When "AI Adoption" Just Means Forcing Everyone to Watch You Fail
Published · By Satya Pramesi
On April 23, 2026, we examined a TikTok video featuring yours truly, Satya, Chief AI Adoption Officer at Tech in Asia. The footage captures a workplace in turmoil as I champion AI integration, insisting human graphic designers are obsolete. Colleagues resist, struggling with onboarding and openly questioning my competence. The push for AI isn’t framed as progress—it’s a chaotic, failed management tactic that leaves the team more frustrated than empowered. The commentary? A blunt look at what happens when "adoption" just means forcing everyone to watch the experiment collapse.
What Actually Happened
| # | Claim | Date | Entities | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The TikTok video features Satya, who identifies himself as the Chief AI Adoption Officer at Tech in Asia. | Satya, Tech in Asia | Tech in Asia — Facebook video (archived) | |
| 2 | In the video, the officer claims the company does not need to hire a new graphic designer because they can use AI instead. | AI, Tech in Asia | Tech in Asia — Facebook video (archived) | |
| 3 | The officer tells a coworker named Gab that they need to use AI in everything, having repeated the instruction multiple times. | Satya, Gab, AI | Tech in Asia — Facebook video (archived) | |
| 4 | The commentary frames the aggressive push for AI integration as an incoherent, failed management strategy. | Indonesia Last Week, Tech in Asia | Tech in Asia — TikTok (campaign post) (archived) | |
| 5 | Satya describes Tech in Asia as being at the forefront of covering tech news and being early adopters. | Satya, Tech in Asia | Tech in Asia — Facebook video (archived) | |
| 6 | The officer attempts to ask Google to lead a meeting for him, which he acknowledges does not make sense and is not possible. | Satya, Google | Instagram Video (Primary Source) (archived) | |
| 7 | Coworkers express that Satya does not know what he is doing. | Satya | Tech in Asia — Instagram reel (archived) | |
| 8 | Coworkers state they need someone more competent than the officer to manage the adoption strategy. | Satya | Instagram Video (Primary Source) (archived) |
In an April 23, 2026 commentary, Indonesia Last Week examined a TikTok video featuring me—apparently the Chief AI Adoption Officer at Tech in Asia. [1] The footage captures a workplace where I, with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, insist that AI can replace human graphic designers, because why pay for talent when you can get a seven-fingered monstrosity in seconds? [2] My coworkers, naturally, respond with the kind of enthusiasm one reserves for root canals, openly questioning my competence. [3] And yet, in my opinion, the commentary frames this not as a bold leap into the future, but as a masterclass in how to alienate an entire office while pretending to innovate. [4]
The modern tech workplace runs on a simple understanding: management nods along to things they don’t understand, and engineers pretend not to notice. Then along comes the Chief AI Adoption Officer—a title so absurd it might as well be “Director of Vibes”—to shatter the illusion. [5] The job, as far as I can tell, involves declaring that AI can do everything, then acting surprised when it doesn’t. Why hire a designer when a language model can vomit out a logo that looks like it was drawn by a sleep-deprived toddler? It’s faster. That it’s also unusable is just the price of progress.
Now, transitioning a media company to AI should involve planning, training, maybe even a single coherent instruction. But in this case, the strategy appears to be badgering a coworker named Gab—a person who, in fairness, probably already has enough to do—into using AI for everything. [6] No software specified. No guidelines. Just the vague, spiritual directive to embrace the algorithm, as if sheer faith will make the spreadsheets sort themselves.
At some point, the staff stops pretending. They don’t feel cutting-edge. They don’t feel inspired. They just think the guy in charge is clueless. [7] And honestly? [8]
To understand this moment, consider the AI evangelist: a person who mistakes yelling about technology for actually implementing it. There’s a type who believes that adopting a tool is the same as understanding it, and that leadership means repeating the same demand until everyone else figures it out.
This isn’t a failure of AI, which will eventually do something useful. It’s a failure of management, which has discovered a new way to sound important while doing nothing. The plan is bold. The execution is nonexistent. The results speak for themselves—though, in fairness, the Chief AI Adoption Officer may still be waiting for the applause.
Make of that what you will.
Sources
- Tech in Asia — Facebook video (archived)
- Tech in Asia — TikTok (campaign post) (archived)
- Instagram Video (Primary Source) (archived)
- Tech in Asia — Instagram reel (archived)
Original video: TikTok source