New Gartner research highlights just how much of the AI value equation depends on people. The numbers are sobering, but they also point to something genuinely exciting for the organisations willing to invest in both sides of the equation.
The statistic worth building a strategy around
Gartner's Business Quarterly for Q1 2026 includes a finding that reframes the entire AI conversation:
For every 100 days spent implementing an AI tool, expect to spend 25 more days training staff and an additional 100 to 200 days on change management.
At first glance that sounds daunting. We think it is actually one of the most clarifying things we have read about AI in a long time. Because what it tells you is not that AI is hard. It tells you exactly where the real opportunity lives: in your people.
The organisations getting this right are treating it as a partnership
Gartner found that 74% of CFOs are seeing productivity gains from AI in the form of time saved. The organisations turning that into real value are the ones asking what their people do with that time. They are reinvesting it. Reengineering processes around it. Giving their teams the space and support to work differently.
That shift, from AI as a tool to AI as a genuine partner in how work gets done, is where the returns start to compound. And it is available to any organisation willing to invest in both sides equally.
At Grange, we find that the most successful AI journeys are not the ones that moved fastest. They are the ones where leaders brought their people with them from the start.
Two things have to be ready, not one
Gartner makes a useful distinction between AI readiness and human readiness. Right now only 11% of organisations report having both. But that also means there is real competitive ground to be gained for those who close that gap deliberately.
Human readiness is not just about training. It is about building confidence, developing new skills, and creating an environment where people feel equipped to work alongside AI rather than uncertain about it. When that happens, the technology stops being something imposed on people and starts being something they genuinely use to do their best work.
The risk Gartner flags, skills atrophy where people lean too heavily on AI and lose core capabilities, is real. But it is also entirely avoidable with the right approach. The goal is not to replace human judgment. It is to free people up to use more of it.
What the best look like
The organisations seeing genuine returns from AI share a few things in common. They planned for change management before go-live, not after. They equipped managers to lead their teams through the transition with confidence. And they stayed curious about how their people and their AI tools were evolving together over time.
None of that is complicated. But it does require treating the human side of AI with the same intention and investment as the technical side.
The good news is that when both are ready, the results speak for themselves. AI expands what people can do. People give AI the context and judgment it needs to be genuinely useful. That is not a zero-sum story. It is the whole point.
Source
Gartner Business Quarterly, Q1 2026. Walking the Golden Path to AI Value.