Did you know that while 92% of agencies plan to adopt AI, only 10% feel ready to operationalize AI adoption effectively (McKinsey)? For decision-makers, leaders, and agency founders, this statistic highlights a critical challenge: how to harness AI’s potential while empowering your team (and clients) to embrace it as an enabler, not a threat.
Empowering Teams (and clients) with AI: A Guide for Agency Leaders is your roadmap to transforming AI adoption into a strategic advantage for your agency. Written with insights from 2x elite agency founders Stephen Brett and Vivienne Piong, this guide provides actionable strategies to reframe AI as a tool for collaboration, streamline workflows, and set a new standard for your team’s performance.
Why AI Adoption Matters
Adopting AI isn’t just about leveraging cutting-edge tools—it’s about empowering your team to embrace AI as a collaborator that amplifies their strengths. This guide equips you with the frameworks and strategies to overcome resistance, foster innovation, and position your agency as a leader in the AI-driven future of work.
Section 1: Reframing AI as a Team Enabler
AI adoption isn’t just about technology—it’s about people. One of the most significant challenges agencies face is addressing the fear and resistance teams experience when they hear “AI.” For many employees, AI evokes concerns like, “Will AI replace my job?” or “Will my skills still matter?”
Stephen Brett and Vivienne Piong, founders of globally renowned agencies 500 Designs and Design Force, faced these very challenges when introducing AI into their teams. Through thoughtful communication and actionable strategies, they successfully reframed AI as an empowering tool for their teams, not a threat.
Addressing Resistance and Fear
Employees are often hesitant about AI because they worry it will make their roles obsolete. Stephen and Vivienne tackled this head-on by focusing on transparency and emphasizing how AI could enhance their team’s roles rather than replace them.
Instead of eliminating jobs, AI would reduce the cognitive load of repetitive tasks, freeing employees to focus on creativity, strategy, and problem-solving—the aspects of their work they loved most.
- Vivienne Piong: “It wasn’t just about the tool—it was about the mindset. People were worried that AI would replace them, not realizing that it was meant to enhance their work, not take it away.”
- Stephen Brett: “AI wasn’t here to take over—it was here to help us do our jobs better. We framed it as a tool to make their lives easier and let them focus on the creative and strategic parts of their work.”
Shifting the Narrative
AI represents an opportunity to Elevate your team’s expertise. By eliminating bottlenecks such as manual data analysis, lengthy onboarding, and repetitive quality checks, AI enables teams to deliver high-quality work faster and more confidently.
Stephen and Vivienne reframed AI as a collaborator, not a competitor. Tools like Aurora empowered their teams to access centralized knowledge instantly, saving hours of research and clarifying objectives in seconds.
Practical Ways to Reframe AI
- Communicate AI as a partner that complements creativity and expertise. Example: AI can handle the repetitive tasks, freeing you to focus on what you do best—creative storytelling or strategic planning.
- Highlight specific examples of how AI reduces workload and improves workflows. Example: AI tools can eliminate hours of manual report generation, allowing account managers to spend more time building client relationships.
- Celebrate how AI enables teams to deliver faster and better results without sacrificing quality.
Real-World Example
Vivienne’s team reduced a two-week brand strategy process to just a few hours using an AI SmartFlow from Aurora:
- Vivienne Piong: “Instead of two weeks of work on a brand strategy, AI made it possible to get the same high-quality output in just a few hours. It created a fluidity in work that wasn’t possible before.”
Building Trust Through Transparency
Transparency is critical to gaining team buy-in. At their agencies, Stephen and Vivienne made it a priority to share the why behind AI adoption and openly address team concerns. They emphasized how AI would benefit both the organization and employees alike.
How They Build Trust
- Shared the Bigger Picture: AI was being adopted to make workflows more efficient, improve work-life balance, and elevate the quality of work delivered to clients.
- Encouraged Open Dialogue: Stephen and Vivienne hosted team-wide discussions to answer questions and demystify how AI tools would be implemented.
- Provided Real-World Data: They shared industry trends and results from early pilots to show how AI made workflows faster and easier.
Practical Tips for Building Trust
- Host Team-Wide Meetings: Explain the purpose of AI adoption and how it aligns with the agency’s goals. Example: “We’re implementing AI to streamline workflows and give you more time to focus on creative, high-impact work.”
- Share Real-World Examples: Highlight specific ways AI has improved workflows, reduced stress, or enhanced outcomes for other teams. Example: Show how AI tools have reduced the time spent on repetitive tasks like generating client reports.
- Celebrate Early Wins: Use success stories to demonstrate AI’s positive impact on team efficiency and creativity.
Stephen shared a story with his team of how one designer overcame skepticism by embracing AI:
- Stephen Brett: “One of our designers struggled to explain ideas to clients. With Aurora, this individual used AI to connect the dots between their creative output and the teams research. The client loved it.”
Key Takeaways:
- Reframe AI as a tool for empowerment, not replacement: Position AI as a tool that enhances your team’s strengths and eliminates bottlenecks.
- Be transparent: Explain why AI adoption is happening and how it benefits employees and the organization. Example: “AI isn’t here to replace you—it’s here to help you focus on the work you enjoy most.”
- Celebrate wins: Share success stories to build trust and excitement around AI adoption. Example: “By using AI, your team can deliver faster, higher-quality results, while spending less time on repetitive tasks.”
(This is the end of the preview. To continue reading, please download the full guide located at the top of this page.)