5 Brutal Truths Why AI Still Feels Like Hype in Most Companies

Most companies didn’t implement AI. They stapled it onto the old way of working.

Author

Glenda Carnate
February 05, 2026

Read time: 2.5 minutes

The AI demo looks impressive...  people have piloted the software, produced great outputs, and leadership declares it as a transformational opportunity.

However, after several months of ‘doing’ business as usual, the same approvals, the same meeting processes, and the same bottlenecks in decision-making exist... AI may be available, but no one changes their behavior. At that point, AI begins to feel like “all talk and no action,” because nothing about the way work was performed previously has changed.

The 5 Missed Operating Models of AI:

1. AI accelerated activity without improving the decision-making process.

Publicly: "It saves time."
Privately: "therefore why am I also going through the same amount of time making decisions?"
In reality: Work got faster, while actual decision-making remained constant.

2. AI was included, not integrated, into workflows.

Publicly: "Just another tool."
Privately: "How come we aren't getting any buy-in?"
In reality: AI generally operates outside of a workflow versus using a system that would benefit from AI.

3. There were no changes to people's incentive structure.

Publicly: "How can I be expected to trust that?"
Privately: "Where is the usage of AI?"
In reality: Teams are still motivated through other means that do not provide AI any value.

4. There is no clear accountability for the success or failure of AI.

Publicly: "If this gets messed up, whose fault was it?"
Privately: "Who is accountable for the outcome?"
In reality: AI has champions, not owners with actual accountability.

5. All parties expected leverage without first redesigning the process.

Publicly: "Now I have an added step."
Privately: "Where are the productivity gains?"
In reality: The operating model did not change and therefore cannot utilize AI for leverage purposes.

💡Key Takeaway: 

AI is not a "hype" tool...  rather, many have misperceptions of AI as a "hype" tool, because the way organizations operate, make decisions, and hold themselves accountable has not changed dramatically when using AI.

👉 LIKE this if you have witnessed an AI "launch" that did not enhance an organization's current operations.

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