What’s your AI adoption strategy ?
I still remember the butterflies from that Figma procurement request…
Back in 2016, getting a “browser-based design tool for the team with a monthly subscription fee” felt transformative. As a UX practice lead of a consulting firm, I felt like leading from the front, ditching perpetual licenses to step into the future of a new era of design tools. In 2025, that excitement is back — but now, it feels more like overwhelm!
The hamster wheel of new models
At Esperia Studio, we are always looking for ways for the team to leverage the latest and greatest and we’re deep into building an AI tool stack that spans content, design ops, program management, and team workflows. We believe in the true power of these tools, but it takes more than a mindset shift to integrate these amazing enablers into the team’s workflow
It requires a radical shift in workflows and requires each team member to accept these models and tools as another team member and embrace their omnipotent nature to actually deliver the results of the big ‘AI Promise’ we’re all banking on. While seasoning and aligning a team is itself a herculean task, the insane frequency of new model drops and tool releases is adding to the chaos. Our list of tools to evaluate and integrate just keeps growing — V0, Cursor, ChatGPT, Gamma… every week, there’s a shiny new tool, and the FOMO is real!
A people-first AI strategy
I feel most design agencies like us are collecting AI tools like Pokémon cards right now, and it’s easy to lose sight of what actually matters in the bigger picture: the people who will be driving these tools to peak productivity. If we’re not investing time and effort in building foundational AI literacy for our teams, we’re essentially handing F1 cars to people who don’t know how to drive stick.
Sticking to fundamentals and ensuring we see the technology through to the final lap is a critical aspect if you are serious about adopting AI into the workflows of your team and truly become an AI-first team.
The trick here is to go ‘people-first’ before going ‘AI-first’
Here is an easy 3 fold approach to go people-first
- Start with the weakest link. Your AI adoption strategy should be designed around your most AI-resistant team member, not your most eager adopter. Why? Because that person will ultimately determine your team’s collaborative ceiling. Design your learning approach to bring everyone up to a minimum viable AI fluency before adding new tools to the mix.
- Build foundational Skills Before Stacking Tools. Focus on setting foundational skills right, like Effective prompt engineering, understanding AI capabilities and limitations, Basic iteration and refinement techniques, and Quality evaluation skills for AI output
- Form a Pilot Squad. Form a small cross-functional group (including one AI-hesitant member) to test tools against real project needs. This prevents both analysis paralysis and the formation of “AI elite” groups within your team.
Which one is your challenge — Is it the tools, or the team’s ability to adopt them meaningfully? Either way, its necessary to have a strategy…