Awareness

Awareness gives leaders and teams enough shared language to make deliberate choices. The goal is not broad enthusiasm. It is a grounded view of capability, limits, exposure, and ownership.

Recognize this stage

Your organization is in Awareness when interest exists but candidate workflows, boundaries, and accountable owners are not yet consistently defined.

Entry evidence

• leadership can explain why AI adoption matters to the organization
• teams can distinguish models, tools, workflows, and automation
• material data, security, and human-impact concerns are visible
• someone is responsible for coordinating exploration

Work to complete

• establish foundational AI literacy
• inventory repeatable workflows and visible friction
• identify decisions or data that should not be delegated
• define a simple intake and prioritization method
• agree on baseline risk and evidence expectations

Staying in charge

At this stage, staying in charge means refusing accidental adoption. Staff know which tools are approved, what information must stay out of public systems, and where questions or incidents go.

Decision gate

Move to Exploration when a bounded workflow, business owner, affected people, baseline measure, and initial use boundary are all named.

Useful measures

• completion of role-relevant literacy
• number of candidate workflows with an owner and baseline
• percentage of teams covered by acceptable-use guidance
• unresolved data or decision-boundary questions

Connected next steps

Use the Principles to define Respect, Care, and Accountability before selecting a pilot. Consult the Resources library for primary-source governance material.