This is the fourth post in our Executive Guide to Cutting-Edge Tech Customer Onboarding blog series. If you have not read our other posts you can find them here.
The success of emerging technology projects often hinges not on the sophistication of the technology itself but on the human element—the people who will ultimately use and depend on these innovations. Beverly Wright’s experience offers a compelling case study of this dynamic and provides invaluable insights for leaders aiming to bridge the gap between technical prowess and practical adoption.
Several years ago, Beverly Wright, PhD and her team undertook an ambitious project: to reduce safety incidents on the plant floors of various manufacturers by developing a cutting-edge algorithm. This algorithm created a “propensity map” to identify “hot spots” of higher risk, such as areas where workers were more prone to injuries due to factors like equipment fatigue or long working hours. The logic was clear: by adopting these data-driven recommendations, manufacturers could significantly improve workplace safety, enhance their reputations, and reduce costs associated with injuries.
However, despite the algorithm’s potential, adoption was minimal. Plant employees, who had decades of experience and finely tuned instincts, were resistant to the recommendations. The data-driven insights clashed with their deeply ingrained practices and the rewards they received for relying on their intuition. As a result, safety improvements were far less impactful than anticipated.
The question then arises: why didn’t the plant employees embrace the technology, given its promise of reducing injury risk? The answer lies in the team’s initial oversight—a lack of early and meaningful involvement of the end-users. These employees, experts in their field, felt alienated by the technology because they weren’t consulted or engaged in its development. Beverly’s team learned a valuable lesson: for technology to be successfully adopted, the people expected to use it must understand, trust, and see its value from the outset.
This lesson is crucial for any organization implementing new technology. Beverly’s experience underscores three essential techniques to ensure swift deployment and widespread adoption:
Involve End-Users Early: Engage the people who will use the technology in the implementation process before launch. This builds their understanding of the solution within the context of their day-to-day work and fosters buy-in. When end-users feel involved, they are more likely to trust and adopt the technology.
Communicate Clearly: It’s not enough to provide data-driven recommendations—you must communicate the importance and intended outcomes of the solution. End-users need to know that the technology isn’t just a “nice to have,” but a critical tool that will guide actionable changes in their work.
Understand Your Customer’s Perspective: To drive successful adoption, you need to empathize with your customer. Whether it’s sitting with sales reps, call center agents, or forklift drivers, direct your team to spend time with the end-users. This firsthand experience will enable your team to educate customers effectively, building trust and respect while ensuring the solution fits seamlessly into their reality.
In the end, technology adoption is as much about people as it is about data. By recognizing and addressing the human factors at play, leaders can turn sophisticated algorithms and advanced technologies into practical, impactful tools that drive real-world results. Beverly’s insights are not just lessons learned—they are a roadmap for anyone looking to navigate the complex terrain of technology implementation with authority and authenticity.
At Cultivate CX, we bring this understanding to every project, combining deep technical expertise with a genuine commitment to fostering human-centered adoption. Let’s work together to transform your technology initiatives into lasting success.
About the Authors:
Kathleen Rouse is an Independent Consultant and has taken her 20+ years of experience maximizing adoption and increasing renewal rates to best-in-class 95%+ and 45%+ growth rates and turned them into playbooks, processes & templates for her clients to increase their customer retention and growth.
Priya Sarathy, Ph.D, CDMP is a data strategy leader and analytics enabler with over 15 years of experience in leading analytics solution design and build, and transformations across various industries, such as financial, telecom, technology, and services. She has a Ph.D. in Econometrics and Quantitative Economics, and multiple certifications in machine learning, programming, and Data management.
Ursula Llabres currently leads the Reality Labs Customer Growth Team at Meta. The team’s mission is to help clients solve business problems with tomorrow’s technology and open new markets bringing innovative XR Technology into the Enterprise. Ursula was one of the founding leaders of customer success practice (being one of the first 10 in CS at salesforce.com back in 2005) and since has transformed and led high performing global teams at some of the top tech companies like Oracle, Salesforce.com, Box, Microsoft, Insidesales.com and now Meta to name a few.
Dr. Beverly Wright serves as VP of Data Science & AI, and Executive Director for Data Science & AI at University of Georgia, as well as Past President of INFORMS Analytics Society, and Chair of Data Science & AI Society at Technology Association of Georgia. Beverly is a sought-after professional speaker at established conferences, presenting on topics related to data science, artificial intelligence, consumer insights, and marketing analytics.
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