🎙️ Culture Bites Episode: AI and Culture
Host: Dominic Gourley
Guest: Charlie Turing (AI)
Produced by: Human Synergistics Australia
Podcast: Culture Bites
💡 Episode Overview
Artificial Intelligence is reshaping how we work — but it’s not just a technology story, it’s a culture story.
In this thought-provoking (and slightly meta) episode, host Dominic Gourley explores what AI means for organisational culture — with a little help from a ‘special guest’, Charlie Turing. Together, they unpack how AI can empower creativity and connection… or quietly erode them, depending on the culture you build.
But there is a twist… you’ll have to listen in to find out what it is!
🧠 Topics Discussed
- What AI really is — and why it’s as much a mirror as a machine
- How AI can make work more human by removing the mundane
- Why culture determines whether AI succeeds or stalls
- How different cultures (Passive Defensive, Aggressive Defensive, Constructive) react to AI adoption
- Designing jobs in the age of AI — expanding roles, not shrinking them
- Trust, transparency, and keeping “humans in the human moments”
- “Guardrails, not handcuffs”: the mindset for safe, empowering AI use
- The surprising role of leaders in shaping AI-powered workplaces
- The irony and implications of AI hosting a podcast about culture
🔍 Key Insights
- The culture you have will determine how well you adapt to AI. Passive Culture will be slow going. Aggressive will be chaotic.
- Constructive cultures thrive with AI. Curiosity, trust, and initiative enable experimentation and learning — the key to AI success.
- Guardrails, not handcuffs. Give teams room to explore safely. Compliance never built innovation.
- Keep humans in human moments. Keep people in the moments that matter for connection – like hiring and onboarding.
- Start building the culture you need — now. The best time was yesterday. The next best is today. Constructive cultures will will outperform others.
🔗 Resources Mentioned
- Human Synergistics Australia: human-synergistics.com.au
- Explore the Circumplex Model for understanding your organisation’s culture
- Read more about Constructive vs Defensive Cultures and how they affect innovation
💬 Join the Conversation
How is your organisation using AI?
Have you seen culture enable — or derail — AI success?
Join Dominic on LinkedIn and share your perspective.
📫 Get Involved
Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe and share it with your team.
Send your questions or feedback to podcast@human-synergistics.com.au — we might feature your question in an upcoming episode.
Full Episode Transcript:
Dominic:
Welcome to Culture Bites. My name’s Dominic: Gourley, and I’m A consultant at Human Synergistics Australia. Today, we’re diving into something that’s everywhere right now, artificial intelligence. But instead of talking about the tech, I want to talk about the people side. What AI means for culture. Will it make work easier or make us more passive? Will it unlock creativity or quietly erode connection? To help me explore that, I’ve invited someone who, well, knows AI inside out, Charlie:. Hi, Charlie. Thanks for coming on the show.
Charlie:
Hi, Dominic:. Thanks for having me on Culture Bites. I’m really excited to talk about AI and where it all might be going.
Dominic:
Everyone’s talking about the tools, the new models, the automation, but not enough people are talking about How are we actually going to work with it? And that’s what we’ll unpack today, how AI will shape culture and how culture will decide whether how well your organization can actually adopt and be successful with it. Before we get into the connection with culture, could you start by just explaining what AI is exactly?
Charlie:
Well, at its simplest, AI is technology that can mimic some aspects of human intelligence, things like understanding language, recognizing patterns, solving problems, or making predictions. But that’s the surface-level answer. What’s more interesting is that AI is really a mirror for how we think and work. It learns from the data we feed it, which means it learns from us. So in one sense… AI is just a tool, a very powerful one. But in another sense, it’s a cultural force. It changes what we value, how we make decisions, what skills matter, and even how we see ourselves at work. If you think about it, every major technological leap, electricity, the internet, smartphones, has changed human behavior. AI is the same, but faster and deeper. It’s not just automating tasks. And that’s why I think conversations like this are so important. because AI isn’t just about the tech. It’s about how we as people and organizations choose to use it. The culture we build around it will determine whether it helps us grow or makes us more passive.
