Introduction to Psychological Safety in the Era of AI
Psychological safety is mandatory in this new era of AI, according to Rafee Tarafdar, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Infosys. The tech itself is evolving so fast—companies have to experiment, and some things will fail. There needs to be a safety net.
The Importance of Psychological Safety
To gauge how psychological safety influences success with enterprise-level AI, MIT Technology Review Insights conducted a survey of 500 business leaders. The findings reveal high self-reported levels of psychological safety, but also suggest that fear still has a foothold. Anecdotally, industry experts highlight a reason for the disconnect between rhetoric and reality: while organizations may promote a safe to experiment message publicly, deeper cultural undercurrents can counteract that intent.
Building Psychological Safety
Building psychological safety requires a coordinated, systems-level approach, and human resources (HR) alone cannot deliver such transformation. Instead, enterprises must deeply embed psychological safety into their collaboration processes.
Key Findings
Key findings for this report include:
- Companies with experiment-friendly cultures have greater success with AI projects. The majority of executives surveyed (83%) believe a company culture that prioritizes psychological safety measurably improves the success of AI initiatives. Four in five leaders agree that organizations fostering such safety are more successful at adopting AI, and 84% have observed connections between psychological safety and tangible AI outcomes.
- Psychological barriers are proving to be greater obstacles to enterprise AI adoption than technological challenges. Encouragingly, nearly three-quarters (73%) of respondents indicated they feel safe to provide honest feedback and express opinions freely in their workplace. Still, a significant share (22%) admit they’ve hesitated to lead an AI project because they might be blamed if it misfires.
- Achieving psychological safety is a moving target for many organizations. Fewer than half of leaders (39%) rate their organization’s current level of psychological safety as “very high.” Another 48% report a “moderate” degree of it. This may mean that some enterprises are pursuing AI adoption on cultural foundations that are not yet fully stable.
Download the Report
You can download the full report to learn more about the importance of psychological safety in the era of AI.
Conclusion
In conclusion, psychological safety is crucial for the success of AI initiatives in enterprises. Companies with experiment-friendly cultures have greater success with AI projects, and psychological barriers are proving to be greater obstacles to enterprise AI adoption than technological challenges. Achieving psychological safety is a moving target for many organizations, and it requires a coordinated, systems-level approach.
FAQs
Q: What is psychological safety?
A: Psychological safety refers to the feeling of being safe to take risks, express opinions, and provide honest feedback without fear of blame or negative consequences.
Q: Why is psychological safety important in the era of AI?
A: Psychological safety is important in the era of AI because it allows companies to experiment and take risks, which is necessary for the success of AI initiatives.
Q: How can companies build psychological safety?
A: Companies can build psychological safety by deeply embedding it into their collaboration processes and promoting a culture that prioritizes safety and experimentation.
Q: What are the benefits of psychological safety?
A: The benefits of psychological safety include greater success with AI projects, improved collaboration, and increased innovation.
