Has your AI incentive structure caught up with the technology?

KPMG is paying employees "materially more than their year-end bonus" to bring AI innovation ideas forward.

They're not alone.

IBM gives "BluePoints". Sanofi awards points for experimenting with AI. Law firm Shoosmiths created a £1M bonus fund tied to Microsoft Copilot usage.

A pattern is emerging across industries. And it's worth paying attention to.

1/ The incentive structure is the strategy.

Most AI transformation stalls because very few are asking who gets to share in the gains. When the incentive structure doesn't catch up with the technology, the workforce won't either.

2/ Junior staff are the unleveraged asset.

KPMG’s program is open to staff from director level down, giving early‑career employees real upside. Its a really smart move. The people closest to the work see the friction first. The best AI ideas are often on the front lines.

3/ Recognition is infrastructure for trust.

As Sanofi's head of culture put it: "Recognition is the fuel of trust, and trust is what makes AI adoption possible and scalable." As I've said before, AI moves at the speed of trust. Incentive programs like these are how you build it at scale.

Every infrastructure revolution in history had a moment when the incentive structure caught up with the technology.

Right now we are deciding who participates in the most significant economic transformation in human history. Incentive programs like these are small acts with civilizational consequences.

They determine whether AI becomes a tool of concentration or a substrate of shared human progress.

Until next time,

Ram

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Ram Srinivasan

MIT Alum | Author, The Conscious Machine | Global Future of Work and AI Adoption Leader published in Business Insider, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, MIT Executive Viewpoints and more.

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A Message From Ram:

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Disclaimer:

Ram Srinivasan currently serves as an Innovation Strategist and Transformation Leader, authoring groundbreaking works including "The Conscious Machine" and the upcoming "The Exponential Human."

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