Most organisations ask how to make their people fluent in AI tools. A harder question gets far less attention: who are we as a team now that AI is part of the work?
That is an identity question. Research on social identity, from Tajfel and Turner to Haslam, Reicher and Platow, links shared identity with trust, effort and voice.
The evidence points to the team
Microsoft's 2026 Work Trend Index surveyed 20,000 AI users in 10 countries. It measured 29 factors linked to whether AI was making a real difference at work.
Organisational factors such as culture, manager support and talent practices explained more than twice as much as individual factors. The split was 67% to 32%.
In other words, the team around a person shapes AI's impact more than that person's own mindset.
What we mean by identity
Social identity is the part of who we are that comes from belonging to a group. When it is strong, people act on behalf of the group.
A team with a clear identity decides faster and shares information more freely. A team with a fuzzy identity hesitates. It defers to the loudest voice or the most plausible output, which is now often an AI's.
Why AI changes the question
The information changes. More inputs now come from systems whose reasoning the team cannot inspect. The team must decide how much weight to give them.
The work changes. Tasks that once defined the team, such as analysis and first drafts, move to AI. What remains may not match what the team thinks it is for.
The social fabric changes. A 2025 study of 905 people by Yan and colleagues found AI teammates shaped group behaviour unnoticed.
Without a deliberate conversation, the team's identity forms by default.
Build this capability in your organisation
Growth Performance designs bespoke programmes that turn insight into measurable behaviour change.
The Augmented Us
The Augmented Us is our framework for having that conversation on purpose. It helps teams decide who they are when people and AI work together.
It runs in six stages: Readying, Reflecting, Representing, Realising, Reinforcing and Recalibrating. Four practical tools support it: an identity map, a team charter, a division of labour tool and a monthly check-in.
Why this is leadership work
Identity is set by what leaders model, reward and talk about. Microsoft found that when managers openly modelled AI use, trust in AI agents rose by 30 points.
This is the heart of Adoption: whether people take on the change and make AI part of their work.
Try this
At your next team meeting, ask one question. What do we exist to do that AI cannot do for us? Note where people agree and where they do not.
Get the full framework. This article draws on The Augmented Us white paper. Download the white paper or take the team diagnostic.