The Secret To AI Adoption? Make It Fun

InnovationAIThe Secret To AI Adoption? Make It FunByMichael Ashley,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. The author of many tech books, Michael Ashley covers AI and Big Data.Follow AuthorApr 29, 2026, 09:00am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.It Writes Itself performing at 2026's SXSW, featuring a live, AI-driven variety show and creative workshop.Veronica ZinImagine you’re the head of an enterprise organization that just dropped hundreds of thousands of dollars on AI consultants. Racing to introduce artificial intelligence into your workflows, you also bought the latest pricey tools and invested in time-consuming workshops to get your people ready.It’s all worth it, you think, to own the AI revolution. Then something beyond annoying happens. You notice your people aren’t using these resources in any meaningful way. This dovetails with findings from the front lines of corporate America. An MIT NANDA report, The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025, found a pronounced split between the tiny number of organizations that achieve value from AI and the rest that stay mired in doomed AI initiatives that fail to launch.“What we’ve found is that access isn’t the problem with this technology. Adoption is holding companies back,” said Mike Jacobson, one half of the husband and wife AI performance company, It Writes Itself. A Grand Effie-winning strategist and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Mike is a leading brand and content strategist. Sami Kriegstein Jacobson, his partner, is an award-winning creative director and voiceover actor. Neither set out to become technologists. Instead, in 2022, when ChatGPT hit the mainstream, they felt compelled to understand it. As a professional magician and mentalist who performs for corporate events, Mike was used to acting out his thoughts and ideas. So was Sami, especially from all her creative and voi...