Large-scale technology applications rarely fail because of technology alone. More often, trust is eroded when employees feel that decisions are made around them instead of with them, or when communication becomes inconsistent as growth pressures mount.
For adoption to last beyond the launch week, change management teams must treat trust as an ongoing business priority, not a one-time messaging exercise. Below, its members Forbes Technology Council share practical ways leaders can earn that trust early and keep it at every stage of a major technology deployment.
Rebuilding Changing playbooks around trust
Many application playbooks are outdated and need to be rewritten to reflect the trust challenges created by the rapid adoption of AI. The focus needs to shift from ‘trust the technology’ to ‘trust the people behind it’. This means empowering trusted change champions, accelerating culture-aligned change, and increasing executive visibility throughout the implementation. – Rochelle Blease, G2 Risk Solutions
Clarify your AI strategy early
Define your AI strategy early and sponsor it from the top. People need to know the direction, the rationale, the expected results and how it affects their role. Make it clear that these tools exist to enhance productivity and competitiveness, not to replace people. But also be honest: The gap between adopters and non-adopters will become unsustainable for any company competing in this market. – Samuel Martinez, SDG Group
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Show the logic behind the decisions
Make decision logic visible early. Trust is built when teams can see how and why systems make choices, not just the results. Exposing the guardrails, exceptions, and logic during rollout turns change from something that happens to people to something they can understand and influence. And allowing teams (instead of co-opting them) to co-sign the future gets buy-in. – Karthik Suri, Sprinkler
Narrate Change Continuously
Stop announcing change and start telling it. People don’t resist technology. They resist uncertainty. The best change teams I’ve worked with gave employees a running commentary on what was changing, why, and what it meant for Monday morning. Silence breeds rumours. Consistent, honest updates, even when the news is imperfect, build more trust than any polished launch event. – Mayur Khandelwal, EXL
Explain how the day-to-day work will change
You can earn trust through consistent, honest and clear communication at every stage with all stakeholders. Messages should be framed as “Here’s where we’re going, here’s why it matters, and here’s what it will look like for you.” The last part is important. People need to know what their daily lives will be like after the change, what value it brings to the future of their team, and how it fits into the direction of the organization. – Vinod NairComcast
Let frontline teams solve problems
Push problem solving to the lowest level. Trust is built when teams locally diagnose not just what went wrong, but where and why. In lean, technology-driven cultures, this creates clear ownership, faster learning loops, and better decisions—so people truly own their space and trust is sustained through diffusion. – Rob Versaw, Dynatrace
Communicate frequently at each stage
Open, regular, and frequent communication is the key to success in large-scale efforts. There is always confusion, resistance, distraction, and natural speed bumps in any change process. When it comes to technology, it can be daunting, but constant and frequent communication through the process in “ready, fire, aim, aim, aim” mode can help ensure that your project hits the mark. – Jeffrey Sullivan, Consensus Cloud Solutions
Encourage teams to explore organically
A top-down approach will only take an organization so far. Workforce adoption is critical and must be driven by organic internal demand as well as individual curiosity. To help foster this desire for knowledge and the courage to experiment, embed technology use cases in operations across the organization, then step back to allow teams to explore and provide feedback. – Jodi Euerle Eddy, Boston Scientific
Empower internal champions to drive adoption
Sustainable adoption, to me, rarely comes from development plans alone. It grows in groups. Champions within functional units understand workflows, constraints, and informal dynamics. They make technology relevant to everyday work. Early wins become signs of confidence, not mandates. Adoption spreads organically because ownership is local and trust is built by familiar voices. – Croup Bhat, Melendo
Set predictable expectations before launch
Start by setting clear expectations about how the mood will work before it begins. Trust is eroded when teams are surprised by changes or are unclear about what will happen next. Establishing a predictable release cadence, sharing what will change and when, and constant follow-up builds trust and keeps teams aligned throughout the process. – Ed Frederici, Appfire
Frame AI as a new way of thinking
Approach technology—specifically artificial intelligence—as a new way of thinking, not just a tool. When leaders teach employees to actively delegate tasks to automated agents, it democratizes knowledge and empowers the entire workforce. Trust is maintained when employees realize that this change in mindset allows them to work in smarter ways. – Eugene Sayan, Softheon
Keep in touch after Go-Live
Plan as much communication for the weeks after the launch as you did for the weeks leading up to it. Most change programs go silent right when users hit their first real friction, and that silence is where trust is quietly broken. A visible team that still listens, corrects and explains after go-live earns more credibility than any pre-launch campaign. – Shalini Sudarsan, Pedagogical Education Companies
Make The Impact Personal
Make the impact personal and practical from the start. People trust change when they understand what it means for their role, how they will be supported and what success looks like. Clear communication early on, reinforced through disposition, is what maintains trust. – Rahul Saluja, WinWire
Reveal implementation friction early
Show people the ugly truth early. Most change teams skip the vision and hide the friction, then are surprised when trust breaks down live. Instead, post what will break, what will be painful, and how long the messy waist really lasts. Radical honesty about short-term costs builds the credibility that carries you through months of resistance to adoption. – Ajay Pundhir, AskAjay.ai
Include informal leaders in disposition decisions
To avoid resentment, identify respected informal leaders and empower them to architect growth. Give these influencers the power to improve or veto features that conflict with business reality before full release. This ensures that when the solution reaches the wider workforce, employees see the fingerprints of their peers on the final product. – Neil Lambton, TIAG
Data normalization before AI scaling
Start data preparation. Many organizations have more telemetry than they can use, but AI models trained on inconsistent or muted data do not make sense. they guess The first practical step is normalization: Bring the data into a unified shape, enrich it with context, and give meaning to each signal before it reaches a model. Reliable data is the solution. – Kannan Kothandaraman, AI selector
Deliver customized learning throughout deployment
Prioritize personalized learning opportunities. When teams are reluctant to adopt new technologies, it often stems from low trust and confidence rather than low interest. By designing a comprehensive, customized curriculum that will be integrated into the rollout, we can gain trust, build buy-in, and arm teams with the skills they need to fully realize the potential of breakthrough technology. – Mike Iannoni, Blackbaud
Pilot solutions before scaling them up
Start with prototypes, not mood. Test solutions in real workflows, co-create with teams and build on their feedback. Show quick, tangible wins before scaling. When people see their input shaping results and experience real impact, trust is built faster. The transformation becomes something that belongs to them, not something that is imposed. – Anna Drobakha, Groupe SEB
Track decisions and results transparently
Continuously monitoring decisions and their consequences for the initial desired outcome is one step change management teams can take. No project goes exactly as planned. Therefore, making decisions that affect the outcome visible is key to accountability. – Richard Ricks, Silver Tree Consulting and Services
Put governance guardrails in place from day one
Establish and enforce clear guardrails from day one—across all systems, tools, people, and ways of working—and treat this as fundamental governance, not optional change management. Without it, implementations become fragmented over time. With this, you create clarity, accountability and trust that is maintained beyond circulation. – Rafael Flores, Treasure AI
