AI – Your New Favorite OCM Thought Partner
Once upon a time, a consulting company had an idea: What if we could replace change management consultants with people who just knew how to write AI prompts? The thought was—why not have someone review meeting recordings, ask AI to pull out the change impacts, and generate change management plans? It sounded innovative and efficient… until it was put into practice. It quickly became clear that AI alone isn’t a replacement for the deep expertise required in change management. You need solid domain knowledge in your industry, strong organizational change management (OCM) skills—or ideally, both. But handing AI over to someone without experience—no matter how good the tool—isn’t going to produce meaningful or actionable results.
The human side of change still matters. People still need to analyze the impacts, understand the business context, and craft plans that work for the unique culture and goals of an organization. And as any OCM pro knows, the real magic happens in the iteration: getting feedback, refining the plan, and building buy-in. That’s not something AI can fully do. But here’s the thing: while AI can’t replace us, it can absolutely help us.
A Tool for Inspiration and Speed
We met with Ricky Mathis, a change management professional, who explains that he frequently uses AI in his own work as inspiration. Not because he lacks organizational change management expertise—quite the opposite—it helps him start faster. Whether he’s building a comms plan or drafting a strategy, he can go into a generative AI tool, type in a prompt, and get a rough starting point. It beats staring at a blank slide or empty doc.
AI is an excellent brainstorming partner. It won’t give you the final product, but it gives you something to react to. It might remind you of a stakeholder group you didn’t consider, or help you reframe messaging for a particular audience. Sometimes it’s just about momentum—getting a few bullets down so you can keep going.
The Power Is in the Prompt
It all starts (and ends) with the prompt. When Ricky first started using AI during a small pilot with a previous client, it took a bit of trial and error to get the results he was looking for. Over time, he learned that the more specific he was, the better the output. Here’s what a strong, effective prompt looks like:
“Define a communication approach for a software change in a manufacturing environment. Put it into a table format with columns for audience, message, timing, and delivery method.”
See how clear and directed that is? Or if you’re working on stakeholder engagement, try:
“What are the types of stakeholders typically involved in a technology rollout at a healthcare organization?”
By asking thoughtful, precise questions, you’re more likely to get helpful, tailored responses. And you don’t have to sacrifice client or company privacy either. You can easily speak generally about the software and the company type.
Where AI Can Support OCM Work
So where exactly can AI step in and give you a boost? Here are some key areas where it shines:
Stakeholder analysis: Drafting a stakeholder map or identifying potential groups affected by change.
Leadership alignment: Creating talking points or presentation outlines to help get leaders on board.
Impact assessments: Drafting impact categories or example impacts from similar past initiatives.
Comms planning: Generating comms frameworks based on type of change, audience, or industry.
Training & adoption strategies: Outlining learning paths or suggesting methods to boost adoption.
The output might be an outline, a list of considerations, or just fresh language that reframes your thinking. You’ll still need to customize it—but it gives you a great start.
How to Get Started
Don’t overthink it. You don’t need to be an AI expert. Just start small. Here’s what Ricky recommends:
Write down your problem. What do you want help with? Be specific.
Think about the output you want. A table? A list? A paragraph you can copy and paste?
Construct your prompt. Begin with the output in mind.
Refine as you go. If you don’t like the answer, ask again. Or say, “Now give this to me in a table format.”
And if you’re new to it, you can create a free account at chat.openai.com and start experimenting right away.
AI Won’t Replace You—But It Can Supercharge You
OCM consultants aren’t going anywhere. Change management still relies on relationships, empathy, creativity, and insight. But AI? The more you play with it, the more useful it becomes. AI won’t take your job—but it might just help you do it better, faster, and with even more impact. So don’t wait. Try it. You might just find your new favorite thought partner.
Contact ChangeStaffing to learn more about how to supercharge your workforce with AI
Thank you to Ricky Mathis for his thought leadership and for collaborating with us on this blog.
Written by Kylette Harrison