How to copy Viva’s award-winning approach to AI adoption

TL;DR

Here’s how Viva adopted AI and what we’ve achieved so far on our journey to make Viva’s EAs the best at using AI:

• 100% AI adoption: Every customer-facing EA built at least one automation using Zapier in our first quarter.
• Company-wide rollout: We expanded training from EAs to all staff, integrating AI into every function.
• Manager-led model: AI projects tied to business goals increased adoption and engagement by 3×.
• Structured skill growth: We defined five AI proficiency levels -> Unacceptable, Explorer, Builder, Multiplier, and Architect. The current goal is to get 100% of the team to “Builder.”
• End-to-end integration: AI now influences hiring, training, engagement, and performance company-wide.

Takeaway: Sustainable AI adoption happens when your “why” aligns with your mission, your managers lead from the front, and your progress is measured across clear, attainable levels.

At the beginning of the year, we set out to train our EAs to be the best at using AI in the world, and our efforts paid off. Not only did 100% of our EAs become AI builders, cutting briefing time in half and embedding automation into company culture, but I won a Zappy award and was named Z Suite AI Transformation Leader of the Year by Zapier. 

This is how we made it happen:

We started with “why.” Customers and prospects were asking for this skillset. Executives from some of the fast-growing companies in the US told us: 

• “I will fire anyone who doesn’t use AI.”
• “I don’t care if my EA does a task or uses ChatGPT to do it.”
• “If my EA can automate their own workflow, that’s a good thing that’ll make them a bigger asset to the team.”

According to Statista, companies implementing organization-wide AI achieved higher operational KPIs and talent retention. Integration through AI-powered talent management tools is a core enabler of innovation and resilience in modern businesses.

We learned that having a clear customer-linked “why” was important, but it wasn’t enough to win hearts and minds. The “why” for our team had to connect to our mission: to enable executives to maximize their impact while creating meaningful opportunities for women in Latin America.

If our team’s skillset became outdated, those opportunities wouldn’t stay meaningful. AI wasn’t just a way to keep up; it was a way to get ahead.

Table of contents

1. Our first AI goal: Breadth over depth, with Zapier as the entry point
2. How we rolled out company-wide AI training in four steps
3. What changed when our team hit that first AI-adoption milestone
4. When does adoption thrive? When managers lead from the front
5. How we defined and measured skill development: The AI learning path
6. How we expanded AI training beyond customer-facing teams
7. What we’ve learned about AI-adoption (and what we’d tell any company doing the same)
8. How EAs can automate executive workflows

1. Our first AI goal: Breadth over depth, with Zapier as the entry point

We asked ourselves a key question: Should we prioritize depth or breadth? We chose breadth first, laying a strong foundation before going deeper. The company objective articulated our specific goal: Train our EAs to be the best at using AI in the world.

The Key Result: Every customer-facing staff member would build at least one Zap during the quarter.

We picked this for 3 reasons:

• Familiarity — We were already using Zapier in parts of the business
• Support — Zapier offered guided sessions to help us early on
• Cost — Anyone could build a free two-step Zap

2. How we rolled out company-wide AI training in four steps

Next, we formed an AI training task force. It included the co-founders (for oversight) and our two most proficient Zapier users, Dania Maduro (Senior EA) and Arantxa Godinez (Senior People Ops Specialist), for execution.

Their work was so impactful that Dania and Arantxa were invited as guest speakers at Zap Connect 2025, delivering a session titled “Scaling AI Across the Org.” They shared how Viva built company-wide AI fluency, embedding automation into daily workflows while ensuring adoption across all teams.

The task force’s strategy had four key steps:

1. Live “Automate This” sessions, where Dania and Arantxa crowdsourced an idea and built the Zap live.

2. 1-on-1 guided co-building sessions, time-intensive but powerful for creating individual “aha” moments. Soon, others began stepping up to help their teammates.

3. A #learning-zapier Slack channel, where new Zaps were shared with the whole team.

4. A centralized Notion repository, where every Zap was documented with instructions for anyone to recreate them.

Eventually, we achieved the Key Result: Everyone on the team created one Zap.

3. What changed when our team hit that first AI-adoption milestone

The outcomes were positive. Many customers noticed and began calling their Viva EA their company’s Zapier expert.

We also sent an email to our customers to give them visibility on the work we were doing behind the scenes to level up their EA.

But after all that effort, we had only scratched the surface. Customer-facing staff had leveled up, but go-to-market teams lagged behind. We had prioritized “product” while neglecting the staff who supported growth.

