In recent years, the landscape of Organizational Development (OD) has been in flux, grappling with the rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technological innovations. Five years ago, as I left teaching in the field, I was concerned about a widening gap between traditional OD practices focused predominantly on human behavior, training, and organizational structures and the growing need for the field to support integrating technology systems into these frameworks. I observed then that OD was often missing from leadership teams or subordinated under HR as a training and employee development resource. This gap underscored a lag in adapting OD principles to support leadership and HR teams in designing and integrating human and technological systems within organizational paradigms.

Was my assessment and concern justified then? Is my concern the gap has widened now with the sudden emergence of LLM-based AI justified, or am I now behind in the work by OD research and practitioners?

Fast forward to the present, and it’s evident that the sphere of OD is at a pivotal juncture, poised to embrace the challenges and opportunities presented by AI and technology solutions for workplace and organizational design. This evolution comes at a critical time as governments are stepping in to shape the contours of this integration, albeit with a lack of focus on organizational design and behavior to harness the potential and avert unintended repercussions.

A significant stride in this direction is marked by the recent Executive Order issued by President Biden, aimed at fostering a safe, secure, and trustworthy AI ecosystem. This comprehensive directive addresses a spectrum of concerns from AI safety and security, privacy protection, advancing equity and civil rights, supporting workers, promoting innovation and competition, and ensuring responsible government use of AI. The Executive Order delineates a robust framework for not only protecting the interests of Americans but also for propelling innovation and maintaining a competitive edge on the global stage. This would be a valuable call to action for the OD field.

This order’s essence resonates with OD’s core tenets – fostering a holistic, integrated approach to organizational systems while calling for protections and guard rails as AI suddenly moves from a backend technology to a disruptive frontend set of direct customer and consumer-facing source of information and interactions, as well as employee work aid, technological coworker, or replacement. The directive underscores the necessity of melding technological advancements with organizational structures and behaviors to optimize productivity, ensure equity, and mitigate risks.

Notably, the directive advocates for the development of standards, tools, and tests to ascertain the safety, security, and trustworthiness of AI systems. This aligns seamlessly with the ethos of OD, which emphasizes creating and implementing standards and best practices to ensure organizational efficacy and well-being. Moreover, the focus on protecting Americans from AI-enabled fraud and deception, advancing responsible use of AI in healthcare and education, and supporting workers amidst AI-induced labor market disruptions all echo the broader objectives of OD to foster healthy, equitable, and effective organizational ecosystems.

OD practitioners must harness the insights and frameworks emerging from such policy directives to enrich the practice. Integrating AI and technology solutions into organizational systems is no longer futuristic but an immediate imperative. It can not be left to the technology developers and government administration to define the way AI is developed and integrated into organizations.

There seems to be an opportunity for OD to guide the discussion from a gap narrative to integration and evolution. The call to action is clear: It’s time for OD practitioners to step up, engage with these challenges, and contribute to shaping a future where technology and humanity merge in a symbiotic organizational framework. If not OD, what field will guide organizational leaders?

Moreover, the Executive Order also invites a collaborative approach, urging engagements with international partners to foster a safe and responsible global AI ecosystem. This global perspective is crucial for OD practitioners to broaden the scope and impact of OD initiatives beyond local or national boundaries to benefit the global and transnational organizations they support.

The discourse around the integration of technology in OD is rich and evolving. It beckons OD practitioners to engage, explore, and contribute to this critical dialogue. The fusion of OD principles with technological advancements is not merely a trend but a fundamental shift that has suddenly become an urgent imperative urging us to rethink, reimagine, and reshape the OD landscape in this digital transformation era.

Now seems to be the time for OD practitioners to delve into this intersection of human and technological systems, to learn, adapt, and lead the way in navigating the complexities of this new frontier in organizational development