Copilot, Chapter One

The secret to driving AI adoption? It’s not in the tech specs - it’s in the stories we tell.

I’ve spent the better part of the last two years watching something remarkable unfold at Huron. What started as a small Microsoft 365 Copilot test pilot (say that five times fast) with just a handful of volunteer technology enthusiasts has transformed into a company-wide movement.

And as much as I’d love to claim otherwise: our success didn’t come from utterly perfect implementation guides or comprehensive training manuals. I swear I left those laying around here somewhere… If somebody finds them, please let me know!

Instead, it came from something far more powerful - the stories our users began telling each other.

##The Power of Narrative in Adoption

Our brains are wired for stories. They stick with us in ways that bullet points and feature lists never will. I recently came across this insight from the team at Narratize that perfectly captures what we experienced: “storytelling drives AI adoption” by helping employees imagine how technology can grow the business - and their existing role in it.

That’s exactly what happened at Huron. When someone tells you about saving two hours on a project or finally having time to think strategically instead of taking notes, that lands differently than any ROI calculation ever could.

The research backs this up too - AI “augments rather than replaces human creativity,” offering “a new lens through which stories can be envisioned and told.” But here’s what the research doesn’t always capture: …the moment when that shift happens. When people stop seeing AI as this thing that might replace them and start seeing it as their creative partner. It’s like having a really smart intern who never sleeps, never judges your first drafts, and actually enjoys doing the boring stuff. Once that narrative takes hold? That’s when adoption becomes inevitable.

Copilot, Ready for Takeoff

In early 2024 we launched our strategic pilot program for what would eventually be called Microsoft 365 Copilot. We carefully selected a small group of innovators across departments - around a hundred to start with, …a total of three hundred licenses on hand for eventual use. The excitement was palpable from day one, but it wasn’t because of a PowerPoint presentation or a prerecorded feature demo. It was because of what happened to one of our directors.

She missed an important meeting, which wasn’t uncommon for her busy schedule. But instead of having to piece together notes and memories from other attendees, she received something unexpected: an AI-generated meeting summary that captured not just the facts, but the essence of what was discussed. One of her teammates was in our test group and it only took them 30 seconds to copy, paste, and send. Her response? Pure enthusiasm. She immediately reached out: “I noticed I don’t currently have Copilot access… can I be a test user??”

This wasn’t just a request for software access. This was chapter two of a story about possibility, about doing work differently, about connecting to coworkers via a common tool that made both of their lives a little better.

The Collaboration Narrative Takes Shape

We had our first chance to directly add to this collaborative narrative and we hadn’t done more yet than assign licenses and provide introductory training! Within the same day as her request, our curious director was licensed, equipped with self service learning materials, and even Copilot summaries of the first few test pilot sessions that had already happened. This immediate response became part of our narrative: We’re in this together, and we move fast.

It’s interesting - McKinsey found that organizations successfully using AI point to two big drivers: advances that make AI tools more accessible and the need to reduce costs while automating key processes. But accessibility isn’t just about user interfaces. It’s about that moment when your colleague shows you their Copilot trick over coffee. It’s about responding to enthusiasm with immediate action. It’s about making the technology feel less like “IT’s new thing” and more like “our new superpower.”

Maybe part of why I’m so excited about AI is that these moments fill the exact same sense of excitement and exploration I used to get comparing notes on games and stories that now sit on the back burner to my focus as a dad.

The best part? Every shared success lowered the barrier for the next person. Every “hey, did you know you could…” conversation in the hallway became part of our adoption strategy - whether we planned it that way or not.

We set up a dedicated Teams channel where pilot users and the Copilot project team could share their experiences in real time. This wasn’t your typical IT support channel. It became a storytelling platform where each small victory was celebrated and shared:

• An analyst saved transitioned from permanent note-taker to a regular call contributor within a week of getting Copilot
• A marketer brainstormed campaign copy ideas with AI assistance
• A project manager transformed emails across multiple threads into a concise summary with one prompt

Each story built on the last, creating layers up on layers of engagement, a reinforced and resilient excitement to learn and grow that a top-down mandated corporate course could never recreate.

Look forward to the next post, covering our shift from proof of concept into high gear as these stories started to spread around the company and drive demand through the roof! I’ll also dive into some of the metrics that mattered as we started measuring actual impact – and why measuring literal “time saved” might not be the most effective way to think about AI ROI.