The rapid pace of AI’s advancement is catching even technology experts by surprise. In turn, businesses are now grappling with how to effectively integrate AI into their operations. So, what bold steps can they take to become truly ‘AI-native,’ embedding AI seamlessly into their day-to-day workflows and decision-making processes?
First and foremost, the transition towards being AI-native calls for a shift in mindset. Instead of viewing AI as a standalone tool, employees should view it as an integral part of how work gets done.
“It’s less a conversation about an individual tool – be it ChatGPT or DeepSeek – and more about a way of thinking; ‘How can I use this technology in what I do during my job to make me more effective at what I do?’” explains Matt Cloke, chief technology officer at Endava.
This means empowering employees at all levels to embrace AI and leverage it to enhance their productivity and decision-making. Organisations must foster a culture where AI is actively used to drive business outcomes. “It’s about helping them train and develop themselves, so they know how to get the best out of that technology,” says Cloke.
Overcoming the Fear Factor
However, the fear that AI will impact jobs and livelihoods is all too real for many employees. Cloke acknowledges this concern but argues that the true value of AI lies in its ability to make employees more efficient, not replace them.
“It’s critical that you demonstrate to people how, by having AI complete certain tasks, they can be freed up to do more valuable work,” he says. “They shouldn’t see it as a threat, but as a way to empower them.”
This calls for a human-centric approach to AI. Teams must be upskilled, employees augmented by AI rather than replaced by, and knowledge transferred from experts to the layman to ensure long-term adoption.
Cloke points to Endava’s own journey, where the company’s leadership team has actively embraced AI across various functions, from marketing to financial analysis. “They ask, ‘what can you do as a human to make your life easier and better?’,” he says.
Modernising Legacy Systems
Another of the biggest challenges organisations face in becoming AI-native is the need to modernise their legacy IT systems and infrastructure to be AI-ready. Cloke explains that many businesses have built “veneers,” or layers, on top of their outdated core platforms, which limits their ability to fully leverage AI.
“If you think about an organisation like a bank, right at the core of its environment is a value chain of systems holding things together,” he says. “Often the problem is that it is old technology, and whoever created that technology – or knew how to change it – doesn’t exist inside the organisation anymore.”
This approach, Cloke argues, only gets you so far. To truly unlock the power of AI, organisations need to be willing to tackle the core modernisation of their legacy systems.
“An AI model will know about legacy techs like COBOL or the AS/400 better than a lot of people,” he says. “It allows organisations with large legacy estates to start pulling together data inside of their organisation in new ways, enabling new business models potentially, or new ways of interacting with customers. But they’ve got to change those core underlying platforms to enable that to happen.”
While this may seem like a daunting task, Cloke says the investment can pay dividends.
“We’ve got experience of talking to clients, when we’ve shown them what we can do using AI in this space, where they will say, ‘We’ve previously not even been able to complete the project to come up with the estimate for how long it will take to do the change. And you’ve come in and in a brief period of time, shown us how we can do it quicker, and more efficiently, by using AI to help.”
Crawl, Walk, Run
For organisations looking to embark on their AI-native journey, Cloke recommends a simple, step-by-step approach.
“Crawl, walk, run,” he says. “What can I do now? What’s the next thing that I can do, the simplest possible thing to enable me to start going on this journey?”
Crawl: The first step is to be open to the idea that even the most complex legacy systems can now be modernised with the help of AI. “Historically, people have said, ‘No, it’s too complicated.’ Whereas the ability and sophistication to reason and start to pull that apart now exists,” explains Cloke.
Walk: From there, organisations should focus on integrating AI into their daily workflows, gradually demonstrating its benefits to the wider team. “I’d start by showing other people how I’m embracing this technology,” he says.
Run: Finally, there’s where you’re running with AI. “You’re all in – you’ve embraced it, it’s in everything that you’re doing and you’re seeing the benefits,” adds Cloke.
The Competitive Imperative
Cloke warns that the pace of AI advancement is so rapid that businesses can’t afford to ‘wait and see.’
“If you’re a business leader expecting this to somehow slow down and not happen to you, I think you’re the wrong business leader,” he says.
Cloke points to examples like Klarna, the payments company that has embraced AI-powered customer support, as evidence that early adopters will gain a significant competitive edge. “When you start falling behind in terms of adopting this technology and moving forward, it’s going to be harder for you to catch up,” he says.
“The longer that people wait, the further behind they’re going to fall, because everyone is accelerating into the change.”
For businesses looking to future-proof themselves, the message is clear: the time to become AI-native is now. As Cloke puts it, “If you think the rate of change has been quick through 2024 just wait and see what happens in 2025.”
For more information on becoming an AI-native organisation, visit Endava
The rapid pace of AI’s advancement is catching even technology experts by surprise. In turn, businesses are now grappling with how to effectively integrate AI into their operations. So, what bold steps can they take to become truly ‘AI-native,’ embedding AI seamlessly into their day-to-day workflows and decision-making processes?
First and foremost, the transition towards being AI-native calls for a shift in mindset. Instead of viewing AI as a standalone tool, employees should view it as an integral part of how work gets done.
“It’s less a conversation about an individual tool – be it ChatGPT or DeepSeek – and more about a way of thinking; ‘How can I use this technology in what I do during my job to make me more effective at what I do?’” explains Matt Cloke, chief technology officer at Endava.
