External partners can deploy AI and train teams. What they can't do is sustain adoption after they leave. That requires internal champions — people inside your organisation who understand the tools, believe in the outcomes, and have the credibility to bring their colleagues along.
What an AI champion is
An AI champion is not necessarily the most technically sophisticated person in the team. They're the person who combines reasonable technical comfort with strong peer relationships and genuine enthusiasm for the outcomes AI enables. They're the person their colleagues ask when they have a question about the tool, and the person who notices when adoption is slipping and does something about it.
How to identify champions
The best AI champions are usually already visible: they're the people who adopted new tools quickly in previous technology rollouts, who ask good questions during training, and who start experimenting with tools before they're asked to. Look for them in the teams where you're deploying AI, and invest in them early.
How to develop champions
Champion development has two components: technical depth and change management skills. Champions need enough technical depth to answer their colleagues' questions and troubleshoot common issues. They also need enough change management skill to identify adoption blockers, have productive conversations with resistant colleagues, and escalate issues that need leadership attention.
How to support champions
Champions need three things to be effective: time (they need protected time to support their colleagues, not just their own work), recognition (their contribution to adoption outcomes needs to be visible and valued), and connection (champions across different teams need to be connected to each other so they can share what's working and what isn't).
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