Your champion isn’t who you think. The innovation lab has no power to drive real adoption. The CTO doesn’t understand the actual work being done. Even the budget holder fears change more than they desire improvement.
Your real champion is the frustrated middle manager who bridges the execution-strategy gap. They translate executive vision into operational reality. They have enough authority to run pilots but still understand frontline pain. They navigate both boardroom politics and daily workflows. Most critically, they can smooth friction between top-down mandates and bottom-up resistance.
These champions are typically Directors or Senior Managers in Operations, Risk, or Transformation roles—senior enough to influence but junior enough to execute. They’re already experimenting with AI tools personally. They see the gap between what’s possible and what their organization is doing. They become your internal CEO—Chief Evangelism Officer.
Finding these champions requires strategic targeting. Look for managers presenting at internal innovation forums. Identify leaders of cross-functional initiatives who understand organizational dynamics. Find those managing both upward to executives and downward to teams. Target the translators, not just the decision makers.
The Proof of Value Sequence
Enterprises trust internal evidence over vendor promises, so your proof must be co-created with your champion, not delivered to them.
Weeks 13-16: Expansion Framework Identify 3-5 similar workflows across departments. Propose a tiered expansion model that satisfies different stakeholder needs. Prepare for enterprise negotiation with proven ROI from the pilot.
Weeks 1-4: Workflow Mapping Work with your champion to identify a complete end-to-end workflow that causes measurable pain. Document current state with all its inefficiencies. Map the future state showing concrete improvements. Critical: Choose a workflow that touches multiple stakeholders—this creates natural expansion opportunities.
Weeks 5-8: Controlled Pilot Run a fixed-scope pilot on that single workflow with 5-10 users. Price this as a fixed-fee pilot (typically $25,000-50,000) to avoid procurement complexity. Include all enterprise requirements—security review, integration, training. This fixed price makes CFOs comfortable while proving value.
Weeks 9-12: Success Amplification Document dramatic improvements in that one workflow. Create an internal case study with your champion as co-author. Present to stakeholders using your champion’s political capital. Let your champion take credit—their success is your expansion.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
