Managing the Embrace of AI, From the C-Suite to the Factory Floor

BY Jessica Swenson | September 22, 2025

A recent WE Forum study predicts that “39% of workers’ core skills are expected to change” in the next 5 years because of AI, with 92 million jobs expected to disappear and 170 million new ones created. While he doesn’t believe that AI itself will replace people in HR, Alessandro Prieto, says that AI will enhance HR, and there is a real risk of being replaced by professionals who effectively adopt AI tools and practices. 

“In fact, we are on it right now, but I don’t see replacements. I see enhancements, and that’s why we need to catch up really fast,” said Prieto, the managing director of HR for global operations, technology, and HR for the Americas at Analog Devices. Prieto spoke on the matter during a fireside chat at From Day One’s September virtual conference.

With productivity gains caused by AI’s automation of routine tasks, interviewer Nicole Smith, editorial audience director for Harvard Business Review, asked “what will people do with this newfound time?” Prieto’s team will use it to focus on creativity and innovation, continuous improvement, and employee engagement initiatives, embracing a mindset shift from reactive problem-solving to forward-thinking, proactive strategic leadership.

Helping managers learn to think strategically about using the extra time can be a challenge, but with AI freeing up capacity, leaders will have more time to just think. “It’s not just for giving more tasks. It’s really for ‘how can we really make things more productive and more effective through the tools that we are implementing across the organization?’” he said. Prieto estimates that with the company’s current roadmap, he’ll have 15-20% more time for reflection, innovation, creativity, employee engagement, and AI tool enhancements. 

Alessandro Prieto of Analog Devices spoke with journalist Nicole Smith of Harvard Business Review (photo by From Day One)

As an early adopter of AI, Prieto’s personal experiences inform the development of workplace strategies, policies, and trainings. By digging into the technology in a low-stakes way, calendar management or recipe searches, for example, he learns about both its potential and its limitations.

When it’s time to integrate AI into the organization, however, Prieto emphasizes the importance of reflection, structure, and collaborative planning. “One thing I really overemphasize is ‘start with the end in mind,’” he said. “If you’re bringing AI to your organization, what do you need it for? What are the big gaps that [you] have?” Once you have identified the problem to be solved, he says, build a strategy, involve the appropriate stakeholders, and create a roadmap with associated policy and training milestones.

A clear problem statement and measurable goals help companies to evaluate the impact and efficiency gains that AI brings. Prieto’s HR team has used AI tools to create a skills-based approach to managing talent development and promotions. Detailed skill-mapping and predictive retention analyses that would previously have taken months or years and monopolized the time of multiple employees now take a fraction of the time. The company’s software team helped accelerate go-to-market product launches by using AI to reduce data compilation processes from months to hours.

When implementing AI initiatives, he suggests balancing speed with change management to help build employee trust and minimize hasty decisions. “When you’re talking about AI implementation or adoption, it’s not just how fast you’re going but which direction you’re going, how transparent it is, and who you bring along the way for that journey,” said Prieto. Some phases of the process may take longer than others (or longer than expected), but this time investment can accelerate later phases by boosting employee engagement, or providing stronger, more comprehensive execution tools. The timeline isn’t always simple and linear, he says. “Slow [now] sometimes means faster afterwards.”

He also warns against rushing implementation without proper change management. While early successes can inspire leaders to accelerate execution, it is important to adhere to a clear structure and roadmap to ensure the organization is prepared for its new tools and processes.

Jessica Swenson is a freelance writer and proofreader based in the Midwest. Learn more about her at jmswensonllc.com.

(Photo by imaginima/iStock)

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