Okta’s COO says companies are in denial about the hardest part of the AI revolution: redesigning work itself

Okta's COO Eric Kelleher highlights a critical challenge in the AI revolution that most companies are unprepared for: the fundamental redesign of work processes and organizational structures. Rather than simply adopting AI tools, businesses must rethink workforce planning to account for both human and digital workers, a conceptual shift that executives struggle to implement.

Eric Kelleher's observation addresses a gap between AI adoption rhetoric and organizational reality. While companies race to implement generative AI and automation tools, few have grappled with the downstream restructuring required to actually benefit from these technologies. This disconnect stems from the historical pattern of technology adoption—organizations typically layer new tools onto existing processes rather than redesigning workflows from the ground up.

The specific challenge Kelleher identifies involves budgeting and resource allocation frameworks. Traditional workforce planning treats employees as discrete units with salary, benefits, and productivity metrics. Digital workers—whether AI agents, automated systems, or hybrid human-AI workflows—operate under entirely different cost and capability models. Companies must simultaneously think about hiring, training, and deploying human talent while provisioning, maintaining, and managing digital systems. This dual-track planning breaks existing mental models and organizational structures.

For enterprises and technology vendors, this represents both opportunity and risk. Organizations that successfully redesign their workflows around human-digital collaboration gain competitive advantages, while those that fail to adapt face technological debt and underutilized AI investments. This suggests significant consulting demand and market opportunities for firms helping companies restructure operations.

The broader implication signals that AI's true ROI will take longer than current market timelines suggest. Implementation extends beyond software deployment to encompassing organizational change management. Investors should watch for enterprise software vendors pivoting toward workflow redesign consulting, and for companies reporting concrete productivity gains from restructured operations rather than simply deploying new tools.

• →Companies struggle with the organizational redesign required to effectively deploy AI, not just the technology adoption itself
• →Budget planning must evolve to accommodate dual planning for human workers and digital workers simultaneously
• →Most executives underestimate the conceptual and structural changes needed for meaningful AI-driven productivity gains
• →Organizations layering AI onto existing processes will likely underperform compared to those redesigning workflows holistically
• →This readiness gap creates opportunities for consulting services and extended enterprise software implementations