Staying ahead in the age of AI

Staying ahead in the age of AI | OpenAI

December 16, 2025

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Staying ahead in the age of AI

A leadership guide

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Foreword

Artificial intelligence is accelerating on every front

The pace of AI progress is unlike anything we’ve seen in technology. Early adopters are already growing revenue 1.5× faster than peers⁠, yet many companies feel the pace is too fast to plan for effectively. One of the questions we hear most is how to keep up, enable employees to adopt AI, and build an AI-first organization. D rawing on the experience OpenAI has had with leaders at companies like Estée Lauder, Notion, the San Antonio Spurs, and BBVA, this playbook shares five practical steps - Align, Activate, Amplify, Accelerate, and Govern - to help your organization move quickly and confidently as AI continues to advance.

Intelligence

5.6x

5.6x growth since 2022 in frontier scale AI model releases¹

Cost

280x

280x cheaper to run GPT 3.5-class models in just 18 months²

Adoption

4x

4x faster adoption than desktop internet³

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What we'll cover in this guide

We’ve captured these 5 principles from conversations with our customers and we’ll share guidance, practical tips, and customer stories throughout.

Align: How to align your company, employees and leadership on your AI strategy.

Activate: How to enable and motivate teams to use AI.

Amplify: How to amplify wins and use cases across your teams.

Accelerate: How to speed up decisions to keep up with AI.

Govern: How to speed up decisions to keep up with AI.

By the end of this guide you should have clear next steps on how to keep ahead of AI progress.

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Principle 01: Align

Employees adopt change faster when they clearly see how new AI initiatives enhance their skills, enable more meaningful work, and contribute to their company’s competitive advantage. Leaders play a critical role in driving this alignment by explicitly communicating the purpose behind AI initiatives, demonstrating their commitment, and actively supporting employees throughout the transition.

Alignment practices we’ve seen work

###### Executive storytelling to set the vision

Be specific on why AI adoption is key to your company's future, whether it's keeping pace with competitors, responding to evolving customer expectations, or sustaining growth. When employees hear a thoughtful “why,” it creates trust and clarity, helping them see how these changes align with their own work and goals.

###### Set a company-wide AI adoption goal

Define a measurable goal that connects AI adoption to everyday work. This could be new use cases, frequency of AI tool usage, or setting benchmarks for team experimentation, and incorporate these goals into company planning and KPIs. Communicate this goal through allhands or company updates to build momentum and signal that AI is part of how work gets done.

Example

The CEO of Moderna set a clear expectation that employees should be using ChatGPT 20 times a day, reinforcing AI adoption as a core part of how work gets done across the company.

###### Leaders role-modeling AI use

Ask senior executives to regularly share how they use AI in their roles. Hearing directly from leadership about how AI helps them stay ahead of market trends or quickly analyze customer insights normalizes and encourages AI use and experimentation.

Example

Our very own CFO, Sarah Friar, regularly shares how she uses ChatGPT and actively encourages her team to experiment, making them one of the most advanced AI adopters at OpenAI.

###### Functional leader sessions

Line-of-business leaders are best placed to connect AI initiatives to the realities of each team’s work. Encourage them to hold sessions that highlight relevant use cases, invite feedback, and answer questions. This helps employees connect AI to their everyday work and understand its value.

Tip

Try out the GPT “ChatGPT Use Cases for Work” to identify ways that different teams can use generative AI in their roles.

Reflection questions and how to get started

Do employees understand why AI is critical to our strategy? Run periodic pulse surveys to gauge employee clarity on AI strategy.

Are we transparently communicating our progress? Maintain and openly review a dashboard that clearly tracks progress toward your company-wide AI adoption goal.

Are functional leaders actively helping employees understand how AI supports their department’s goals? Review how often functional leaders hold AI-focused team sessions and what feedback or questions emerge.

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Principle 02: Activate

Nearly half of employees say they lack the training and support needed to confidently adopt generative AI. Yet, they rank training as the single most important factor for successful adoption.⁠ Companies that move fast invest in supporting their employees' learning. This means making space for experimentation, equipping teams with department specific training, and normalizing the need for learning.

How to activate AI use at your organization

###### Launch a structured AI skills program

Ask your Learning & Development team to create clear, role-specific training that moves employees from basic AI awareness to hands-on use, prioritizing skills that directly support real workflows rather than abstract concepts. For example, the San Antonio Spurs boosted AI fluency from 14% to 85%⁠ by embedding training into the flow of daily work instead of treating it as a separate initiative.

Tip

Join the OpenAI Academy ⁠ for access to training content and community forums

###### Establish an AI champions network

Identify and train passionate employees to serve as internal AI mentors. These champions help colleagues become confident AI users through workshops, informal coaching, and spreading enthusiasm.

Tip

Assign one owner to join OpenAI’s Champion Network (available to API and ChatGPT Enterprise customers) to access resources and ideas for launching and activating your internal network.

###### Make experimentation routine

Give employees regular time to explore AI tools. Try dedicating the first Friday of each month for teams to workshop how AI could improve their work. Pair this with no-code hackathons where cross-functional teams can prototype real solutions, and fast approvals to ensure promising ideas move forward.

Example

Notion used a focused AI hackathon to prototype what became Notion AI, now core to their product.⁠ Many teams at OpenAI…