When Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke’s memo about making AI a “baseline expectation” leaked (then got posted by him on X), it resonated. Not because it was news to us, but because, like Shopify, we'd been focusing on AI as part of our DNA for a while.
Back in 2023, a few members of our leadership team were talking and realized that we were all using AI on the side—as a thought partner, a research assistant, a rough-draft writer. Nothing formal. Just "hey, are you finding this useful too?" That was our first "aha" moment.
GenAI applications like ChatGPT were quietly accelerating how we worked, and we believed this promise could be expanded to our entire company.
So what was our first move? We brought in someone who could help us think bigger. Conor Grennan —who has become a powerful voice in AI literacy—joined first for a leadership session, then later for a series of company-wide sessions in early 2024. His sessions were the spark.
We followed up with a survey and the results spoke volumes. 95% of employees wanted more training. Over half expected AI to significantly increase efficiency, and 30% saw it improving quality too. There was excitement, but also hesitancy. People wanted to learn—they just didn’t always know where to begin.
That’s when we leaned in.
We rolled out Enterprise ChatGPT, kicked off a GenAI task force full of people from across the company known as drivers of our culture, and hosted more training sessions. We leveraged Slack channels where people shared tips, learnings, and AI successes and failures. (We believe in learning out loud.)
We set an intentional theme of exploration and experimentation - finding new and creative ways to help make everyone at iSeatz more efficient and deliver even higher quality work. To level up. To continuously improve. To actively engage in the underpinnings of our company's value of innovation: to look at problems from multiple angles, to find new, creative solutions, and to try new things and quickly test them for viability.
By late 2024, we were seeing real traction. Employees were using AI for everything from data analysis to meeting recaps, project planning, idea generation, and writing support. And some of the most powerful use cases? Let’s just say they’re now part of our "secret sauce."
As of our latest survey in March 2025:
This isn’t an experiment anymore. AI is embedded in how we work.
If you're just starting your journey, here’s our biggest takeaway: leadership must lead by example.
Beyond that, understand that AI’s not magic—it’s a multiplier. But only if you use it with intention. The people who benefit the most aren't those expecting instant perfection. They’re the ones who understand what "good" looks like, have the patience to work through less-than-perfect outputs, and treat the tool like a teammate.
We didn’t build our AI culture by forcing it. We built it by actually using it, swapping stories, and making room to experiment. This was never about novelty. It was always about impact.
In a fast-moving space, we wanted to be more than just AI-aware. We wanted to be AI-fluent.
And we’re still learning—together.
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