Why AI Fails as a People Problem, Military Leadership & Process Re-engineering - Heather McLean

AI Fails on People, Not Technology, Says Air Force Veteran

AI programs fail for human reasons, among them weak change management, unclear governance, untouched processes and leaders who will not own the outcome. McLean spent twenty years leading logistics and IT in the Air Force before burning out of a senior corporate role, and she argues returns come from redesigning work rather than handing out tools. Firms that sit out the shift will lose share to competitors who keep learning to work better, faster and cheaper.

Takeaways

• AI adoption is a people problem, not technology. Bolting on a tool or handing out ChatGPT produces small gains. The real returns come from redesigning business processes with AI, which needs change management, governance, a clear strategy and leaders who hold people accountable.
• AI projects fail for four repeatable reasons. Misalignment, where a company buys a tool and tells people to use it without changing how it works. The wrong focus, such as a flashy customer-facing chatbot instead of back-office work. Do-it-yourself attempts. And no data or governance foundation.
• Going it alone doubles AI failure rates. McLean calls the belief that a company can handle AI itself a dangerous myth. Organizations without experience or expertise flounder without a road map, she says, failing at roughly double the rate of those that bring in a consultant or partner.
• Waiting on AI costs market share. Companies stuck in analysis paralysis lose to competitors that learn to do things better, faster and cheaper. McLean predicts the seven economies of AI, from blueberry growers who ignore it to agentic AI running everything, will forecast how well companies do.
• Military trust is earned, not ordered. Rank brings authority-based trust, McLean says, but earned trust is what makes people want to move the mission forward, and she doubts corporate America teaches it as well. Colleagues question everything, so she stopped being defensive and won buy-in.
• Burnout drove her to found her own firm. As a senior director over hundreds of people, McLean sat in back-to-back meetings, stopped learning, fought the same battles and hit a ceiling. She left with no plan and two months of savings, building McLean Forrester instead of taking another corporate job.
• Leadership is lonely, and lonelier for women. McLean quotes Colin Powell on how lonely command is and says being a woman in technology can be lonelier still, so she builds a peer network of female executives and CEOs. She protects time for cooking and travel.

Getting the human side right

1. Start with leadership buy-in. McLean asks clients how their leadership and team feel about AI, because the change needs support at both ends.