Article

August 5, 2025 · Last updated on August 7, 2025

Grow a network of internal champions

# Champions

# Champion Networks

# Driving Sustained Success

Find, activate, and connect internal champions to sustain AI success across your organization

Grow a network of internal champions

By now, you’ve learned how to uncover and share high-value workflows, prove impact through use cases, and support adoption with GPTs. The next step is growing a connected group of Champions who can lead by example in their own teams and inspire each other along the way.

AI adoption doesn’t happen through training alone. It happens when colleagues see trusted peers using AI to make work faster, easier, and better and then feel confident enough to try it themselves. A single Champion can spark interest, but a network of Champions creates momentum that spreads across the organization.

When you activate and connect Champions, you begin building a network that shares proven workflows, solves challenges together, and accelerates adoption. Over time, that network becomes a trusted source of practical AI knowledge and a driver of sustained success.

This guide will help you:

Identify the right people to join your Champion network

Equip them with practical, high-impact starting points

Encourage them to share wins and teach peers

Create simple ways for Champions to connect and learn from each other

What we’re seeing

Champion networks that are growing successfully tend to share a few common traits:

Showcasing use cases across the network: Members bring their best examples to the group, so proven workflows spread quickly beyond the team that created them.

Champions leading and learning from each other: The network isn’t just a collection of individuals; Champions actively demo workflows, share lessons learned, and adapt ideas from peers.

Highlighting collective outcomes: Results are tracked and shared at the network level (ex: hours saved across all teams, total number of reusable workflows), showing the value of the group’s combined efforts.

Fostering connections between Champions: The network creates deliberate opportunities for Champions to meet, exchange ideas, and co-create solutions that work across multiple teams.

These patterns show that a thriving Champion network acts as a multiplier by taking individual wins and turning them into shared resources, shared skills, and shared impact.

Champion Networks’ role in AI literacy and fluency

The traits we see in growing Champion networks like active sharing, peer leadership, measurable outcomes, and strong connections aren’t just signs of a healthy community. They’re the mechanisms that build AI literacy and help teams progress toward fluency.

Across OpenAI customers, internal Champion networks have emerged as one of the most effective ways to turn AI awareness into confident, capable use. They bridge the gap between training and real-world application by sharing peer-tested workflows, proven use cases, and practical tips that teams can trust and repeat.

The AI Proficiency Ladder below is based on what we’re seeing across our customers’ Champion networks and other leading organizations adopting AI at work. It’s a shorthand for how usage typically matures and a tool Champions can use to plan network activities that meet teams where they are.

AI Proficiency Ladder:

Learning: Low-risk tasks (emails, summaries) to build initial confidence.

Applying: Custom prompts for role-specific, recurring work.

Scaling: Team-ready templates, custom GPTs, or integrated workflows.

Redesigning: End-to-end process changes and strategic advising.

How Champions Can Use This:

Identify where your team or department is on the ladder.

Share workflows that make the next step feel achievable (ex: moving from basic summaries to reusable templates).

Plan spotlight sessions that showcase examples at different maturity levels.

Track team progress and celebrate milestones like the first custom GPT or automated workflow.

By focusing network activities on helping teams climb this ladder, Champions ensure the network is more than just a place to share wins, it becomes a driver of lasting AI capability across the organization.

Your role and how you create network impact

Whether you’re helping to start a Champion network or joining one that already exists, your role goes beyond using AI well in your own team, it’s about contributing to the collective strength of the group. Every workflow you share, question you answer, or connection you make helps the network deliver more value across the organization.

As a network member, you create impact by:

Sharing reusable wins: Bring forward proven workflows, prompts, or custom GPTs that other Champions can adapt and apply.

Spotting and connecting ideas: Notice where similar challenges exist across teams and link Champions who can help each other.

Amplifying peer successes: Share examples from other Champions with your team, giving credit and showing the network’s collective value.

Helping move teams up the AI Proficiency Ladder: Provide the right resources, examples, or coaching to help peers progress from learning to applying, scaling, and redesigning.

Feeding insights back into the network: Report on what’s working in your team, so others can build on it.

When every member takes ownership for contributing, the network becomes more than a collection of individuals, it becomes a trusted, collaborative engine for AI adoption.

Where to start

Whether you’re helping to launch a Champion network or joining one that’s already in motion, the first step is to connect with other Champions and understand the current priorities. This context will help you focus your efforts where they can make the biggest impact.

If you’re starting a network:

Identify a small group of Champions with influence, curiosity, and willingness to share.

Align on a simple purpose for the network, for example, “share proven workflows that save time and improve quality.”

Choose one initial way to connect (ex: a shared chat channel or monthly spotlight session).

If you’re joining an existing network:

Learn how the network currently shares wins, communicates, and tracks progress.

Introduce yourself and your role, including any AI workflows or use cases you’ve worked on.

Offer to contribute to an upcoming meeting, post, or demo to add value right away.

In either case, aim to take one visible action in your first few weeks. Share a proven workflow, connect two Champions with similar challenges, or post a resource that others can use. Small, early contributions help you establish trust and momentum in the network.

Keeping network momentum

Once your Champion network is up and running, the key to growth is keeping energy high and contributions flowing. Momentum comes from consistent activity, visible value, and strong connections between members.

Ways to keep your network active and valuable:

Share wins regularly: Highlight workflows, prompts, or GPTs that have made a measurable difference. Keep the focus on practical examples others can reuse.

Rotate leadership moments: Give different Champions the opportunity to lead a demo, facilitate a discussion, or curate top workflows for the month.

Celebrate collective achievements: Share network-level milestones, like “10 reusable workflows added this quarter” or “150+ hours saved across teams.”

Create spaces for quick exchanges: Host AI office hours, run short “what’s working” threads, or hold 15-minute show-and-tell sessions to keep conversations active.

Encourage peer-to-peer help: Make it easy for Champions to ask questions, troubleshoot prompts, or adapt workflows together.

Bring in fresh ideas: Periodically invite guests from other teams or organizations to share their own proven AI workflows and lessons learned.

A thriving network doesn’t just happen, it’s built through ongoing interaction, visible results, and the sense that every member has something valuable to contribute.

What makes a Champion Network work

A Champion network grows best when it stays simple, connected, and focused on impact. Its purpose is to make AI adoption practical, repeatable, and valuable across the organization. The strongest networks share a few essentials:

The right membership: Champions who are curious, credible, and committed to sharing.

A central space: One clear place for sharing wins, discussing blockers, and posting updates.

A consistent rhythm: Lightweight but regular prompts or sessions to keep energy high and contributions steady.

An outcome focus: Prioritizing workflows and resources that lead to clear, meaningful results.

Feedback loops: Frequent check-ins to update workflows, address blockers, and refine resources together.

When these elements are in place, a Champion network becomes more than a group of individuals, it’s a connected, trusted community that drives AI adoption forward.

Final thoughts

Growing a network of internal Champions is about more than connecting people with a shared interest in AI, it’s about creating a trusted community where proven ideas, practical resources, and real results flow freely.

When Champions share wins, support each other, and focus on delivering measurable value, the network becomes a catalyst for change. It shifts AI adoption from scattered experiments to an ongoing practice that teams rely on to work smarter.

Whether you’re helping to start a network or joining one that’s already in motion, your contributions matter. Every workflow you share, every connection you make, and every success you help another Champion achieve strengthens the whole group.

The most successful networks grow through consistent participation, visible results, and a shared sense of purpose. Start small, keep the conversations active, and make sure every Champion sees how their work is part of something bigger: a connected effort to make AI adoption practical, valuable, and sustainable across the organization.