Ways to Foster a Culture of AI Innovation

How can leaders transform their teams to be AI-first? It starts with mindset. An AI-first mindset means: Seeing AI as an opportunity, not a threat. Viewing AI as a tool to augment teams, not just automate tasks. Using AI to reimagine work, not just optimize work. As leaders, it’s on us to build this mindset within our teams. Here are 5 ways we do this at HubSpot: Use AI daily: Lead by example—trust grows when teams see leaders embrace AI themselves. I use it everyday and share very specific use cases with our company on how I use it. Now every leader is doing the same with their teams. The result is that we will have almost everyone in the company use AI daily by the end of year. Apply constraints: Give clear, focused challenges. We kept headcount flat in Support while growing the customer base by 20%+. Result - the team innovated with AI and over achieved the target. Smart constraints drive innovation. Establish tiger teams: Empower small, agile groups to experiment, innovate, and teach the organization. We have AI Tiger teams in every function - they share progress in Slack channels and there is so much energy with small groups experimenting and learning. Be a learn-it-all: Foster a culture of continuous learning. Share openly about successes and failures alike. We have dedicated 2 full days to learning and scaling with AI this quarter as a company - we have lined up great speakers, ways to experiment and gamified learning. Measure progress and share it: Measure which teams are completing learning modules, using AI everyday and share that openly. A little healthy competition goes a long way in driving AI-fluency. AI isn’t just a technology shift. It’s fundamentally reshaping how work gets done—and that requires shifting our mindset first. Leaders who embrace AI now will unlock creativity, performance, and impact. Are you building an AI-first mindset with your team? #Leadership #AI #Innovation #Mindset #FutureOfWork

Lift the covers on failed AI initiatives and you’ll find influencer hype. Most AI influencers have more experience with sales and marketing than models, so businesses must develop internal influencers to combat the hype. Every AI product manager should work on thought leadership and building credibility with C-level leaders. Start by publishing an internal AI newsletter with pragmatic perspectives on the big announcements and flashy stories. Get C-level leaders used to looking to you for perspective and grounded takes on what AI can do for the business and its customers. Once that happens, offer executive seminars and workshops on topics of interest. Run internal lunch and learns or after-hours seminars on AI topics. Make people from every part of the business feel comfortable learning and asking questions about technical concepts. Bring in the training and development team once these gain momentum to map out AI curricula for each business unit. When AI initiatives launch, hold a retrospective and invite members of other business units to attend. Show them what AI is doing for the business to get them thinking about how they should be leveraging AI. One successful initiative can be the spark that lights multiple fires. Build coalitions around success and use them to bring the rest of the business along. Internal thought leaders and influencers are critical to avoid hype-driven development and AI vaporware purchases. AI product managers have an opportunity to fill the gap and push back against the noise. C-level leaders are looking for clarity. Don’t force them to look outside of the business for direction because the loudest voices are often the least experienced. Once hype takes hold, AI initiatives disconnect from reality.

In a world where AI announcements seem to drop every 15 minutes (seriously, it’s so hard to keep up), I've been reflecting on what actually matters beyond the hype. As a people leader navigating this landscape, I've learned that the challenge isn't just adopting AI tools quickly—it's adopting them thoughtfully. This is especially important at HubSpot, where helping our employees move faster helps our customers win faster. I'm seeing AI reshape not just what we do, but how we make decisions and prioritize our people. Here are some approaches that have worked well for us as we continue to test and learn: 1. Expedite access to AI tools and encourage experimentation. We're experimenting with the latest versions of Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, and more—providing teams access within hours of new releases, not weeks. This creates a culture of experimentation and keeps us ahead of the curve. 2. Foster knowledge-sharing. We've created dedicated channels where employees share their AI wins and habits. Our People team sends a weekly "MondAI" digest featuring different employee use cases that inspire others across the organization. 3. Prioritize leader enablement. We've built AI-first resources, starting with People Leaders who then cascade knowledge to their teams. This isn't just about tools—it's about developing judgment for when AI enhances human work and when human expertise should lead. 4. Seek external expertise. We regularly bring in experts from companies like Anthropic and Google to share insights with our teams. We've cultivated a culture of learn-it-alls, not know-it-alls. 5. Integrate AI into existing workflows. We're incorporating AI tools directly into team processes, focusing on high-impact, repetitive tasks first. Our AI support bot now handles over 35% of tickets while maintaining high customer satisfaction. The most exciting part? Watching our teams develop the discernment to make AI work harder for them, not the other way around. When people and technology make each other stronger—that's the sweet spot. Fellow people leaders: How are you balancing rapid AI adoption with thoughtful implementation that truly empowers your people? Other insights we can learn from?

🚫 STOP saying: “AI won’t replace you. A person using AI will.” It sounds more like a threat than a strategy. It shuts down the conversation instead of opening it. Because when employees express fear about AI, they don’t need clichés. They need a plan. Show you’re investing in them, not replacing them. Upskilling isn’t just about training. It’s about trust. So don’t just quote the internet. Show them where they fit in and how to grow. Here are 7 ways leaders can actually do that: 1. Start with listening ↳ Let them voice fears and skepticism ↳ Don’t respond with a TED Talk 2. Audit current roles ↳ Identify tasks that could be enhanced (not replaced) ↳ Talk openly about what AI can actually do 3. Invest in AI literacy ↳ Offer bite-sized, low-pressure workshops ↳ Demystify AI without overwhelming your team 4. Create low-stakes practice zones ↳ Let employees test tools with no deadlines ↳ Make it okay to play, learn, and even mess up 5. Celebrate progress, not perfection ↳ Highlight effort, experimentation, and curiosity ↳ Focus less on mastery, more on momentum 6. Pair learning with real work ↳ Show how AI can solve actual small problems ↳ Build skills while building solutions 7. Repeat the message ↳ “You’re part of the future.” ↳ “And we’re building it together.” No trust, no transformation. AI adoption isn’t just strategy, it’s a trust fall. 💬 What’s one step you’ll try with your team? ♻️ Repost if you’re investing in people, not just tech. 👣 Follow Janet Perez for more like this.

Want real AI adoption? Make it feel like play. Your team isn't avoiding AI because they don't understand it. They're avoiding it because you've made it feel risky. Stop leading with work pressure. Start with permission to experiment. Let them use it for weekend plans, silly creative projects, or random curiosity. When AI feels low-stakes and fun, people naturally start seeing possibilities everywhere. Create a pro-AI environment: Celebrate weird experiments over perfect use cases. Share failures as learning moments. Ask "what did you discover?" not "what did you accomplish?" Curiosity compounds into confidence. Confidence converts into real workplace innovation.