From first steps to staff building their own tools
Around 85% of staff use AI weekly, and over half have built their own AI tool
The challenge
The business wanted to use AI across operations, finance and marketing. Staff were already using AI tools ad hoc, and a global technology client had set AI requirements in its contract. The business needed AI use to be safe, governed and genuinely useful.
What I did
- Ran an introduction to AI for everyone, so staff felt comfortable with what AI can do and how to use it safely. This is when everyday use started.
- Set up and ran the AI Council, which decides where to adopt existing tools or build tailored solutions, weighing quality, risk and data sensitivity before any tool is adopted.
- Wrote and rolled out the AI governance policy and approved tools register.
- Ran six lunch and learn sessions with small groups, each picking its own use cases and working out how AI could help with their actual work.
- Grew the sessions in ambition as confidence built: from chat tools, to workflow productivity, to staff building their own tools, to working with coding agents to build personal and then team productivity tools.
The outcome
- Around 85% of staff now use AI every week.
- Over half of staff have built their own AI productivity tool and use it every day.
- Around 50 staff moved from ad hoc AI use to governed enterprise tools, meeting the global technology client's AI contract requirements.
- The engagement started at one day a week and grew to three or four days a week as the value was proven.
What this shows
Adoption is a people change, not a technology rollout. Building comfort first, then governance, then small-group practice around real work is what turns access to AI into everyday use, and then into people building their own tools.