By Erol Karabeg,
Co-Founder, President @ Authority Partners
October 8, 2025
Most CEOs have made AI a strategic priority. Gartner reports that 74% expect AI to reshape their industries within three years, yet only 8% say they’re realizing significant value from those investments.
It’s not because the technology isn’t ready. It’s because people aren’t.
Across industries, the same story repeats: ambitious AI pilots, underwhelming results.
Why? Because the workforce – the real engine of transformation – hasn’t been trained to use these tools effectively.
And it’s not just employees. Gartner found that only 5% of C-suite executives possess the fluency to evaluate AI investments strategically. The result? Misaligned priorities, misplaced budgets, and unrealized ROI.
When leaders don’t speak the language of AI, they can’t set realistic goals or govern wisely. When teams don’t trust or understand the tools, they underuse them – or worse, misuse them. The issue isn’t algorithms; it’s alignment.
Companies that treat AI adoption as a technology rollout fail.
Those that treat it as a change management journey – anchored in literacy – succeed.
Research shows that organizations with structured AI learning programs:
In short, literacy drives ROI.
Here’s how to think about building AI fluency across your organization:
1. Strategic Literacy (The Boardroom)
Your executives don’t need to code. But they do need to understand enough about AI to make informed investment decisions, set realistic expectations, and govern effectively.
This means knowing when to use AI (and when not to), understanding bias and data quality implications, and being able to evaluate vendors objectively. When 77% of CEOs acknowledge AI’s influence but only 44% have confidence in their CIOs’ AI capabilities, we have a disconnect at the top that cascades downward.
2. Operational Literacy (The Managers)
Your middle layer needs to translate strategy into execution. They’re the ones who will identify use cases, manage change, and measure outcomes.
They need to understand workflows, automation opportunities, and how to integrate AI into existing processes without disrupting operations. They’re your force multipliers – but only if they’re equipped.
3. Tactical Literacy (The Teams)
Your frontline employees need practical skills to use AI tools in their daily work. Not theory – application.
This means knowing how to prompt effectively, when to trust AI outputs, how to validate results, and when to escalate. It means building muscle memory for AI-augmented workflows.
At Authority Partners, we built the AI Academy to make AI literacy measurable. The program’s structure mirrors what successful mid-market and large enterprises need:
This isn’t theoretical training – it’s hands-on transformation. In one cohort, 15 participants committed to saving over 1,700 hours within four months, effectively paying back the investment in less than five.
If you’re leading technology for a mid-market or large enterprise, and you’re reading this thinking, “We need to fix this” – here’s your playbook:
1. Assess honestly.
Where is your organization actually AI-ready? Not where you wish you were—where you are. Survey your teams. Talk to your managers. Look at utilization data. Most companies discover they’re further behind than they thought.
2. Segment your training.
One-size-fits-all programs fail. Executives need strategic fluency. Managers need operational knowledge. Teams need tactical skills. Design accordingly.
3. Make it hands-on.
Policy documents don’t change behavior. Workshops with real tools, real data, and real workflows do. People need to practice, fail safely, and build confidence.
4. Measure everything.
Hours saved. Tasks automated. Error rates. Adoption curves. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. And if you can’t show ROI, you won’t get continued investment.
5. Embed it in your operations.
AI literacy isn’t a one-time training event – it’s an ongoing capability. Build it into onboarding. Make it part of performance reviews. Celebrate wins publicly.
AI is not failing – organizations are failing to teach people how to use it.
The good news? That’s a solvable problem.
As Gartner put it, “If you’re investing in AI but not investing in AI literacy, you’re throwing money away.”
The companies that win in the AI era won’t be those with the biggest models.
They’ll be the ones with the most AI-literate people.
Let’s make that your competitive edge.
Explore the AI Academy or schedule a conversation with our team. Let’s turn your AI vision into measurable value.
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