AI transformation requires cultural shift, not just technical adoption

Bastian Buch, a tech leader who spent two and a half years as fractional CTO at the Getaway Group, argues that AI transformation is fundamentally a cultural and change management challenge rather than a technical one. He compares it to the Agile movement 20 years ago, noting that while tools like project management boards and user stories were the visible artifacts, the real shift was in attitude, decision-making, and enablement. Buch states that most organizations currently use AI merely as a text-generation tool, which is insufficient for true transformation. He emphasizes that AI changes the nature of work itself, not just the collaboration between engineers, making it more difficult than the Agile shift. Buch notes that different departments like Sales, Finance, and HR face distinct challenges in adopting AI, and that not every employee should be expected to build complex agent setups. Instead, he proposes a new role for 'AI Operating Engineers' or forward-deployed engineers who build the operating model and harnesses that allow non-technical staff to work with AI effectively. He cites the lack of established best practices as a major hurdle, with organizations still figuring out how to structure human-machine collaboration in real-time.