We want to deploy AI agents to handle our customer success triage, but our Head of Customer Success is terrified of being replaced and is subtly rallying her team to find errors in the AI outputs to prove it does not work. How do we address this executive resistance?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When your Head of Customer Success quietly rallies her team to find flaws in your new AI triage system, she is reacting out of fear. This is not a technical issue, it is a trust and safety issue. She perceives the automation as a direct threat to her job and her department's relevance, so she is engaging in subtle sabotage to protect her status.

To resolve this, you must first build safety and share vulnerability, as outlined in the Culture Code framework. Sit down with her and address the elephant in the room. Be completely transparent about why you are integrating AI. The goal is to scale operations and eliminate repetitive tasks, not to eliminate her seat.

Next, use the GWC tool to evaluate her alignment with this new direction. She must Get, Want, and have the Capacity to lead an AI powered department. If she is willing to adapt, redefine her seat on the Accountability Chart. Her new accountabilities should include maximizing AI efficiency and training her staff to handle high value, complex customer issues that the AI cannot resolve.

If she is willing to embrace this shift, her conative strengths can actually help. If she has a high Fact Finder score on the Kolbe A Index, her natural tendency to identify errors can be channeled productively into fine tuning the AI models, rather than using those errors to weaponize her team against the technology.

However, if she remains defensive and continues to resist the automation, she is violating your core values and failing at LMA. You cannot allow executive fear to stall your operational progress.