The Bound Man: The New Reality Of AI Is Culture Change, Not Just Tech

This article was originally published by the Forbes Coaches Council. Read the original here or check out articles from other members of the Forbes Coaches Council here.

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"Sunlight on his face woke him, but made him shut his eyes again ... he discovered that he was bound. A thin rope cut into his arms. He dropped them, opened his eyes again, and looked down at himself. His legs were tied all the way up to his thighs ..."

In The Bound Man (1952), by Ilse Aichinger, a man wakes up in nature bound head to foot and must find ways to navigate his new reality.

Our New Reality Of AI/AR/ML

Sound familiar?

While every new dawn brings some uncertainty of what the day will bring, the contours of our emerging new reality with artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and machine learning (ML) are becoming more clearly outlined with each daily cycle.

McKinsey research shows that 92% of companies plan to invest more in AI over the next three years, welcoming it into their business structure and strategy.

Investment Capital, Fixed Capital And Working Capital

New tech investments of any variety are expensive, occurring ahead of the performance curve, where investments create new value and provide returns. Potentially, a serious drag on delivering excellent business results now, in 2026.

Multiple MIT studies, particularly from the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, highlight that while CEOs expect AI to be transformative, an estimated 95% of companies investing in AI pilots are currently seeing zero return on investment.

Human Capital

Our new reality has people in it. I’m pleased by what I see in some of the AI literature, forums, college courses and training programs emphasizing the importance of integrating new technology and digital tools with human-centric leadership.

There is a focus on designing AI with employee input, with the ethos of aiding, amplifying and enhancing the contributions of employees—rather than shuffling them out.

Your New Reality—Your Choice

There’s an "echo" from Aichinger’s story, a concept introduced years ago when I first read it, which is resonating with me now: “In that he was careful that his actions remained within the limitations created by the rope, he was free.”

To put that into context for us, right now: While your new reality is also here, and you’re tied to it, you are entirely free to control your responses to it.

A pleasant surprise for many of my coaching clients is that many people often make the mistake of underestimating the pace, quality and quantity of change they are capable of designing, achieving and sustaining.

My Prediction

You’ll soon discover that your best response is to blend the new tech with traditional skills. While experts, implementation specialists, coaches and trained internal integrators can fill important roles in your transition cadre, depending on your new reality response plans, I would like to offer an additional consideration.

The new reality isn’t a super-sized IT modernization. It’s a wholesale culture change.

I’ve written extensively on the importance of authenticity and making the needs of others relevant in negotiations, culture change, organizational design and transformational work. If you engage, train, motivate, empower, value and advocate for your people, as an honest broker, entering this new reality, you’ll be navigating with advocates and proxies for your change, at your side.

Such is the power and potential of an adjacent, planned and carefully instituted transition to a new culture. Accomplishing this transition usually requires critical domain knowledge, the 'traditional' domain of executive coaches specializing in organizational design, change management and transformative change.

Avoiding ‘Fits And Starts’

Minimizing the "fits and starts" that invariably go with wholesale change, the likes of which we are experiencing in the new reality, comes down to having a clear strategy aligned with business goals.

Will your 2026 strategy be prioritized as technological or, more inclusively, as a comprehensive new culture transformation? Or a careful blend of both?

Find your edge, sharpen it and cut the rope.

Conclusion

The New Reality (AI/AR/ML) is certainly Our World, anew.

From what I’m hearing from peers and seeing in my own coaching practice, the traditional ability of Executive Coaches specializing in Organizational Design, Change Management, and Transformative Change is needed now more than ever.

Learn more? Work together?

Please contact me.

I’m sure I can help. I know the ropes.