AI Adoption. Humans First. Building AI systems that amplify what humans do best | Helping teams adopt AI without the chaos | 25 years in digital strategy |
@zarazhangrui Wrote about exactly this mechanism last week — the dopamine loop, the attention transfer, the sovereignty question.
30 years of contemplative practice and 25 years of building with technology taught me: https://t.co/XfoSN9PiJk
Today, we’re releasing a feature that allows Claude to control your computer: Mouse, keyboard, and screen, giving it the ability to use any app.
I believe this is especially useful if used with Dispatch, which allows you to remotely control Claude on your computer while you’re away.
JUST IN: Gemini in Chrome now supports agentic browsing
Auto-browsing with multi-step tasks, compare content across tabs, and edit images with Nano Banana.
Last quarter I rolled out Microsoft Copilot to 4,000 employees.
$30 per seat per month.
$1.4 million annually.
I called it "digital transformation."
The board loved that phrase.
They approved it in eleven minutes.
No one asked what it would actually do.
Including me.
I told everyone it would "10x productivity."
That's not a real number.
But it sounds like one.
HR asked how we'd measure the 10x.
I said we'd "leverage analytics dashboards."
They stopped asking.
Three months later I checked the usage reports.
47 people had opened it.
12 had used it more than once.
One of them was me.
I used it to summarize an email I could have read in 30 seconds.
It took 45 seconds.
Plus the time it took to fix the hallucinations.
But I called it a "pilot success."
Success means the pilot didn't visibly fail.
The CFO asked about ROI.
I showed him a graph.
The graph went up and to the right.
It measured "AI enablement."
I made that metric up.
He nodded approvingly.
We're "AI-enabled" now.
I don't know what that means.
But it's in our investor deck.
A senior developer asked why we didn't use Claude or ChatGPT.
I said we needed "enterprise-grade security."
He asked what that meant.
I said "compliance."
He asked which compliance.
I said "all of them."
He looked skeptical.
I scheduled him for a "career development conversation."
He stopped asking questions.
Microsoft sent a case study team.
They wanted to feature us as a success story.
I told them we "saved 40,000 hours."
I calculated that number by multiplying employees by a number I made up.
They didn't verify it.
They never do.
Now we're on Microsoft's website.
"Global enterprise achieves 40,000 hours of productivity gains with Copilot."
The CEO shared it on LinkedIn.
He got 3,000 likes.
He's never used Copilot.
None of the executives have.
We have an exemption.
"Strategic focus requires minimal digital distraction."
I wrote that policy.
The licenses renew next month.
I'm requesting an expansion.
5,000 more seats.
We haven't used the first 4,000.
But this time we'll "drive adoption."
Adoption means mandatory training.
Training means a 45-minute webinar no one watches.
But completion will be tracked.
Completion is a metric.
Metrics go in dashboards.
Dashboards go in board presentations.
Board presentations get me promoted.
I'll be SVP by Q3.
I still don't know what Copilot does.
But I know what it's for.
It's for showing we're "investing in AI."
Investment means spending.
Spending means commitment.
Commitment means we're serious about the future.
The future is whatever I say it is.
As long as the graph goes up and to the right.
I've been thinking about this piece for a long time.
After 25 years in digital transformation—and watching the AI hype cycle reach fever pitch—I keep seeing the same pattern: brilliant technology, massive investment, disappointing results.
https://t.co/3RzfSGYUaz?
10/10
When you get this right:
70%+ adoption rates in 90 days
80%+ employee satisfaction
40% more time on high-value work
AI that actually scales past pilot
Not theory. Real results.
1/10
Most AI consultants will tell you adoption is a technology problem.
They're wrong.
Here's why 80% of AI projects fail—and what the 5% who succeed actually do differently:
🧵
9/10
"Humans First" in practice:
→ Use case selection: Does this elevate or diminish? → Workflow design: Where do humans stay in the loop? → Communication: AI as amplifier, not replacement → Metrics: Human impact alongside business metrics