GTM 185: Zapier CEO on Getting to 97% Company-Wide AI Adoption
thegtmnewsletter.substack.comZapier CEO Wade Foster shares how a one-week, company-wide hackathon drove AI usage from under 10% to over 50% overnight, eventually reaching 97% adoption. He introduces a four-tier AI fluency rubric (Unacceptable, Acceptable, Adaptive, Transformative) now used in hiring, and explains how to measure AI ROI via 'floor raisers' (broad daily use) and 'ceiling raisers' (specific, measurable wins). Foster also draws a critical distinction between deterministic workflows and autonomous agents, arguing most companies conflate the two.
GTM leaders are often the bottleneck in AI adoption — if they haven't used the tools themselves, they can't define good AI fluency or lead the transition. The hackathon model is directly applicable to sales and marketing orgs, where structured experimentation (not mandates) drives lasting behavior change. Measuring AI ROI through business outcomes like support ticket resolution rates or pipeline velocity gives GTM teams a concrete framework to justify and scale AI investment.