Playbook series: Executive support

Published via GitHub Executive Insights | Authored by Matt Nigh, Program Manager Director of AI for Everyone

In our journey to build an AI-powered workforce, we’re discussing the foundation of the entire structure: active, visible, and unwavering executive support.

An AI adoption program without leaders may have a budget, but it will never have the strategic alignment, organizational authority, and grit to navigate the inevitable challenges of a massive technological shift. It will become a series of tactical projects, not a true transformation.

This post is a blueprint for leaders who want to be more than just sponsors. It’s for those who want to be the engine of their company's AI transformation.

Beyond sponsorship: Setting a new standard

Effective executive support isn’t about passively signing checks; it’s about actively setting a new standard. It’s about fundamentally reframing AI from a "nice-to-have" tool into a core competency for every single employee. Communicating that this isn't a suggestion, it's the new reality of work.

This requires two bold actions:

• Make AI fluency a foundational expectation: The most powerful message a leader can send is that learning to use AI is not optional. It’s as fundamental as email or using a spreadsheet. You have to be direct: in the age of AI, standing still means falling behind. The expectation must be crystal clear that everyone, in every role, is responsible for building their AI skills.
• Operationalize the expectation: A declaration is just words without a system to back it up. To make it real, leaders must weave this new expectation into the company’s core operating rhythms.

You can operationalize the expectation by:

• Connecting it to performance: Explicitly include the effective use of AI as a factor in performance reviews, promotion decisions, and reward cycles. This sends an unmistakable signal that AI proficiency is a valued and required competency.
• Challenging resource allocation: Before approving requests for more headcount or budget, challenge your teams. Ask them, "How have you tried to solve this with AI first?" This forces a crucial mindset shift, from "we need more people" to "how can our team, augmented by AI, achieve this goal?"

A cascading strategy

So you've set the new standard. How do you make sure it sticks? A single all-hands announcement from the CEO is a powerful catalyst, but it's just the first domino. A truly successful communications plan ensures the executive message is not just heard, but understood, translated, and acted upon at every level. It’s a deliberate cascade that turns a single moment into a sustained rhythm.

1. The executive mandate: Setting and reinforcing the "why"

The cascade begins with a clear, high-level mandate from the top. This is the initial, non-negotiable standard: AI is now a core part of how we work, and proficiency is expected. But the most effective leaders know this isn't a one-and-done memo. They treat the announcement as the first beat in a continuous drumbeat, reinforcing the message in meetings, Q&As, and internal posts. More importantly, they make choices in strategy, in organization, and others that make the commitment to AI tangible and impactful..

2. Leadership translation: Defining the "how"

Next, VPs and directors must translate this "why" into a "how" for their specific functions. This is more than just forwarding an email. It’s about actively creating opportunities for their teams to apply the new mandate. At GitHub, we’ve seen our VPs push teams to use AI heavily for maintenance tasks, internal apps, triaging help requests, writing tests, and building proofs-of-concept. Our leaders have even organized department-specific AI learning weeks and hackathons. This step makes the high-level vision relevant, actionable, and a genuine learning opportunity.

3. Front-line rhythms: Executing the "what"

Finally, the message cascade transforms into the daily, practical work led by managers and senior individual contributors. This is where the strategy becomes reality. The communication becomes a continuous, peer-to-peer rhythm in team meetings, 1:1s, and async channels. The focus shifts to:

• Sharing specific wins: "Check out this prompt that saved me an hour."
• Troubleshooting challenges together.
• Celebrating peers who are finding clever ways to use AI.

This is the grassroots momentum that turns a top-down directive into a living, breathing part of the culture.

Enabling your executives

The relationship between the AI program and its executive sponsors is a two-way street. While leaders provide top-down support, the AI program must, in turn, provide bottom-up enablement to the executive team. A key function of the program's DRI is to make it easy for leaders to be effective and consistent champions.

This "Executive Enablement Loop" involves proactively equipping leaders with the content and context they need, including:

• Providing curated talking points: Supplying executives with a steady stream of the most compelling internal use cases, success stories, and data points. This arms them with fresh, relevant material for board meetings, investor calls, and public appearances.
• Preparing high-impact demos: Assisting leaders in preparing for all-hands meetings or customer events by building powerful, tailored demos that showcase the company's AI capabilities in action.
• Drafting internal communications: Partnering with the executive team and internal comms to ghostwrite or consult on company-wide memos and posts. This ensures the AI narrative is authentic, consistent, and lands with maximum impact.

This reciprocal support ensures that the executive message is always grounded in the reality of how the company is using AI, making their sponsorship more credible and effective.

The executive's public learning journey

Beyond the memos and the mandates, the most powerful way for a leader to signal commitment is to model the behavior they expect. This means learning in public. When executives share their own journey: the wins, the struggles, the "aha!" moments, they demystify the process and make the call to action feel human and achievable.

This doesn't need to be polished. In fact, unscripted moments are often the most powerful:

• Sharing a win in a public channel: A leader posting a prompt they used to summarize a long report.
• Recording a quick, unpolished demo: A short screen recording of an executive brainstorming presentation ideas with an AI tool.
• Admitting a fail: Openly talking about a time they struggled to get the right result. This normalizes the learning curve and shows that it’s okay not to be an expert overnight.
• Celebrating team wins: Publicly amplifying a specific team or individual's success, highlighting not just the outcome but the cleverness of the solution.

This vulnerability and transparency is incredibly powerful. It transforms the AI mandate from a top-down directive into a shared, company-wide endeavor.

Ultimately, executive support is not a line item on a project plan. It is a continuous commitment: the steady, visible force that gives the entire organization the confidence and motivation to build the future of work, together.

Communications plan checklist

A project or communications manager can use this checklist to operationalize the cascading strategy:

Executive mandate (The "why")

• [ ] Draft the CEO's memo or talking points in partnership with the AI program DRI and communications team.
• [ ] Secure final review and approval from key stakeholders (e.g., legal, HR).
• [ ] Schedule the delivery of the message (e.g., all-hands meeting, internal blog post publication).
• [ ] Plan 2-3 follow-up communication beats for the executive to reinforce the message in the following month.

Leadership translation (The "how")

• [ ] Prepare a briefing packet for VPs and directors with key messages, talking points, and an FAQ document.
• [ ] Schedule department-level meetings for the week immediately following the CEO's announcement.
• [ ] Provide a simple slide deck template that leaders can adapt for their team discussions.

Front-line rhythms (The "what")

• [ ] Create a resource guide for managers on how to discuss AI proficiency in 1:1s and team meetings.
• [ ] Partner with AI advocates to seed internal communication channels with conversation starters and examples of early wins.
• [ ] Establish a simple process for employees to share their AI success stories for potential amplification.

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