5 steps to gain leader buy-in for AI adoption by building cross-functional partnerships
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Rowan Toffoli is generative AI-powered strategic communications manager, Lockheed Martin, and advisor, Center for AI Strategy.
Generative AI holds tremendous promise for communicators. But scaling AI across the communications organization shouldn’t happen in a vacuum. It takes leadership support and collaboration across critical internal functions.
If you’re looking to drive adoption of GenAI tools in your communications shop, start by laying the foundation for trust and safety. Here are five steps to get you started:
- Start with the “why” that matters to your leadership
Buy-in starts when leaders see alignment with business priorities. Whether it’s speed to market, digital transformation, workforce efficiency or innovation, anchor your AI adoption pitch to the outcomes your leaders already care about. Bonus points if you can connect your use case to measurable impact.
Example: “Our comms team reduced time spent on first drafts by 40% using a secure GenAI tool, freeing up time for strategic storytelling and thought leadership.”
- Bring legal, ethics, security and compliance to the table early
Don’t wait for a policy to block your momentum. Engage legal, ethics, security and compliance teams as partners — not gatekeepers. Be transparent about how you want to use AI, the tools you’re exploring and how you’ll mitigate risk. Some ways to mitigate risk include human-in-the-loop processes, content review and providing required training to your team members on safe use.
Your company — especially if you work in a regulated industry — may have additional points of contact you need to engage. Don’t be afraid to ask who the right people are to engage with and always engage with them early.
Tip: Frame your ask around shared responsibility: “How can we do this right together?”
- Loop in your internal AI teams and IT counterparts
AI enablement doesn’t live in comms alone. Many enterprises have a central AI or digital transformation team — build relationships there. These groups may already have vetted tools, secure infrastructure and roadmaps you can align with. They may also have training or resources you can pull from for your comms team. Your IT partners can also help validate tools and manage access.
Don’t go rogue. Always follow established processes and procedures for tool procurement, deployment and use. Your AI team and IT can help you stay on the right path.
Pro tip: Position communications as a high-value use case that can showcase early ROI.
- Show — not just tell — the value of AI adoption
Instead of asking for full-scale buy-in upfront, pilot AI on a small project with clear metrics. Choose a task with high volume and low risk, like drafting brand or executive social media posts. Then share what you learned — good, bad and game-changing.
Remember to also share your starting point. Tell the story of what the process looks like without AI augmentation. For example, how long does it take you to research and draft a post for your executive without AI? People outside of the comms shop often aren’t aware of how much work it takes to draft content, validate it, get it through approvals, publish it and monitor performance. Show where you started so you can show how much time can be saved with AI.
Tool tip: Tools like Airtable or Notion can help you track AI adoption data to help you effectively share your use cases.
- Co-create your adoption plan with partners — not for them
AI is a team sport. Build an adoption roadmap that includes regular check-ins with your partners in legal, security, ethics, IT and any other identified stakeholders unique to your organization. Share use cases. Create feedback loops. Most importantly: listen. The more voices you include, the more sustainable — and scalable — your efforts will be.
My philosophy: We’re all on this GenAI journey together, and we learn best when we collaborate openly and often. AI adoption is a plateau, not a mountain. There’s room for everyone at the top, so help build each other up.
A final thought:
You don’t need to be an AI expert to get started — you need to be a great partner. Building cross-functional relationships grounded in shared goals and accountability ensures that everyone is on the same page and following established processes — or establishing them together. This helps you earn leadership buy-in and bring your AI vision to life.
Disclaimer: All views expressed are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer. Any tools or platforms referenced are for illustrative purposes only and do not imply endorsement.
