Cultivating an "Opportunity Culture"
AI has moved beyond simple tasks of email summarizing to becoming a "thought partner." It is used to help managers lead more effectively, translate big picture ideas into comprehensible pitches, and provide the agility needed to pivot strategically as these organizational tools continue to evolve.
Quentin Kenny, the Software Engineering Automation Lead at Charter Manufacturing shared more about their undertaking of AI and how they continue to refine and adapt their platforms to meet the evolving progress and potential.
Charter began its journey in early 2023 with 20 subject matter experts nominated by supervisors. They tested various tools to "see what sticks" and shared successes and failures with the group. This grassroots approach grew to a team license of 25 and eventually reached 375+ enterprise users.
“We started asking people, ‘who’s already tried these tools?’ And around 80% of those on the manufacturing shop floor had already been using it on their own,” said Kenny.
Charter utilizes Custom GPTs to act as a "knowledge base" for specific departments. This allows employees to query technical manuals and internal documents in natural language, enabling a junior employee to quickly access expert-level information. But the organization has approved several tools that employees are allowed to use and encourage new recommendations. “If someone wants to use a new tool, they submit the information to our review team, and we decide if we are comfortable with that software,” added Quentin Kenny. “If [the AI software] is approved for use in general, it gets that distinction; if it’s approved for confidential information, that’s an additional follow up. We have an intranet page which lists our approved tools and notes the details [referring to policies and instructions for use of confidential information].”
While not limited to just one tool, the organization has moved forward with an enterprise version of ChatGPT. In the application, Charter created a "safe playground" where data is protected behind a firewall and not used to train public models, encouraging staff to use it for sensitive work without risk.
“We will continue to evolve our thinking in this space as software applications change and improve, but we are staying agile and aware of what’s in the market on all sorts of tools, whether it’s AI or automation software,” said Kenny.
What AI Brings Back to Teams: Time
Other manufacturing teams are slowly tapping AI to do more. Beau River, Founder + Managing Partner at Leadership Delta Partners, is looking ahead at how AI is continuing to progress as a strategic and time management tool, creating the opportunity for “a focus on developing people and building out a culture of support and high performance.” Essentially, AI managers can elevate human managers to have more time and involvement in strategic planning and talent development as AI platforms are taking on the repetitive or routine basic-level tasks.
This concept differentiates between "Oversight" (tasks AI can handle) and "Environment" (tasks requiring human leadership). AI handles the "blocking and tackling" of workflow—process tracking and data monitoring—while the human manager focuses on culture, coaching, and strategic alignment.
“As more tasks get automated, our ability to connect, collaborate, share ideas, and utilize developmental opportunities will be more and more differentiating and valuable for organizations,” said River.
Other manufacturers are leaning into this human partnership with AI outside of the office roles, still with the goal of giving back time and creating efficiencies. Saar Yoskovitz, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Augury, shared how you can build the relationship between people and machines on the shop floor. Augury leverages AI, coupled with their extensive data library and sensing platform, to send early alerts on mechanical and operational issues before they impact the safety, productivity, quality, and efficiency of manufacturing lines.
In fact, Yoskovitz shared how many of their manufacturing partners now only call human experts in high-value "judgment calls,” as the program will otherwise run independently. By concentrating on the number of touches a shopfloor worker has with a machine, they have more time to concentrate on their efforts and skills in higher technical areas and decreases their likelihood of burnout since they are no longer having to manually check every machine.
“It takes years to onboard new people,” added Yoskovitz, but “organizations don’t have years.” Instead, AI can bridge the knowledge gap through targeted re-skilling or upskilling, with personalized learning experiences and simulations. Alternatively, AI can create a system of digital oversight so that information is centralized, standardized, and shared out, lessening the dependency on shopfloor workers with long tenues and machine intuition.
The Ongoing Partnership
The common thread across these conversations is clear: the real value in AI is not in replacing people, but in redefining how teams spend their time. As organizations move from experimentation to intentional adoption, the most successful teams will treat AI as a collaborator, one that enhances human judgment, accelerates learning, and unlocks capacity previously out of reach.
In practice, this partnership shifts the role of the workforce rather than diminishing it. AI takes on the repeatable, time-intensive tasks that once consumed attention, allowing employees to step into roles requiring critical thinking, creativity, and connection. Managers become better coaches, frontline workers gain faster access to expertise, and veteran employees extend their impact beyond physical limitations. Across the board, people are empowered to focus on what humans do best: leading, problem-solving, and building relationships.
Looking ahead, competitive advantage will not come from AI alone, but from how deeply organizations integrate it into their culture. Those that foster curiosity, encourage experimentation, and invest in developing their people alongside their technology will see the greatest returns. In the age of intelligence, the human element remains the ultimate differentiator.
AI Transparency:
Content for this article was analyzed with assistance from an AI tool and reviewed by the Manufacturers Alliance research team.
