For many organisations, the challenge with AI is not whether to adopt it, but how to do so in a way that balances innovation, governance and business value.
At BraveGen, AI has become a strategic priority, but the company’s approach has been measured rather than rushed. The business deliberately chose not to be an early adopter, recognising how quickly the technology was evolving and the risks and costs associated with that. Instead, it positioned itself as a fast follower, learning from developments in the market while preparing its people and systems for wider adoption.
“We didn’t need to be at the bleeding edge … but we now need to be a fast follower,” says Lincoln Watson, CEO of BraveGen.
That approach has helped the organisation rapidly embed the latest generation of AI as a core component of its business strategy. On top of this, leadership has played an active role in creating momentum, while giving employees the confidence to experiment and identify opportunities within their own roles.
“We began with a teamwide hackathon – so the team know they have permission to try new stuff, but maintaining momentum definitely needs to be top-down,” says Lincoln.
Across the organisation, employees are now using AI tools to support a wide range of activities, including document creation, reporting, coding and analysis, and the development of agentic processes. The benefits are already visible in everyday work, with tasks that once took hours often completed much faster.
As Lincoln puts it: “It took me an hour or two. It would have taken me a day.”
Rather than limiting AI to a small group of specialists, BraveGen has encouraged broad participation. The initial company-wide AI hackathon helped familiarise employees with the technology and demonstrate practical applications, supporting a culture of experimentation and learning. Every All Hands meeting now also includes a session designed to inspire and educate employees about AI.
The result has been strong engagement across the business.
“Lots of individual people are doing things themselves, delivering value,” says Lincoln.
At the same time, BraveGen has recognised that successful AI adoption requires more than enthusiasm. Governance has been an important focus from the outset. The company established an AI policy and governance committee early in its journey, reflecting the growing importance of data privacy, security and client expectations.
For Lincoln, the challenge is finding the right balance between control and enablement.
“People need to know what the guardrails are, and then be enabled and inspired,” he says.
Maintaining those guardrails is becoming more complex as AI capabilities evolve. Questions around privacy, data sovereignty, offshore processing and contractual obligations remain active considerations for many organisations, particularly when working with clients that have specific restrictions on AI use.
BraveGen also recognises the risks of unmanaged adoption.
“Shadow AI … people are trying stuff out. They don’t know what they don’t know,” Lincoln says.
That reality reinforces the need for clear leadership and ongoing communication. While traditional change management approaches can provide useful structure, the pace of AI development requires organisations to remain flexible and adaptive.
“Change management around this is almost impossible … it’s moving so quickly,” Lincoln says.
Importantly, BraveGen sees AI as a tool to enhance human capability rather than replace it. While the business expects AI to influence future workforce needs and skill requirements, the immediate impact has been increased productivity rather than reduced headcount. Human oversight remains essential.
“You can never say AI did that … it must be human reviewed,” says Lincoln. “AI does the 80 per cent really well … humans need to do the 20 per cent.”
For organisations beginning their own AI journey, BraveGen’s experience highlights the importance of leadership, clear governance and creating opportunities for employees to learn by doing. The technology is evolving rapidly, but the organisations most likely to benefit are those that combine clear direction with the confidence to experiment and adapt.
Key takeaway: Successful AI adoption is not just about technology. It requires leadership, clear guardrails and a culture that empowers people to experiment, learn and apply AI responsibly.
BraveGen is an Australasian software and sustainability consulting company headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, that provides carbon accounting and building optimization solutions