Getting AI adopted where you work is not a technology problem. It is a communication problem. The people who get it funded are not the most technical. They are the ones who can pitch it in plain English.
Here is the script I use, and why it works.
Lead with the result, not the tool
Never open with “AI” or the name of a tool. Open with a result. Here is the shape:
“I took a task that used to take us two hours and got it to twenty minutes. Here is how, and here is what we could do if we did this across the team.”
Notice what that does. It leads with time and money, not technology. It uses a real before-and-after. And it ends with a small, clear ask.
The five-slide outline
If you need a deck, keep it to five slides. Any more and you are overselling.
- The problem. One task or process that is slow, costly, or error-prone.
- The before and after. What it took before, what it takes now, with the numbers.
- The number. Hours saved, dollars saved, or errors caught. Pick the one that lands.
- The ask. Small and specific. A two-week test, a tool budget, one person’s time.
- The guardrails. How you will protect data and keep a human in the loop. This is what turns a no into a yes.
The script
Help me pitch an AI idea to my leadership team. Here is the task, the time
it takes today, and the result I got with AI: [describe].
Write a two-minute spoken pitch that leads with the result, uses one clear
number, makes a small and specific ask, and ends with the guardrails. No
buzzwords. Confident, not salesy.The last line of your pitch should always be the guardrails. Leaders do not fear AI doing the work. They fear it doing the work carelessly. Show them the human is still holding the wheel, and you get your yes.
One more thing I have learned: good work does not speak for itself, and neither does a good idea. Visibility is a skill you build on purpose. Pitch it well, out loud, and take up the space.