Most organizations are stuck in what Jane Koh from Microsoft calls "the business envisioning phase," paralyzed between governance concerns and pressure to show immediate ROI. Meanwhile, employees are using non-sanctioned tools like ChatGPT for work tasks because IT hasn't given them approved alternatives fast enough.
So, how can enterprises move beyond the hype and drive genuine, secure adoption of SharePoint and Copilot? Pearson solved this problem. In under a year, they got 5,000 of their 17,000 employees to complete AI accreditation by combining Microsoft 365 Copilot with their Unily intranet to create multi-layered approach. Here are the seven things they learnt in the process:
1. Stop Drowning Everyone in "AI Content"
Pearson's first attempt failed because they treated all 17,000 employees the same. Their AI Ambassador community—volunteers who were early adopters—raced ahead while newcomers felt intimidated by conversations already happening at an advanced level.
Kim England, VP of Digital Employee Experience at Pearson, ran an internal survey that confirmed what they suspected: "We were leaving people behind."
The fix wasn't more content, it was less but targeted to meet every employee exactly where they were. Pearson resurfaced their employee personas and built three learning tracks:
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Beginners who need responsible AI basics and tool awareness
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Experienced users ready to integrate AI into daily work
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Advanced users developing new use cases and pushing boundaries
Pearson used their Unily employee experience platform ‘The Hub’ to give each track its own page with the same 4 priorities on each one: use AI responsibly, know which tools are approved, learn how to use them, stay current. The content depth matched where people actually were.
Engineers joining Pearson don't wade through foundation courses. They jump to advanced material. But they still start with responsible use policies, which is non-negotiable.
2. Grassroots Beats Top-Down Every Time
Pearson didn't hand-pick executives for their AI Ambassador program. They asked anyone curious to volunteer. Over 1,000 people signed up, not because leadership mandated it, but because their enthusiasm would drive the project forward.
This group became the testing ground. When Pearson rolled out Copilot Champions, ambassadors gave feedback that shaped the broader deployment. Pain points surfaced early. Solutions got refined before hitting the wider organization.
What keeps momentum going: Pearson's ambassador community managers (not leadership) run monthly prompt competitions. Last autumn's challenge was to create an image related to pumpkin lattes.
Kim admits her first attempts failed. But the low-stakes environment let her refine prompting skills through play. "I was learning by playing. Once people have done the play, they can start thinking about how to draw value. But they've got to play first. Otherwise, they just sit scared."
The community now has chapters for marketing comms, advanced AI techniques and specific functions. As people advance, they help newcomers without leadership orchestrating every interaction.
3. Serve Quick Wins Before Complex Transformation
Jane Koh offered the dinner party analogy:
"If you have hungry guests, you can't make them wait hours for a complex main course. You need to serve appetizers."
For AI adoption, appetizers are out-of-the-box agents and time-saving hacks that demonstrate value immediately. These quick wins buy you time and executive patience while you tackle complex, high-ROI projects that require months of work.
The ROI reporting exists. Microsoft's admin portal tracks usage, popular agents that go viral and productivity metrics. But companies aren't using it because they're stuck waiting for massive transformation projects to complete before measuring anything.
The mistake is getting bogged down in overly complex projects and wondering why there's no ROI in the first 12-18 months. Structure your roadmap to include those snackable wins from day one.
How Pearson did it: job-specific Copilot training. Employees didn't learn generic Microsoft 365 features. Marketing people learned with other marketing people. Engineers learned with engineers. The training showed them exactly how PowerPoint, Word, and other tools would work for their actual job, not theoretical use cases.
This approach attracted 3,000 signups in the first month. Over 5,000 employees now have their Generative AI badge.
4. IT and HR Need to Actually Work Together
Jane pointed to Moderna as the model: they created a Chief People and Digital Officer role, combining what traditionally splits between CIO and CHRO. All budgets and responsibilities that were siloed now converge under a single leader.
