The Most Expensive Word in AI Adoption: Resistance

<p>What if the biggest obstacle to AI adoption isn&#39;t the technology - but the word leaders use to describe their people?</p><p><em><strong>Resistance.</strong></em></p><p>In this Expert Spotlight, Kim Lewis Howard sits down with Dr. Tamara Bombardo-Way, founder of BrightPath Solutions and creator of the BRIGHT Framework, to explore why promising AI initiatives stall even after a company chooses the right tool, provides training and gives the rollout time.</p><p>Tamara shares the story of Crestline, a small business performing testing work for the automotive industry. Its AI implementation had flatlined, and leadership believed certain employees were resisting the change. But one longtime employee wasn&#39;t really questioning the technology. She was circling the question she was afraid to ask:</p><p>&quot;What am I going to do now?&quot;</p><p>That distinction changes everything.</p><p>Kim and Tamara examine the three people leaders often encounter during a technology rollout: the questioner, the quiet employee and the veteran who says yes but quietly returns to familiar ways of working. Each needs a different leadership response. Treating all three as resistant only creates more friction.</p><p>Tamara also walks through her six-part BRIGHT Framework:</p><ul><li>Build strategic alignment</li><li><br>einforce leadership and relationships</li><li><br>mprove systems and workflows</li><li><br>row people and capabilities</li><li><br>arness technology and innovation</li><li><br>hrive through continuous improvement</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Notice the order: technology doesn&#39;t appear until step five. Four steps happen before anyone chooses a tool.</p><p>In this episode:</p><ul><li><p>Why AI threatens professional identity, not just individual tasks</p></li><li><p>The real question hiding underneath an employee&#39;s technical objections</p></li><li><p>How a skeptical employee became an advocate for an AI rollout</p></li><li><p>The three common responses to workplace change</p></li><li><p>Why the &quot;counterfeit yes&quot; often comes from a veteran who is afraid to reveal what they don&#39;t understand</p></li><li><p>Why leaders must understand the existing workflow before selecting technology</p></li><li><p>How the BRIGHT Framework helps organizations reduce friction</p></li><li><p>Why training once is never enough</p></li><li><p>How emotional intelligence becomes a hard, learnable business skill</p></li><li><p>What happened when the change didn&#39;t full