AI adoption: From boardrooms to breakrooms

Hiya 👋

Something I'm seeing more and more as I talk to a lot of folks in leadership positions each week: they're all bought into the value and possibilities with automation & AI, but they're hitting the same wall when it comes to getting their own teams (management and individual contributors) to actually make the time and show the willingness to evolve and change for these new times.

It's happening everywhere I look, and honestly, it's the conversation I'm having most often these days.

So to that end, I wanted to share some specific resources and insights that I've come across lately. I think they'll resonate for you like they have for others I've shared them with going through the same thing.

Today we’ll cover:

• 25 tactics to accelerate AI use at your company

• A massive study on AI vs. human recruiters

• Why CEOs talk AI but don’t always walk it

• Our take on GPT-5

Let’s jump in👇

Every week, execs ask: How do I get my team to use AI?

The big picture: Lenny Rachitsky pulled together 25 proven tactics to accelerate AI adoption inside companies, from training programs to embedding AI in workflows.

Why it matters:

• These tactics are actually actionable versus so much opinion being theory and abstract “tips” - take a look at these as they’re actually actionable so I suggest reviewing them all more deeply as different teams need different approaches.

• Practical, peer-tested tactics can help shift from talking about AI → using AI.

Go deeper: 

Read the full playbook →

Lenny’s tweet breaking things down →

A massive study of 70,000 applicants in the Philippines tested replacing human recruiters with AI voice agents.

The big picture: Applicants randomly interviewed by AI were 12% more likely to get offers, 18% more likely to start jobs, and most importantly, 17% more likely to be kept on after a month, compared to those interviewed by humans.

Why it matters:

• AI-led interviews may surface more relevant information from candidates.

• When later learning about the process, 78% of applicants chose AI over human recruiters when given the option.

• Recruiters rated AI interviews as yielding higher-quality insights, though they leaned more heavily on standardized test scores afterward.

Go deeper: Read the full paper →
Or see Ethan Mollick’s breakdown: AI in HR thread →

Many CEOs are loudly pushing their companies to “adopt AI.” But a NYT report shows that even at the top, leaders often don’t understand what AI can (and can’t) do. I’ve seen it personally dozens of times now: when leaders understand AI beyond what they can do in ChatGPT, there’s an epiphany that changes how they think about their company and its operations.

The big picture the NYT breaks down:

• Some CEOs are championing AI in public while struggling privately to use it themselves.

• A gap is forming: companies with AI-fluent leadership are experimenting faster and finding solutions that stick, while others are stuck in buzzword mode.

• Consultants say many boardrooms treat AI like a “magic wand,” not a set of tools that require process change and training.

Why it matters: AI adoption isn’t just a tech rollout, it’s a cultural shift. Without leaders modeling usage, organizations risk stalling out which effects how well change management happens in the company.

Go deeper: Read the full NYT story →

Wanted to wrap this up with some thoughts on GPT-5 now that I've been using it for a few weeks both personally and in our client work.

Honestly? It feels like an iPhone "S" update to me. Remember when Apple used to do the iPhone 4…then the 4S…5…5S cycle? Taking what worked and leveling up the performance rather than redesigning everything.

While a lot of folks in the AI space hyped GPT-5 as world-changing, it was always apparent to me that we could stop AI advancements right now and the world would still take 10 years to catch up and adjust. The real breakthroughs for AGI—memory, architecture, context windows—those require bigger leaps than just training on more data.

I'm still a big believer those technical advancements will come in the next 12-24 months and unlock something massive. But this GPT-5? It's an "S" release. A solid upgrade that unlocks new potential for teams to take advantage of now, or at the very least gives you time to get your tech stack mature and prepare for what's actually coming.

I recorded a podcast with my buddy in the AI space, Tom, diving deeper into our usage of GPT-5 and the recap of the announcements.

And this entire newsletter is normally hand crafted, “old fashioned” writing but this last section was indeed written with GPT-5 after yapping at it for 2 minutes and turning it into what you just read.

🎧 Go deeper: Listen to our GPT-5 breakdown on Work Less Pod →

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