Okta’s COO says companies are in denial about the hardest part of the AI revolution: redesigning work itself
Okta's COO, Eric Kelleher, argues that the primary challenge of AI adoption isn't the technology itself, but rather the deeply ingrained management practices focused solely on human headcount. He advocates for a shift towards 'work planning' that explicitly budgets for and integrates AI agents as colleagues alongside human employees. This organizational redesign is crucial because companies are experiencing an 'activation gap,' where AI transformation is rapid but not yet yielding expected productivity gains, indicating a disconnect between AI capabilities and actual business outcomes. AI
IMPACT Companies must rethink management and budgeting to effectively integrate AI agents as colleagues, addressing an 'activation gap' where AI is adopted but not yet yielding productivity gains.