But when scaling up, difficulties appear, all the more acute as companies have multiplied pilot projects in recent years without a global vision. Within organizations, it quickly confronts legacy ecosystems, business processes and heterogeneous tools. What works in demonstration is much more complex to integrate into operational reality. The solutions then remain “on the shelf”, failing to have anticipated the scale of the necessary transformations. And it is often at this moment that companies experience a form of disillusionment, an AI “hangover”.
An organizational subject above all
Today, professions evolve faster than organizations. AI is gradually integrating into the daily lives of teams, automating certain tasks and redefining the value of work. Technology cycles are accelerating, making continuous reskilling of teams extremely difficult.
However, talk of a talent shortage is misleading. The challenge is firstly organizational. Companies must find the right skills, of course, but above all structure their capacity to integrate AI. This requires mobilizing both external expertise and internal skills capable of carrying out the transformation over time. AI is a systemic revolution. It can no longer be treated as a purely technical subject. It becomes a corporate project, which must be supported by general management and involve the business lines from the outset. It involves rethinking working methods, processes and corporate culture, at all levels of the organization.
We see this very concretely in the expectations of companies. They are looking for both advanced expertise to build their AI infrastructures, skills to deploy existing solutions, but also professional profiles capable of integrating AI into their daily practice.
HR and IT facing a common transformation
This development requires much stronger alignment between HR and IT. HR must fundamentally rethink skills frameworks and job descriptions. In certain functions, such as commerce, AI can already significantly reduce the time spent on administrative tasks. But a key question then arises: what do we do with the time saved? Are we looking to produce more, or to improve the quality of customer relations? These decisions are still largely exploratory in companies.
External as an accelerator, not as a miracle solution
In this context, the use of external skills is essential. For an IT department, this is often the quickest way to inject expertise that it does not have internally, particularly on rapidly evolving technologies. Calling on experts who have already carried out this type of project allows you to speed up, limit errors and stay up to date. To think that the solution will only come from external sources is an illusion. AI does not delegate. She takes ownership. Success is based on the balance between internal skills, which provide knowledge of businesses and processes, and external expertise, which provides a fresh perspective and advanced skills.
It’s time to change the reading grid. The subject is not to fill a talent shortage, but to achieve organizational transformation in a context of technological disruption. The companies that succeed will be those that are able to go beyond the logic of POC, structure their scaling up, develop their skills and intelligently articulate internal and external aspects.