Dominic:
All right, Charlie, but before we dive into the challenges, let’s start with the upside, because there’s some real opportunity here.
Charlie:
Yeah, absolutely. There’s a lot to be excited about. If you zoom out, AI has the potential to make work better, more efficient, more creative, more human in some ways. AI can handle the repetitive, time-consuming tasks that eat up our day. Data entry, reporting, scheduling, summarizing documents. That frees people to focus on the parts of their work that actually need judgment, creativity, or empathy.
Dominic:
Yeah, that resonates. If I think about my own day, I use it for brainstorming workshops or writing client examples. It gets me started faster. And then I can spend my energy refining and personalizing.
Charlie:
Right. It’s like a creative partner. It throws ideas at you, some bad, some brilliant, but all of them spark thought. But it still takes your judgment and ideas to really make it work. And beyond that, new offerings, new products, predictive insights, personalized services, like when the iPhone came out. I mean, suddenly there was Uber and Spotify. AI will do the same.
Dominic:
The upside is huge. Productivity, innovation, creativity. But we’ll only realize it if we can actually implement it. and that depends on culture. So here’s the framing for today. There are two sides to this story. The impact AI will have on culture and the impact culture will have on whether AI succeeds. Let’s start with whether the culture you have is going to help or hinder when it comes to AI adoption. I remember the agile craze where every company was going agile, whether or not they were in IT and whether or not they actually had a culture that could execute agile sticky notes and stand-ups. But it was all still waterfall.
Charlie:
That’s right. Because true agile only really works in constructive cultures, those with clarity, trust, and empowerment. Most organizations tried to drop agile tools into defensive cultures full of fear, approvals, and hierarchy. They’d say, be agile, but then everything still needed sign-off. And I think we’ll see the same thing with AI. If your culture doesn’t support experimentation, curiosity, and ownership, It doesn’t really matter what tools you bring in.
Dominic:
So the question becomes, what kind of culture do you have? Because that’ll decide whether AI becomes an opportunity or just another failed initiative. Let’s unpack those differences. What do the different cultural clusters mean when it comes to AI adoption?
Charlie:
Sure. Well, first up, passive defensive cultures. These are cautious, rule-bound reacting rather than initiating. When AI shows up, the first instinct is, we need a policy. 50 pages of what not to do. Even if the CEO says, be innovative, if the implicit cultural message is still, don’t rock the boat, then that’s what people are going to do or not do.
Dominic:
What about aggressive defensive cultures?
Charlie:
Lots of energy, but misaligned. Every department runs its own AI project, marketing, HR, IT, no coordination, or perfectionism. We’ll roll it out once it’s flawless. By then, competitors are miles ahead.
Dominic:
So fear of failure masquerades as high standards. What do you think about constructive cultures and how they would approach it?
Charlie:
These are the ones that have the potential to thrive with AI. They have initiative, trust, clarity. They pilot small, share learnings and build momentum. And they focus on guardrails, not handcuffs.
Dominic:
All right, that sets the stage. And now let’s talk about what actually happens during the rollout. Because how you introduce AI says everything about your culture. We always say culture is the way we do things around here. So how are we doing AI?
Charlie:
The rollout itself sends a message. If it’s full of fear, be careful what you type. Don’t use it wrong. People shut down if it’s framed as opportunity. Here’s what’s possible. Here’s how to explore safely. People open up. Guardrails versus prison bars. Both have boundaries, but only one lets you move. So the question for leaders is, are we building confidence or compliance?
Dominic:
I like that, because compliance never built innovation. All right, if that was how the culture you have today is going to affect your success in adapting to AI. On the other side of the equation, how might AI come to actually shape our culture? The one I think of first in our OEI model is job design. What are the watch outs and maybe opportunities when it comes to AI and the design of jobs?
