How HR Can Lead AI Adoption Through Change Management

In this episode of the Future Proof HR podcast, Thomas Kunjappu sits down with Laura McGann, Chief People Officer at Prosci, to talk about AI adoption, change management, and why HR has a central role to play in helping organizations build the capability to change.Laura explains why AI is not just another software rollout. Because the technology keeps evolving, and because it reshapes how people work, trust information, make decisions, and build skills, AI adoption requires more than access to new tools. It requires leaders to pay attention to the people side of change, from awareness and desire to knowledge, ability, and reinforcement.The conversation uses Prosci’s ADKAR model as a practical lens for understanding where AI adoption often gets stuck. Laura breaks down the difference between training people once and creating ongoing learning in the flow of work, while also sharing her own experience with unlearning, building AI knowledge, and becoming a “learner in public.”Thomas and Laura also discuss what this means for HR’s future, including capability building, culture, leadership, data governance, role-specific AI use cases, and the CHRO/CIO partnership. Laura argues that HR and IT need deeper interdependence, but not a merger of expertise, because AI transformation depends on both technology and human systems.Topics Discussed:Why change management is shifting toward change adoption and change successHow constant change is pushing organizations to build change agility and resilienceWhy AI adoption is different from a traditional software rolloutHow HR leaders can use ADKAR to identify where employees are stuckThe role of awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement in AI adoptionWhy user proficiency and learning in the flow of work matter for AI ROIHow unlearning helps HR leaders rethink familiar processes like data synthesisWhy HR must lead capability building, culture, leadership, and change for AIHow leadership vision, governance, and functional tech stacks shape AI adoptionWhy CHRO/CIO partnership matters, even if the roles should not mergeHow AI is pushing HR teams to rethink job descriptions, skills, and ways of workingIf you are an HR leader trying to move your organization from AI access to AI adoption, this episode offers a practical way to think about the behavior change, leadership support, and cross-functional partnership needed to make AI useful at work.Additional Resources:Cleary’s AI-powered HR ChatbotFuture Proof HR CommunityConnect with Laura McGann on LinkedIn