Executive Summary
Why do 95% of organisations fail to see a return on their AI investments? Ray Eitel-Porter, co-author of “Governing the Machine” and former head of Accenture’s global responsible AI practice, argues that AI governance isn’t what blocks innovation—it’s what enables it.
Core insights:
- AI governance is the people, process and technology that ensures AI behaves as you intend—it enables innovation rather than blocking it
- 80% of executives believe AI is core to their strategy, but only 15% of employees agree—closing this gap requires genuine engagement, not training videos
- One UK public sector body transformed workforce trust in AI from 25% to over 90% through a four-hour mandatory training workshop
- Shadow AI is pervasive: up to 90% of employees use personal AI accounts for work—technical guardrails alone cannot solve this
- AI agents represent a step-change in risk because they execute actions, removing the “human breakwater” that generative AI provides
- Automation bias—our tendency to over-trust accurate AI—becomes more dangerous as AI improves
- AI governance principles apply equally to SMEs: right-size the approach, not the ambition.
The Governance Myth: Why It Enables Rather Than Blocks Innovation
“The idea that AI governance is somehow against innovation is completely wrong,” Ray states. “For me, AI governance is actually the thing that allows you to innovate.”
Many organisations are nervous about scaling AI after reading stories of implementations going wrong. Ray wrote “Governing the Machine” because he kept seeing this pattern.
“The idea behind AI governance is quite simply to make sure that AI delivers on the return on investment that you propose and that it does so without going wrong along the way. It should be the thing that makes you comfortable scaling your use of AI and allows you to sleep at night.”
Ray draws clear distinctions between related terms. Trustworthiness is the objective—people trusting AI for good reason. Responsible AI describes the practices needed to earn that trust. Governance is the people, process and technology that delivers responsible AI
The 80/15 Gap: Why Training Videos Don't Work
Surveys reveal a striking disconnect: 80% of executives believe AI is core to their strategy, yet only 15% of the workforce agrees.
Ray illustrates this with Paramount’s experience. Their CIO described giving everyone Copilot licences, organising training, and putting policies in place—yet uptake remained low. “It wasn’t until we actually sat down with the different business teams and really helped them to understand how they could use it in their context that people started to be comfortable using it.”
The lesson: a 30-minute training video won’t transform anyone. People need help understanding how AI applies to their specific work—and some resist because they fear AI might make them redundant.
Case Study: From 25% to 90% trust
Ray sits on the AI Governance and Ethics Committee for the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman—a 300-person UK body handling complaints about local government. They established a core principle: humans make all decisions. AI handles time-consuming document sorting so investigators can focus on judgement.
But the training approach stood out. They developed a four-hour, in-person workshop, mandatory for every employee. “They were nervous people would push back. Quite the opposite—they were overwhelmed with demand.”
Before training, workforce confidence in AI sat at 20-30%. After training, it exceeded 90%.
Shadow AI and the Limits of Technical Controls
Research shows up to 90% of employees use personal ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini accounts for work, whilst corporate tool usage remains as low as 40%.
“You’re not going to be able to control it with pure technical guardrails,” Ray observes. “The only answer is getting individuals to understand how they have to behave and why.”
He draws a parallel to phishing defence: firewalls help, but ultimately you need people who recognise threats. The same applies to AI—ongoing engagement beats one-off compliance.
Case Studies: PepsiCo and Nestlé
PepsiCo has engaged its factory workforce as part of the solution, with widespread training at all levels. They see this as community outreach—skills people carry into personal lives and volunteer work.
Nestlé has committed never to use AI to create food images. “Food is their essential ingredient. They want customers confident that any picture is authentic.” This shows how governance can reinforce brand values, not merely mitigate risk.
The EU AI Act: Becoming a Global Standard
Despite pressure to water down the EU AI Act, Ray reports that even US multinationals are choosing to follow it. “It’s just too difficult to have different rules all over the place. From the US perspective, you have different state-level regulations—California, Texas, New York City all have different requirements.”
