Effective adoption of new technologies
This blog was written as part of the 2025 Birmingham Economic Review, an annual report produced by University of Birmingham/City-REDI in partnership with the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce. Read the full report.
By James Farrow, co-founder, Curium Solutions
Transformation driven by technology is a journey of human change. There is no escaping it, even with the universal rise of AI, it is still people running the show, making the decisions and utilising the tools.
Adoption, it turns out, is not an afterthought, it’s the engine of change.
People-first transformation is not complicated but it can be complex. So start with some simple strategies.
- The only thing that can kill your transformation is people.
There is no point fighting this. At some point when your transformation fails it is because someone somewhere did not do what they were supposed to do. It wasn’t the tech.
We have all seen the leader unable to have the effective conversations, thus rendering that system investment worthless. Too often, we wait until the system is delivered before thinking about the real change in behaviour that will trigger the benefit.
Rather than hiding behind a system message, get the ‘people message’ out front.
People need to realise that it is they who will make or break this change - and they need to realise this from DAY ONE. The change you are after needs to start right away, before you have delivered any new tools, systems or processes.
The change you are after starts in the mind – and everything stems from there.
- Your system is not the hero
Technologically-driven change is often championed as the hero that is coming in to save the day, but it isn’t. Your people are.
Rather than jumping into showcasing the wonderful solution (tech or AI), spend time asking the individuals “What do you love doing?” and “What would you love to achieve here?”
The answers will make it easier to understand how your technology solution can accelerate their vision, and buy them in.
Don’t worry about “what if they have a different vision”. I am yet to see a team of leaders wanting something completely different to the outcomes you want to achieve anyway. It is generally a mix of core psychological needs: better performing business, a more interesting role, more engaged and capable people and so on.
Armed with information from these conversations, you can now frame your technology as the enabler to helping your real heroes achieve their ambition of a more successful, productive, fun and engaging organisation.
Don’t be the person saying “but we don’t have a month do this activity” and then spend an extra year trying to bring about the change… you get the idea.
- Emotion eats logic for breakfast
A human factor (that even AI cannot replicate) is the brain’s network of reason and emotion. In decision making, our emotional system is the powerhouse.
The challenge is to engage people emotionally in the right way, which is seldom achieved in numbers and Gantt charts.
People do, however, get emotional connection from stories. The oldest form of communication known to humans is storytelling.
Unfortunately, many leaders are bad at it. Fortunately, it can be learned!
Your story needs to be a great story, the characters you create need to connect, and the pain and pleasure points need to be faced into with the right amount of realism and expectation.
How you tell that story is key. Do it with passion, sincerity, humility – inspire and motivate people to perform.
Great stories told with impact shape beliefs, and beliefs shape behaviour in a way that logic can’t compete.
If you have done Tip 2 well, you will know what story to tell.
Conclusion: adoption of the change is your transformation. As technology advances, leadership and human skills will become more vital for organisational success. As simple as these tips may sound, they are not easy – for many organisations the very idea of adopting a people-first approach requires a mindset shift in itself.
