Every C-level leader is having the same conversation right now: What are we doing to plan for generative AI? Whenever there’s a significant opportunity for change, there’s a typical pattern that follows: Let’s hire a new chief AI officer. Let’s lock consultants into a conference room to design our strategy. Let’s concentrate on cost-takeout (usually accompanied by some imposing workforce reduction projections). And to be fair, these might well be legitimate options in some cases.

But, candidly, there’s a better approach to AI strategy. Companies should invite everyone into the conversation. We should broaden the number of colleagues who have a stake in how this technology gets deployed. AI leadership shouldn’t be a topic for only a few, it should be a movement that engages many. Some simple questions can ignite this process: How do you think this can help our business run better? How could it help you do your job more efficiently? What big ideas do you have? By opening up the discussion, leaders are likely to get more meaningful ideas faster, lessen resistance to change, and ultimately get the best ROI from this technology.

The true potential of generative AI—of all AI, in fact—is to bring more intelligence into how work gets done. Generative AI uses natural human language that allows people to consume information in a way that will make them more productive, more efficient, and more effective. Will there need to be governance? Of course. And that will fall to technology leaders and their teams. But that’s only one important conversation. An equally important conversation should be focused on the art of the possible: Where do we waste time on work that doesn’t actually drive our results?

If we can use generative AI to reduce even 25% of that work and free up people to focus on higher value tasks, that’s an incalculable return on investment. For all the talk about how AI will replace people, if it’s thoughtfully deployed, we’ll see people doing different and better things at work. We’ll feel more fulfilled, and we’ll ultimately make bigger contributions to our workplaces. Empowering people is the real dividend of shared ownership of AI.

— Nick Tzitzon, Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer, ServiceNow