When Should You NOT Use AI at Work? How do you transform work when technology and people move at different speeds? What Does AI Transformation Look Like Inside a 128,000-Person Company?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Laurent Aufils, Chief AI & Future of Work Officer at Orange Group, to explore the tension at the heart of his job: redesigning work with AI while supporting the people living through that change.
Together, they discuss how Orange is moving beyond individual AI tools to rethink workflows, customer service and human contribution. Laurent explains why promised time savings don’t always survive implementation—and why the gains that do materialize should benefit the company, its customers and its employees. They explore protected learning time, peer communities and the work underway to recognize AI ambassadors’ contributions in performance reviews. They also discuss why Orange continues to recruit graduates into roles being reshaped by AI, and how people develop the experience to question an AI output and take responsibility for the result.
Whether you’re leading AI transformation, shaping people strategy or rethinking your own team’s work, this conversation explores the choices behind the technology: where human involvement creates value, how to use the time AI frees up, and what organizations must do beyond asking employees to adapt.
Guest Information:
Laurent Aufils is the Chief AI & Future of Work Officer at Orange Group, leading people transformation for AI across 124,000 employees in 26 countries.
With over 20 years of international experience spanning strategy, transformation, finance, and HR across complex, multicultural environments, I lead the human and organizational transformation required to unlock AI’s full potential at Orange Group. Working in close partnership with our Chief AI Officer, I ensure business transformation with AI and people transformation for AI advance together at the same pace, with the same level of ambition and accountability.
Links:
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurent-aufils/
Website : https://www.laurentaufils.com
Chapters:
00:00 How do you lead both AI and people transformation?
01:15 What happens when AI moves faster than people can adapt?
03:25 How do you scale AI beyond individual tools?
07:36 Which parts of the work should remain human?
10:22 When do customers need a person instead of a bot?
12:38 When AI saves time, who benefits?
15:00 How do you turn time saved into more than more work?
19:12 What is Orange still wrestling with?
21:37 How do you reward employees who help others adopt AI?
24:32 What should HR take responsibility for in AI transformation?
27:07 When should we choose not to use AI?
30:31 Why keep hiring graduates for jobs AI is changing?
32:39 How do people build experience when AI does part of the work?
35:08 What keeps people wanting to work?