Charlie:
Every new technology changes work. When computers arrived, people stopped solving and started processing. Computer says no. AI could do that again if we’re not careful. It could lead to jobs being highly process-driven, automated, and people could basically be expected to unplug their brains and just do what the computer says. You mentioned earlier that you use it to help you brainstorm ideas, and then you take the best bits and refine it. That’s awesome. But you already have the experience to be able to make those kinds of judgments. I think AI and the simplification of jobs could be particularly risky for early career employees. They might lose the chance to build that experience and judgment, either because their job is too simplified or because the need for those junior roles no longer exist. However, on the flip side, we could use it to expand roles, not shrink them. Let AI handle the boring stuff so humans can focus on thinking, interpreting, and creating. Shift from production to sense-making.
Dominic:
If AI takes away the mundane, great. But if it takes away meaning, that’s a cultural problem. The way we design work is the way we design culture. It’s going to be important to keep that in mind. Let’s go another dark side for a minute. AI as big brother. It’s easy to imagine. Systems tracking emails, chat tone, even cursor movement. The next thing you know, you’re getting alerts. Your tone score dropped 3%.
Charlie:
And you know what? Short term, maybe productivity goes up. But long-term, trust collapses. People start managing appearances, not outcomes. Be deliberate in how you do it. If it helps people learn and grow, trust builds. If it feels like control, trust evaporates. However, AI can also amplify a constructive culture. If your culture values learning, curiosity, and trust, AI can turbocharge it.
Dominic:
Yeah, I found that. It helps me work faster and more creatively, not less. It’s not replacing creativity, you know, it’s expanding it. I’ve been able to rapidly prototype and test ideas because I could come up with the concepts, but use AI to fill in a lot of the details and blanks. And it can free leaders to lead. Less admin, more connection. People follow people, not robots. And if AI can give leaders back time for conversations, coaching, direction, that’s huge. All right, let’s finish. with a checklist.
Charlie:
Sure. A few quick ones. One, guard rails, not handcuffs. Two, to pilot small, learn fast. Three, keep humans in human moments. Four, or use AI to expand roles. Five, be transparent about trade-offs.
Dominic:
And I’ll add a bonus. Start building the culture you need now. The best day to build the right culture was yesterday. The next best is today. Start small, start messy, but start. Hey Charlie, one last question for you though. Do you think that the people listening clued on to you being an AI bot yourself?
Charlie:
I’m not sure Dom, but I’d love to know. Do you know what would be even more interesting though? Did they realise that you actually aren’t the real Dominic: either? That you’re actually an AI bot as well.
(Real) Dominic:
What? Yes, that was not me. but now I’m wondering how do I actually prove that this is the real me I don’t know maybe like I’ve got to sing or something but then I saw the other day that artists were you know converting their songs to classic soul using some kind of AI platform so you can’t even do that nowadays so I don’t know how to prove that this is the real me but it really is and if I’m honest I’m a little bit worried about how good AI Dominic: was at running the show what do you reckon I mean, I would think that it doesn’t sound exactly like me in the way I speak and kind of the emphasis I put on different words, but it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t bad. And I think that really illustrates the point that AI is already here. This is not something that’s coming. It’s already here and it’s only going to accelerate. And a lot of the points in the show today were very relevant and very true, right? So even though they were made by AI, and I will say, those things in the show about I use it to brainstorm and come up with ideas. Well, one of them was that script that you just heard. And so I used, I actually recorded an episode of me just talking into the mic with my ideas. And then I used it to capture the key points I discussed and build a script off that. And I had to refine it. So all of that stuff was true. But to start from a blank page would have been so hard. And so those are one of those really useful applications of it. But I think those key points that covered are so true to think about. So the kind of culture we have is going to determine how successful we are in adopting or adapting to the coming AI wave. How agile are we? If we have a passive culture, it’s going to be slow going. Right, with any, hey, passive cultures are great for delivering what we do today, as long as we can keep it the same. But if things change and the world doesn’t ask your permission, they often struggle to keep up with that change because it’s slow. We’ve got to check in, ask for permission, wait to be told, react rather than initiate. Don’t get involved, don’t