What Do You Do When a Team Member Refuses to Learn AI and Says It Is Not Their Job?
You tell them it is their job now. And if they still refuse, you start the performance conversation. Not because they are bad at their current job. Because their current job no longer exists. The work is changing. AI is part of how the work gets done now. And team members who refuse to adapt are choosing to become obsolete. You can be empathetic about that. You should be. But you cannot let one person's refusal to learn become permission for everyone else to opt out.
Accenture's 2025 research found that 95% of employees see value in working with AI. That means 5% do not. Some of that 5% have legitimate concerns -- accessibility issues, learning challenges, reasonable fears about job security. But some of that 5% are just refusing to change because change is uncomfortable. Your job is to figure out which one you are dealing with. Because the response to "I physically cannot learn this" is different from the response to "I do not want to learn this."
Here is the practitioner moment: You are the transformation director. You just rolled out AI coding assistants to the engineering team. Adoption is at 70% after two months. Good. But one senior engineer -- someone who has been with the company for 12 years -- told you in a one-on-one: "I am not using that. I have been writing code for 20 years. I do not need AI to do my job." You nodded. You did not push back. But now other engineers are watching to see what you do. If you let this person opt out, you just told everyone else that AI adoption is optional. And if adoption is optional, you will never get past 70%.
This is where Fostering AI-Ready Teams becomes the only pillar that matters. AI adoption is not optional. It is a job requirement. Just like using email became a job requirement, and using the internet became a job requirement, and using your phone became a job requirement. You do not get to opt out of the tools your organization uses to do work. You can give people support to learn. You can give them time to adjust. But you cannot give them permission to refuse.
Deloitte's 2025 research found that 93% of AI budgets go to technology and 7% to people. That is the problem. Organizations invest in the tools but not in helping people through the transition. So when someone refuses to adopt, the organization does not know whether the person is being stubborn or whether the organization failed to support them. You need to figure that out before you start the performance conversation.
So what do you actually do? Not next quarter. This week.
WHAT TO DO MONDAY MORNING
Have the direct conversation about expectations. Schedule 30 minutes with the person who refused. Say this: "I need to be clear about expectations. AI is part of how we do work now. It is not optional. I understand you have concerns. I want to hear them. But after I hear them, if the answer is still that you refuse to use AI, we have a performance issue." Then stop talking. Let them respond. They might say they do not think they can learn it. They might say they think it is ethically wrong. They might say they think it will make their work worse. Whatever they say, listen. Do not argue. Just listen. Then say: "I hear you. Here is what I can offer: [training, support, time to practice, whatever is reasonable]. What I cannot offer is permission to opt out. If you genuinely cannot learn this with support, we need to have a different conversation about your role. But if you can learn it and you are choosing not to, that is a performance issue."
Offer one month of intensive support, then measure. Say this: "I am going to give you one month. In that month, you will have access to [coach, training, office hours, whatever support you can provide]. At the end of the month, I will measure whether you are using AI for the tasks we agreed on. If you are, great. If you are not, we move to a performance improvement plan." Then actually provide the support. Do not just say you will. Assign them a coach. Give them time to practice. Check in weekly. Because if you offer support and do not deliver it, and then they fail, you failed them. But if you offer support and deliver it, and they still refuse, you gave them every chance.
Be willing to let them leave if they choose not to adapt. Some people will choose not to learn. They will take the support, nod along, and then go back to doing it the old way. When that happens, you have a choice: keep them and signal that adoption is optional, or start the exit conversation and signal that adaptation is required. Most managers avoid the exit conversation because the person has been there a long time or because they are good at the old way of working. Stop. Being good at the old way is not enough anymore. If they refuse to adapt after you gave them support and time, start the conversation: "This is not working. You are choosing not to use the tools the organization requires. That means we need to talk about whether this role is still the right fit." Some will choose to leave. Some will suddenly start using the AI. Either way, you just showed the rest of the team that adaptation is not optional.
You cannot force people to learn AI. But you can make it clear that refusing to learn has consequences. Written by Transformation Leader. Published at t4leader.com.
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