How will AI reshape the future of work? According to Eric Cornu, Global Head of Organization Design & Change Management at Nestlé, the true promise of AI is not automation but human augmentation. AI offers enormous value, yet organizations can only absorb its complexity gradually. Cornu therefore argues for a combination of boldness and caution: looking ahead without rushing into investments that may not survive the next wave of AI innovation.
Every employee, white collar and blue collar alike, will feel the impact of AI. Work as we know it today will be redesigned at every organizational level. Yet Cornu sees many companies heading in the wrong direction. “Organizations are chasing quick wins and process optimisation through or for AI”, Cornu asserts. “But that’s not where the real value lies. AI requires a completely new way of organizing.” The potential is immense, but it remains unclear which applications will prove future proof. That makes strategic clarity essential. He nods: “The opportunities are huge, but so is the uncertainty. It takes courage to move forward, but even more wisdom to stay cautious.”
Human AI means skills augmentation, not replacement
Cornu’s keynote at HRcoreLAB will looks beyond change management and explores the broader future of work in an AI world. At its core, Human AI is about supporting people rather than replacing them. “The real potential lies in skills augmentation. AI helps us access deeper layers of knowledge. But using AI without subject-matter expertise leads to mediocre results.” The biggest challenge? Teaching teams how to coach AI so it produces the right information. Not too much, not too little, and certainly not misleading.” Today, Cornu sees companies generating mostly what he calls “AI-slob”: a flood of output with little value. It will get worse before it gets better, he says.
Where Nestlé applies AI today in HRM
At Nestlé, Eric Cornu is helping to redefine the HR model of the future on an organizational level. The final shape is still open, so the organization is experimenting deliberately.
- Productivity tools like CoPilot and an internal ChatGPT (NesGPT) are widely available for anyone to experiment with AI
- Recruitment is the first domain where AI is already in operational use.
- Pilot projects have started in employee experience, employee interaction via chatbots, and L&D.
- Shared service centres (SSCs) embed AI powered tools.
Eric Cornu: “Departments with documented, structured information are perfect for training models that can support internal clients. It’s an exploratory phase, but a necessary one: discovering what works, what doesn’t, and where the real value lies.”
Leadership adoption is the biggest barrier
Many organizations point to data as the main problem. Think of mountains of unstructured documents, knowledge and information silos. But Cornu sees a deeper issue: “The bottleneck is leadership adoption. AI is transformative. Without leaders who understand and embrace it, everything stalls.” He also expects that within three years, everyone will use AI at work, yet human absorption capacity will become a serious constraint. “The magnitude of this change is still widely underestimated.”
Key takeaways
- AI will affect every job, across all levels, pushing organisations toward fundamental redesign.
- Human AI is about skills augmentation, not replacing people—subject-matter expertise remains vital.
- Organisations must be bold yet cautious in AI investments: not every shiny new tool will stand the test of time.
- The main bottleneck is leadership adoption and culture, not technology.
- AI transformation is limited by human absorption capacity, organizations can only take on complexity step by step.