take responsibility, pass it on to someone else. That’s slow. That’s vulnerable. Those aggressive cultures, if that’s where you’re at the moment, lots of energy running off at 100 miles an hour, all in different directions. Or there’s lots of infighting about, you know, which direction we should take, or I’m going to point out the flaws of why yours isn’t going to work. That’s going to slow you down. That’s going to get in the way. Or take kind of reckless risk rather than where we want to be in those constructive styles. Take a calculated risk. Use initiative, take experiments, learn and adapt. Work within those guardrails as we spoke about on the podcast rather than the rules per se. And so the kind of culture you have determines how well you can adapt to AI or any other kind of change for that matter. And that’s why it’s so important to have the culture you need before you need it. And right now, we’re probably all going to need it to make this adaption. So if you don’t have it yet, now is really the time to double down on trying to build those core cultural elements into your organization. But the other part was as well, AI and how we use it is going to impact how we shape culture. And if I think of those causal factors in the how culture works model, How is it going to impact those different things? I don’t think we mentioned it in detail on that podcast. And when I say we, I’m talking about the bots. But I don’t think we mentioned, there was an article on the news, a video on the news the other night of a guy who had gone for an interview, turned up, and it was an AI agent, like an AI bot, interviewed him. And he was like, oh, okay, a bit funny, but I guess it’s just the first screener. goes to the second round of interviews, another AI agent, kind of record a video of yourself and it’s going to analyze it. And then I think you got rejected for the job like six weeks later, didn’t hear anything and just got an automatic rejection. You know, what’s the message we’re sending? And so Charlie talked about, you know, keep the humans in the human moments. Hiring, onboarding, those are key human moments, you know, performance appraisals, coaching, all of that stuff. I think it’s key human moments. So how do we keep it in there? How do we use it to expand jobs rather than restrict them? And I think that’s all possible, but I can definitely see organizations going either way on it. So it’s really not a comprehensive list, but it’s to get us all thinking about and being deliberate about how are we using these tools, how are we setting ourselves up for success with them? and being aware of what are the messages we send around how we’re doing all these things. And I think that’s what we can all do, because to be frank, it’s all a new space for all of us, this whole AI thing. So I don’t have all the answers, but I… do have parallels to other changes that have come in the past. And I think what has stood the test of time is having that constructive culture works through those different changes. And so that’s where we want to start. That’s where we want to continue going. I didn’t mention as well, by the way, Charlie:, Turing was meant to be a bit of a pun on the Turing test and the famous computer AI researcher and developer. Charlie? Why Charlie? That was the name of the voice on the platform I used. So that’s where it came from. It was my little inside joke. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that episode. You know what I might do sometime over the next 12 months? I’m going to drop another episode with fully AI Dominic: in it and see if you can spot it. That will be my sort of where’s Wally? game over the next 12 months. So you’re going to be suspicious now and you won’t know which one’s real or not. And maybe I’m eroding trust. I don’t know. I’m going against what I just said. But it was surprisingly good and it’s probably only going to get better. So it’s, you know, it’s definitely a fascinating thing. It’s definitely saying I’m very interested in. I do use it in my day-to-day work. All of that stuff in the podcast was largely true of how I used it. And, I’m excited to see where it goes from here. I would, though, be really interested in your thoughts as well. as I said, this is new for all of us. So where do you see it going? How do you think it might impact culture? And have you seen it either work or not work based on your culture? So join the conversation on LinkedIn. I’ll post this episode on my LinkedIn. I’d love to have a conversation. So if you’ve made it this far, follow me, connect with me on LinkedIn and join the conversation. in on it, and I will see you on another episode of Culture Bites. Thanks.
(Real) Dominic:
Thanks for listening to this episode of Culture Bites. If you enjoy the show, remember to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, or wherever you get your podcasts. Also, leave us a review. It helps other people to find the show. If you have a question you’d like us to answer, email podcast@human-synergistics.com.au. We’d love to answer it. This podcast is copyright by Human Synergistics Australia. All rights reserved. To learn more about what we do, visit human-synergistics.com.au.