Scott deVeber works as Project Director, Digital Workplace at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto and shared his insights on accelerating transformation in a recent employee experience peer group meeting
At a recent employee experience group meeting in Toronto, Scott deVeber who works as Project Director, Digital Workplace at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) explored how organizations can break down silos, introduce AI responsibly, and foster a culture where employees confidently embrace digital transformation.
This topic is especially relevant today, as companies everywhere strive to remain competitive in an evolving, tech-driven environment—where employees are expected to adopt new technologies at a rapid pace.
This article shares reflections from Scott’s session and the four big questions that he challenged us to think about. Let’s start with the first big question that Scott posed:
Can AI Thrive in a Siloed Organization—and How Do We Fix It?
Even the most advanced AI solutions will falter if data is scattered across departmental silos or if teams follow disjointed processes. Silos create inefficiencies, duplicate effort, and lead to frustration—undermining trust in new technologies.
Yet silos are a key part of how many businesses operate enabling performance, compliance, specialization and other benefits. The benefit for those who work in the silo is clear, the challenges of working across silos are also just as clear.
The secret it turns out is in how we lead, manage, connect and optimize. This often needs to be done thoughtfully and deliberately not as one project but as often an ongoing and evolving program. How that program and its projects are led, facilitated, and managed matters. A key driver for breaking down silos is driving efficiency, the same key driver that drives investments in effective Governance.
Centralised governance and consistent practices are key. Within the session Scott provided four practical strategies for dismantling silos and ensuring that employees not only accept new digital tools but thrive with them:
Form a Centralized Program
Recognizing early on that there is a need for a centralized program to coordinate and bind separate projects under a common set of goals, objectives, and tactics is important. This overarching structure allows senior sponsors to see the big picture and stay engaged.Establish Robust Governance
Whether at the project or program level, structured governance ensures alignment among leaders and key stakeholders. Formal meetings, clear roles, and documented guidelines—via Terms of Reference (TOR)—promote informed, timely decision-making.Develop and Promote Common Working Practices
From template usage to document sharing, organizations should create consistent practices that everyone can follow. When employees see standardized processes, they are more likely to embrace further digital changes.Leverage Kickoff Workshops and Feedback Loops
Starting each project with a workshop that aligns goals and expectations fosters alignment from day one. Then, embedding regular feedback loops (including surveys, feedback forms, and input from designated “Champions”) allows organizations to stay agile and pivot early if issues arise.
Yet if time has passed, or things have changed it is almost always valuable to use this tactic again as a way to align and achieve greater shared understanding, validating what the priorities are, helping others feel involved and informed and importantly better understanding an ever changing set of expectations and preferences as it relates to ways of working.
Breaking down silos is the first step to reaping AI’s benefits. When data, processes, and people work in harmony, AI tools can deliver truly transformative insights and centralized governance, programs and greater shared understanding of work practices are all critical parts of successfully achieving meaningful results.
Moving onto the second big question:
What Are the Key AI Risks—and How Do We Manage Them?
While AI offers tremendous potential—speeding up tasks like contract management and surfacing new insights—Scott highlighted the intricacies of rolling AI out responsibly:
Risk Management
AI introduces questions around data privacy, compliance, and bias. Leadership must be transparent with employees and stakeholders about these challenges.
Change Management
Simply unveiling AI tools without explaining the ‘why’ and ‘how’ leads to fear and resistance. Proper training, communication, and support can help employees see AI as an enabler, not a threat.
Complexity and Hesitation
AI can be intimidating. Many employees worry about job displacement or making mistakes. Leaders must proactively address these insecurities, showing how AI can reduce repetitive tasks and free people for more meaningful work.
Adopting AI is not just a technical exercise; it’s a cultural and operational shift that requires coordination, planning, and trust.
Scott shared three tips for addressing these risks:
Risk Assessment & Mitigation
Conduct regular audits to identify privacy or bias issues early
Ensure all the right people are part of the process and that governance is established effectively (such as centralized program governance and more)
Document data-handling protocols and ensure robust encryption and access controls.Open Communication
Engage openly and facilitate richer understanding (stakeholder management is about more than just identifying and involving stakeholders).
Host Q&A sessions, communicate proactively, listen even more than you communicate in many ways (both qualitatively and quantitatively).
Provide training so employees feel equipped and empowered rather than threatened.Pilot Projects & Controlled Experiments
Start small with one department or process area, then expand once you’ve ironed out any issues.
Failure is a part of the learning process and can be done in a safe, supported way.
Responsible AI adoption is as much about risk mitigation and trust-building as it is about technical innovation. By engaging stakeholders early and often, leaders can reduce resistance and unlock AI’s true potential.
Moving onto the third big question:
Why Is Psychological Safety Essential for Digital Transformation?
No significant organizational transformation—especially one involving AI—can succeed without psychological safety. Harvard Business School’s Amy Edmondson coined “psychological safety” to describe environments where employees can candidly share ideas, concerns, or mistakes without fear of punishment. In fast-paced or high-stakes industries, this safety net is pivotal for enabling experimentation and open dialogue.
This sparked considerable discussion and sharing in the group as it’s always a challenge to facilitate, nurture, and accelerate the reach of these patterns across departments and teams.