According to a recent Harvard Business Review study, GenAI-enabled, personalized learning experiences increase engagement with training and can boost direct skill gains by up to 15% compared to conventional sessions.

That’s why we changed the Key Result from customer-facing staff to all staff. And one more realization: adoption was strongest when leaders were leading. I tested this during a Customer Success offsite, dedicating one full day to AI workflow building. It worked.

4. When does adoption thrive? When managers lead from the front

Deloitte’s 2025 survey shows 85% of organizations increased their AI investment, and top-performing organizations shifted to CEO/manager-led AI rollouts to scale impact and solid business value: a method consistently tied to higher adoption rates and broader buy-in.

The only way to achieve adoption was for managers to lead by example, so we pivoted from an AI task force to manager-led AI projects. Each project was tied to one existing key result so that it supported – not distracted from – the business.

The RACI looked like this:

• Responsible: Managers
• Accountable: Co-CEOs
• Consulted: AI key result owner (Dania)
• Informed: The broader team

5. How we defined and measured skill development: The AI learning path

One of the first manager-led projects came from our People team, led by Jani (Head of People). The project was to design and launch a company-wide AI learning path.

We started by reviewing Zapier’s AI competency framework and customizing it for Viva.

We landed on five levels:
Unacceptable → Explorer → Builder → Multiplier → Architect

Each level was defined across three areas: prompting, automation, and business acumen.

Our current goal is to get 100% of the team to the Builder level. The training includes hands-on exercises tied directly to daily responsibilities and goals.

The tech stack supporting this includes:

• Google Workspace
• Slack
• Notion
• Zapier
• ChatGPT
• Claude
• Perplexity

6. How we expanded AI training beyond customer-facing teams

AI is now embedded into the entire employee lifecycle:

• Hiring — All candidates are asked about AI experience.
• Training — Every new hire gets AI fundamentals training, with ongoing upskilling via the learning path.
• Performance — All staff is expected to identify and implement opportunities for automation.
• Engagement — AI challenges, Slack channels, and Townhall spotlights keep momentum high.
• Awareness — We maintain an AI policy, publish safety guidance, and share internal blogs.

That’s our journey so far. We’ve just scratched the surface, but we’re committed to making AI a long-term capability.

7. What we’ve learned about AI-adoption (and what we’d tell any company doing the same)

Here’s what we know for sure:

• The ‘why’ has to resonate with everyone
• Manager-led projects drive higher adoption
• AI proficiency can be trained at scale if packaged into bite-sized challenges

We’re still learning and we’re proud of what we’ve built so far.

8. How EAs can automate executive workflows

If you’re exploring how to adopt AI across your org and want an executive assistant who can support both admin and automation, we’d love to share what’s worked for us. Book a call to see how a Viva EA can help you build AI efficiency inside your company.

FAQs

Why did Viva decide to train its virtual executive assistants in AI?
Viva trained its virtual executive assistants in AI to ensure they remain high-impact partners for customers and are aligned with the company’s mission to create meaningful opportunities for women in Latin America.

What was Viva’s first company-wide AI goal?
The initial goal was for every customer-facing team member, including virtual EAs, to build at least one Zap using Zapier to establish foundational AI fluency.

How did Viva ensure AI adoption across the entire company?
We shifted to a manager-led model, tying AI projects directly to business goals and Key Results, with participation from every function—including EAs—ensuring company-wide impact.

What tools does Viva’s AI stack include?
Virtual EAs at Viva use Google Workspace, Slack, Notion, Zapier, ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity as part of their AI toolkit.

How does Viva measure AI skill development internally?
Viva applies a five-level framework—Unacceptable, Explorer, Builder, Multiplier, Architect—across prompting, automation, and business acumen to assess skill development in all roles, including EAs.

Can a Viva virtual executive assistant help with AI adoption in my company?
Yes. Viva virtual executive assistants are trained to support both administrative work and AI-enabled tasks like workflow automation, making them valuable partners for fast-growing teams exploring AI adoption.

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Adnan Khan

Adnan is a Co-founder & co-CEO at Viva, where he oversees the People and Customer Success functions. Prior to Viva, Adnan was at Deloitte Consulting, where he was exposed to many key ingredients for his Viva journey, including executive assistants, Latin American talent, and remote work. Health and family are Adnan’s two biggest priorities outside of his career. He enjoys playing squash, running long distances, and cooking. Quality time is his love language and he likes to spend his time with his wife and son. Adnan writes frequently about leadership, delegation, and executive assistants on the Viva blog.