At Pearson, the CHRO and CTO presented together at Davos, calling themselves "The New Power Couple." Kim pointed to the importance of leadership supported experimentation: "the backing of leaders to experiment, and for them to be excited to give you space to try things out and not always get it right...you absolutely need both those things."
The pattern isn't about org chart restructuring. Governance policies (IT's domain) need to align with employee engagement strategies (HR's domain) so end users don't experience friction.
Pearson runs this as both bottom-up and top-down. Ambassadors drive grassroots enthusiasm. Leadership gives explicit permission to experiment and accepts that failure is part of learning. They meet in the middle where success is born.
5. Build One Experience Layer, Not Twenty
Pearson has content scattered across SharePoint, Teams and HR systems: files, Copilot documentation, tool guides, policies. They built The Hub as the experience layer that curates what employees need in a single source of truth.
It ensures that whether an employee is looking for the "Use AI Responsibly" policy or advanced training, they find it in one intuitive location. This centralization is vital for operational owners looking to streamline workflows and filter out the noise.
This matters because Pearson's employees were experiencing what Kim calls "complete AI overwhelm." Everything tagged with "AI" meant anyone interested in AI was flooded with content. The Hub creates signal not noise, filters masses of content into relevant curated content with simple search and top-down targeting.
6. Connect Your Data for Better Search
The integration with Microsoft Graph means when employees ask Copilot a question, it searches approved intranet content alongside emails and files. HR policies, executive updates, and internal news all become discoverable in their flow of work without switching apps. As Jane explains:
"Graph became super important with AI because it's the semantic index, the organizing layer of your organizational data. We opened that up to external data sources that have connection points. That includes Unily platform data."
The Copilot connector (now generally available) feeds Unily content into Microsoft Graph. Employees get security-compliant results that pull from both systems.
Many organizations expect AI to work like a vending machine. Put in a query, get a static answer. But Copilot is relational. It needs to know who you are and what you're working on. Connecting data sources matters. Personas matter. The Hub as an experience layer matters.
7. Give Permission to Experiment
During a ‘snackable’ learning session, Kim watched someone create a Copilot agent and it all clicked. She’d assumed agents were impossibly complex because of how people talked about them.
Leaders must communicate that this is a learning journey for everyone. When leadership models curiosity and admits they are also learning, it creates the necessary environment for the rest of the organization to innovate.
If employees fear punishment for an AI hallucination or failed prompt, adoption stalls. Pearson's leadership communicates explicitly that this is a learning journey for everyone, including them.
Jane Koh compares this moment to innovation waves like email, smartphones and cloud computing: “The disruption was worth it given the gains in efficiency and capabilities. We have to think of AI in a similar construct. But this is a total shift change we're asking of our employees”
Pearson's employees told them directly what was working and what wasn't through surveys and ambassador feedback. They discovered beginners felt intimidated. They found people wanted job-specific training, not generic courses. They learned that playful experimentation, like prompt competitions, built confidence faster than serious business mandates.
Why Unily and Microsoft Work Better Together
The webinar underscored a critical reality: Microsoft provides the powerful platform, and Unily provides the single pane of glass experience layer that smooths the flow of work and drives adoption.
By using the Unily Copilot connector, you can surface critical knowledge stored in your intranet directly through Microsoft's interface. This ensures your workforce remains connected to vital corporate information without switching apps.
For operational owners, this integration means your carefully crafted messages and campaigns are more likely to be seen and acted upon. It transforms your intranet from a static repository into an active engine of productivity.
Take the Next Step
Driving AI adoption is not about just deploying technology and hoping for the best. It requires a strategic blend of persona-based communication, community building, and technical integration. By following the examples set by Pearson and Microsoft, you can unlock the full potential of your digital workplace.
Ready to see how Unily can help you drive engagement and adoption? Discover how our platform integrates seamlessly with your Microsoft environment to deliver a world-class employee experience.
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