In short
- First let people experience what is possible, then have the conversation about strategy.
- Adoption only succeeds if leadership and the floor move together.
- The order isn't a law, but experiencing comes first because it makes the rest easier.
First see
As long as people don't experience technology themselves, it stays abstract, and abstract rarely leads to action. That's why a trajectory with us begins by making tangible what is already possible today, in the context of their own work. We'd rather put a team behind the tools for a few hours than give a presentation. The conversation that follows is a different conversation.
Then understand
Awareness without priority only creates noise. The second move is deciding where technology is strategically relevant for this organisation, and where it is not. From loose signals to a handful of choices leadership stands behind. Not every opportunity is worth it, and making that explicit is half the work.
Whoever starts with strategy while the team has never touched the tools, builds a plan that doesn't land on the floor.
Then adopt
Strategy only becomes valuable when processes actually change. Adoption only succeeds if leadership and the floor move together. Work only at the top and it doesn't land on the floor. Work only at the bottom and it lacks the mandate. In this phase we work on both sides, so the ownership keeps existing once we're gone.
The order isn't a law
We deviate per client where needed. But the core holds: whoever starts with strategy while half the team has never worked with the tools, builds a plan on paper that doesn't land on the floor. Experiencing comes first, because it makes the rest easier.
Ruben Horbach
Co-founder · Back From the Future
Ruben researches how organisations adopt AI meaningfully — not as technology, but as a change in work and people. He builds the agent infrastructure behind BFF and speaks about the near future of work.
