I keep hearing the same thing from executives: "Our people are the bottleneck to AI adoption." And every time, I want to flip the table.
People are not the bottleneck. The absence of trust, context, and relevance is the bottleneck. When you roll out a tool without explaining why it matters to their work, you haven't empowered anyone. You've just added another tab to their browser.
Here's an analogy I use all the time: imagine handing someone a key and telling them it opens a door somewhere in the building. No map. No explanation of what's behind the door. No reason to believe what's on the other side is worth the walk. That's what most AI rollouts feel like to the end user.
Now imagine a different approach. You walk them to the door. You explain what's behind it. You let them peek inside. You introduce them to someone who already walked through and loved it. You stand next to them when they turn the key for the first time. That's enablement. That's change management done right.
The organizations that will lead in the next decade aren't the ones with the most licenses. They're the ones that invested in making every person feel like the technology was built for them, not despite them.
Adoption is a metric. Bravery is a strategy.