Strategies to Foster Psychological Safety
Leadership by Example
Leaders must “walk the talk” by showing empathy, demonstrating inclusivity, and modeling vulnerability. Employees are more likely to share feedback, question assumptions, and present innovative ideas when they see their leaders do the same.Building Strong Relationships & Create Trust-Building Channels
High trust among team members underpins psychological safety. Creating spaces—formal or informal—where colleagues can connect on both work and personal levels nurtures shared understanding and lowers fear of judgment. Champion networks and communities are another key part of this as a safe forum, some role or relevant authority or access and can help scale or influence some of these patterns.Normalize Learning Through Failure
Often, the fear of appearing incompetent stifles experimentation with new technologies. Leaders can alleviate this fear by publicly embracing mistakes and focusing on the lessons learned. Normalizing pilot projects, highlight lessons learned, and providing fail-safe opportunities for teams to experiment with new technologies is critical.
In high-stakes environments like healthcare, where errors can have serious consequences, fostering psychological safety can feel daunting. Yet it’s precisely in these environments that open communication and shared learning have the highest payoff. When employees feel safe to question processes, propose new ideas, or make mistakes, organizations become more adaptable. This openness fuels innovation and paves the way for smoother AI and digital tool adoption.
Finally, the fourth and final big question:
What Is the Leadership Mindset Needed for Sustainable Change?
Scott underscored that the success of any digital workplace project is directly tied to the quality of its leadership. Leaders at all levels play critical roles in modeling new behaviors, championing unified processes, and mitigating employee fears around AI.
Sponsor the Vision
Visibly supporting transformation initiatives—from top executives down to frontline managers—demonstrates commitment and encourages teams to invest in new ways of working. Leaders who articulate how AI and digital initiatives align with the organization’s broader mission build stronger buy-in at all levels.Embrace Champions & Support Champion Networks
Identifying motivated, tech-savvy employees in each department and empowering them as “Champions” helps carry the message of change deeper into the organization. These focus groups, champions and employee engagement and involvement is a key part of how digital transformation success can be realized. Champions act as peer supporters and early adopters, giving leaders real-time feedback and solutions while they model important new behaviors.Measure, Communicate, and Adjust
Clear objectives and key results (OKRs) help measure progress, both quantitatively (tool adoption, storage metrics) and qualitatively (surveys, feedback forms, Champion input). Regularly communicating results—positive or negative—fosters transparency. And an agile mindset enables leaders to pivot quickly when needed. If new data suggests a pivot is needed, leaders should be ready to make quick decisions, refining approaches rather than waiting for perfect conditions.
Sustaining momentum requires proactive, data-informed leadership. A blend of vision, consistent support, and agility keeps digital transformation from stalling out after the initial hype.
Bringing It All Together
As organizations blaze the trail in aligning AI-driven change with how employees truly work, they remind us that transformation is never just about technology—it’s about people, processes, and purpose.
Purpose as the North Star
SickKids’ guiding mission—“Advancing research to improve the lives of children and their families globally”—provides a powerful context for driving AI adoption and digital transformation efforts. When you connect technological improvements to a larger purpose, it’s easier to garner buy-in and inspire teams to move forward as doing it the right way takes effort, time and dedication.
Iterate, Don’t Perfect
No digital initiative or AI rollout will be flawless from the start. Adopting an iterative approach—embracing pilots, celebrating small wins, and learning from each misstep—keeps momentum high.
Invest in People
Whether it’s through Champion networks, robust training sessions, or creating psychologically safe spaces, ensuring employees feel empowered is at the heart of sustainable transformation.
In an era where AI is set to redefine how we work, organizations that prioritize governance, cross-departmental collaboration, and psychological safety will be best positioned to thrive. By systematically addressing the friction points—silos, fragmented content, lack of leadership alignment—companies pave the way for employees to embrace rather than resist the future of work and digital transformation.
Scott’s insights at the peer group meeting serve as a vital reminder that success in an AI-driven world doesn’t hinge on technology alone. It’s an organization-wide journey demanding strong leadership, clear strategy, open communication, and a culture that celebrates learning.
Actions to Try Tomorrow
Map Your Silos: Identify the top 2-3 areas of fragmentation and propose a governance model to unify them.
Pilot a Small AI Project: Start in one department with clearly defined metrics. Use learnings to guide broader rollouts.
Check In on Team Safety: Ask your team members—informally or via a short survey—if they feel comfortable sharing feedback. Address any barriers quickly.
Establish or Refine Champions: Pick motivated individuals in each department to champion digital workplace tools. Provide them with resources and access to leadership.
Share a Leadership Story: In your next team meeting, open up about a misstep or lesson learned. Model that risk-taking and candor are welcome.
If you’re an employee experience or digital workplace leader looking to accelerate transformation, ask yourself: Are we governed by a bold but clear purpose? Are our silos dismantled by robust governance? Is our workforce psychologically safe to explore and innovate? Answering “yes” to these big questions is your roadmap to forging an empowered, AI-ready workplace.
Learn more about digital transformation and employee experience trends
Richard also shared a post on another session from the same Toronto group meeting. Read more in Reclaiming Connection: Building a People-First Culture in a Changing World.
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The conversation on employee engagement naturally continues at our upcoming group meetings in Europe and North America.