Middle managers are the missing link in AI adoption

Leadership has bought in. Teams are curious and experimenting. The technology is working. Yet AI adoption in your marketing organization is crawling. What gives? 

The answer isn’t in your tools, your vision or your talent pool. The answer is sitting in your org chart, two to three levels down from the C-suite and one level above the practitioners — middle managers — and your transformation plan is completely ignoring them.

The unique pressures on middle managers

Middle managers inhabit a unique and challenging space. They’re directed from above to do more with AI, yet face concerns from below from people who are anxious about change, overwhelmed by new tools or simply unsure what’s expected. These managers are responsible for translating strategy into action, but are rarely included in shaping that strategy. As a result, they’re too senior to just be learners and too junior to set the direction.

This scenario leaves them isolated and under-supported. Harvard Business Review states that middle managers are the glue holding transformation together, yet they often lack the authority or context to truly lead change. 

For sustained and impactful change, all levels of the organization must feel connected to and included in the transformation. However, we see a focus on executive leadership buy-in and funding justification and frontline education and tool implementation. What’s more nuanced is that middle managers don’t need to be sold or trained on tools. We need their collaboration and input to reimagine the actual day-to-day workflow and process changes.

Think about it. Middle managers are the ones accountable for getting the work done effectively. They take direction from the top and manage frontline delivery. They must be included in your AI transformation strategy. Here’s how.

How to enable middle managers to drive AI adoption

Effective AI adoption comes from tailored programs that address real workflow changes, decision-making scenarios and people management challenges unique to their level. 

Equip middle managers with the authority to experiment, adopt and make calls on AI-related processes. When people have decision rights, they are far more likely to champion AI transformation initiatives. Make them accountable for helping teams through challenges, problem-solving, interpreting strategy for their respective areas and surfacing roadblocks to leadership.

Create role-specific training and enablement plans. Executives are likely to need vision-setting training. Frontline practitioners need more hands-on training. Middle managers require operational playbooks with options and routes to choose from. Invite them into strategy sessions and learn from their ground-level insight. 

Lastly, measure what matters. Tracking tool logins is nice — but it’s a surface metric. People can log in and use the tools personally, yet never transform how work gets done. Have middle managers track metrics like AI-driven decisions made, the number of processes changed and steps or handoffs eliminated. It’s harder to track meaningful process changes, but that’s what signifies real transformation.

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Focus on the middle to unlock AI transformation

We know the executive vision is right and tools are improving every day. By focusing on the middle, we fill a critical gap. It also boosts morale, increases buy-in and ultimately creates a better ROI on your AI investment.

Once middle managers are enabled to make decisions, trained on various frameworks and measured on metrics that matter to real transformation, they will not only be bought in but ready and eager to lead sustainable change.