From shelfware to success: closing the humanity gap in tech adoption

By Rob Hubbard

For as long as there has been software, the hope in boardrooms has been that by selecting, procuring and deploying the right AI/Cloud/ERP/bright-shiny tech; productivity will soar! It’s an enticing vision. We imagine a world where the software does the heavy lifting while we sit back, sipping a coffee, as the ROI rolls in. But here’s the cold, hard truth: according to Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a staggering 70% of digital transformations fail to achieve their objectives.

That is a lot of expensive ‘shelfware’.

As we launch our new Technology Adoption Accelerator, we’ve been reflecting on why, despite the trillions being poured into tech, the success rate has remained stubbornly low for decades. Our long experience of working in learning and behaviour change tells us that the answer isn't in the code; it’s in the cubicles (and the home offices).

The ‘humanity gap’

We often treat technology like a ‘plug-and-play’ appliance. Buy it, plug it in and wait for the magic. But businesses are complex ecosystems of habits, fears, hopes and motivations, so this ‘build / deploy it - they will come’ approach seldom works.

When we ignore the people part of the equation, the numbers get a bit scary:

• The trillion dollar leak: Brian Harkin, a digital transformation expert at Bayes Business School (University of London) estimates that failed digital transformation efforts cost organisations globally an eye-watering $2.3 trillion per year. 
• The adoption wall: It’s not that the tech doesn't work; it’s that people don't use it. 70% of software implementations fail, largely due to poor user adoption.
• The ‘why’ crisis: A recent Forbes analysis found that 42% of companies abandoned their AI initiatives in 2025 because they didn't effectively integrate AI into workflows to solve specific operational problems for the people on the front lines.

Resistance is feedback

When an employee hesitates to use new tech, they aren't usually being ‘difficult’. They’re often protecting a process they know works, or they're simply overwhelmed with other work commitments.

Think about it: if you’ve spent ten years mastering an Excel sheet that runs like a Swiss watch, and I suddenly tell you to move everything to a new platform that adds three additional steps to your process, you’re not going to cheer. You’re going to find a workaround.

A true human-centred approach doesn't just manage change, it builds the technology around the human. Organisations that prioritise cultural and human factors see substantially higher success rates than those focused on tech alone. Often though this stage gets missed, the tech has already been bought and launched and then the digital team  realise they need to figure out how to get people to use it.

Why empathy is your best ROI

Investing in understanding your team’s motivations and blockers isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s a financial imperative. Taking a human-centred approach ensures:

1. Reduced sunk costs: You stop paying for licences that no one uses.
2. Faster time-to-value: When people understand why a tool helps them, they use it. For example, Deloitte notes that leaders taking a purely tech-focused approach are 1.6x more likely to fail to realise returns on AI investments compared to those that take a human-centric approach.
3. Retention: digital transformation, when done without consideration of the human-factor, can cause significant disruption and change fatigue. A Gartner report found that only 43% of employees who experience above-average change fatigue intend to stay with their organisation, compared with 74% of employees with low levels of fatigue. In a tight talent market, that’s a problem.

Let’s make tech work for humans 

Technology should be the wind in your sails, not an anchor holding you back. By looking not just at the software, but at the people using it, we can identify the motivators that spark adoption and the blockers that create friction. At the end of the day, your investment isn't realised when the software is deployed, it's realised when your people feel empowered and even excited to use it.

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