Shell uses the EU AI Act as their global baseline, allowing local exceptions where justified. One high standard proves simpler than managing a patchwork.
AI Governance for SMEs
“What if I’m running a £100-200 million business? I can’t afford sophisticated governance programmes.”
Ray’s response: right-size the approach, not the ambition. The 300-person Local Government Ombudsman follows similar principles to multinationals, just scaled appropriately.
“If you’re a large corporate, you need workflow platforms to log all AI uses. If you’re a small enterprise, maybe it’s an Excel sheet that somebody’s in charge of updating.”
The principles remain the same. The implementation scales to context.
Listen to the Full Conversation
Ray Eitel-Porter and Mark Blackwell explore AI governance, regulation, agents, and implementation in depth.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8QuZTYlK-5g
or subscribe to “Arkaro Insights” with your favourite podcast provider.
About the Speakers
Ray Eitel-Porter is co-author of “Governing the Machine: How to Navigate the Risks of AI and Unlock Its True Potential” and a recognised authority on AI governance and responsible AI. He advises multinational companies and the public sector, previously led Accenture’s global responsible AI practice, and established the firm’s internal AI governance programme. Ray is a Senior Research Associate at the Intellectual Forum, Jesus College, Cambridge.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayeitelporter/
Mark Blackwell is founder of Arkaro, specialising in change management, innovation and commercial excellence for the agriculture, food and chemicals industries. Arkaro’s collaborative “do it with you” approach works through four steps: Understand, Co-create, Enable, Sustain. We don’t just coach—we get on the pitch with you.
Is Your Organisation Ready to Scale AI Confidently?
The gap between AI ambition and AI results isn’t closing for most organisations. 95% aren’t seeing returns. 80% of executives believe AI is core to strategy, but only 15% of employees agree.
If your AI initiatives generate enthusiasm but not implementation… if shadow AI proliferates while official tools gather dust… if you’re unsure whether governance is enabling or blocking progress… the missing element may be cultural rather than technical.
At Arkaro, we don’t deliver recommendations and leave. Our collaborative “do it with you” approach builds capability within your teams whilst addressing the human dimensions that determine whether AI initiatives succeed or fail.
Ready to explore how your organisation could scale AI with confidence?
Contact Mark Blackwell: mark@arkaro.com
Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrblackwell/
We work with organisations in agriculture, food and chemicals to turn AI initiatives from isolated experiments into sustainable capabilities. We don’t just coach—we get on the pitch with you.
Related Reading from Arkaro
On AI & Human Collaboration:
- Why AI Implementations Fail – and How PEOPLE Can Fix It – The SPACES framework explains why human factors predict AI success or failure
- AI & Strategy: Why Implementation Remains Human – Why collaborative change management becomes more critical as AI capabilities advance
- Constraints, Playfulness & Ethics: 3 Lessons for Leading in the AI Age – Dr Vlad Glaveanu on why “slow AI” counters the rush to solutions
On Change Management & Culture:
- The Neuroscience of Collaboration: Why Your Brain Still Thinks It’s on the Savannah – Hilary Scarlett’s SPACES model explains why AI adoption triggers threat responses
- From Inside Out to Outside In: Aligning Teams Around User Needs – Rich Allen’s User Needs Mapping connects strategic foundations with practical team design
On Innovation & Strategy:
- Jobs to Be Done: The Missing Link in B2B Innovation – Scott Burleson’s pyramid framework reveals why B2B decisions involve emotional considerations
- 70% of People Are Wrong About Creativity – Yale researcher Dr Zorana Ivcevic Pringle on why constraints enable innovation
External Resources & Further Reading
Book: “Governing the Machine: How to Navigate the Risks of AI and Unlock Its True Potential” – https://a.co/d/4o3VAcG
Ray Eitel-Porter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayeitelporter/
Jesus College Cambridge Intellectual Forum: https://www.jesus.cam.ac.uk/intellectual-forum
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