Tech is ready, but are the people? A human-centred vision for AI at work

What happens when an AI version of you can attend a meeting? What if you never have to take notes or have to say “sorry, I was on mute” again? 

These aren’t hypotheticals. These are the realities that AI is rapidly making possible. AI bots, such as intelligent agents, can now track speakers in virtual meetings, summarise discussions, suggest follow-ups, and even anticipate what comes next in a project workflow. In many ways, the technology is here and it’s ready.

But are the people?

While AI sprints ahead, adoption in the workplace continues to lag. A recent study by Henley Business School showed that while more than half of respondents (56%) felt optimistic about the benefits; when it comes to getting the most out of it, workers were less positive. 61% admitted to being overwhelmed by the rapid pace of AI advancements, and that the sheer number of tools available makes it difficult to know where to start (24%). The way these tools are introduced often fails to meet people where they are. The future of AI at work isn’t about complexity. It’s about fit - how well technology aligns with the way people actually work, think, and collaborate.

That’s why we live by design philosophy. Because AI adoption isn’t just a technical journey, it’s a human one.

From AI use to AI co-existence

Historically, our engagement with AI has been largely transactional, being driven by inputs and outputs, prompts, and responses. But as AI capabilities mature, so too must our relationship with them. This evolution challenges us to fundamentally rethink how people interact with technology at work.

Integrating AI into the workplace isn’t simply a technical shift, but a lesson in leading from the top down. Building trust and driving adoption requires that AI enhances and not disrupts the natural rhythms of how teams meet, decide, and collaborate. It’s up to business leaders to communicate the value of this coexistence, model its use, and introduce a workplace culture that is transparent and optimistic about AI’s full potential.

Take the meeting room. It’s become the heartbeat of every business collaboration. It’s where strategy is shaped, relationships are strengthened, and progress is made. If AI is going to elevate these moments, it can’t be a layer of noise or distraction.

At Neat, we design products that reimagine meeting spaces to actively listen and intelligently respond. Our technology knows who’s speaking, captures the best view for an individual, reduces noise and visual clutter, and prioritises what matters in a meeting - the spoken word - all without the meeting participants needing to toggle, click, or configure. Just walk in, speak, and engage.

Because when AI coexists with how we work, instead of competing with it, it can drive clarity, accelerate decision-making, and create spaces for human connection.

The adoption gap: Why tech readiness isn’t enough

The real challenge for businesses isn’t the availability of powerful AI, it’s the usability. Workers are overwhelmed by tools that are too technical, too disjointed, or too difficult to trust. Even the most capable AI features fall flat when they’re not designed with the user or function in mind.

We’ve seen this with the explosion of meeting apps, notetaking bots, and collaboration platforms. Instead of reducing cognitive load, these platforms have added to it, requiring employees to learn new interfaces and adjust workflows around the technology rather than the other way around.

This is where design must lead. And it starts with a simple but powerful principle: the technology should disappear into the background. By working intelligently behind the scenes in framing conversations, filtering distraction, and surfacing what matters most, design makes AI feel like a natural extension of the workplace, not an obstacle within it.

Preparing people and places for AI

As AI becomes increasingly capable, the burden of integration shifts from technology to the business itself. The question is no longer can it be done, but how should it be done? And the answer is rarely one-size-fits-all.

Every organisation is different. Cultures vary, workflows diverge, and employee needs span across in-office, hybrid, and remote models. That’s why successful AI integration demands environments that are purpose-built, not just for generic productivity, but for the specific ways people within each company collaborate, communicate, and create value. There is no universal blueprint. What works for one team might hinder another.

The workplace must be able to be deep focus one moment, and a town hall meeting the next. We call this the “dancing office”: a space that embraces the needs of an office from one moment to the next. And AI should adapt to this natural flow of work, not interrupt them.

But even the most seamless technology won’t succeed unless people are ready to embrace it. That’s why businesses must invest in tools with communication ingrained in every aspect ensuring employees feel supported and confident in using them.

AI is ready but the question remains, are your people and workspaces ready too?

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