Grow with Google recently welcomed more than 50 chief human resources officers and learning and development leaders from Fortune 500 companies to our New York office. Our Leading the AI Transformation summit equipped them to drive AI adoption, emphasizing how people use AI to unlock new potential.

Here’s what we discussed:

1. AI is a choice, not a foregone conclusion. Professor David Autor reminded us that “the future is not a forecasting exercise; it’s a design choice.” We have the agency to decide how to integrate AI into our teams. For HR and L&D leaders, this means playing an active role in ensuring AI is treated as a collaborator that boosts human potential.
2. Cultivating an AI mindset requires curiosity and courage. While understanding AI basics is a great start, an AI mindset is what drives long-term growth. We’re already seeing this in action. Walmart is providing the Google AI Professional Certificate to 1.6 million associates and Citi is training its entire workforce on how to write prompts. As Lareina Yee, vice president of Future of Work at Google, noted during the event, success requires the curiosity to ask new questions and the courage to unlearn old habits.
3. Transformation starts with leadership modeling. Leaders must embrace AI tools and model responsible experimentation. This empowers teams, ultimately giving leaders more time for deep thinking and genuine human connection.