How Insight gamified AI adoption—and sparked a cultural shift

Through Flight Academy, Insight built a culture where AI use was engaging and rewarding—and ultimately, they attained near-universal adoption.

January 26, 2026

As organizations and leaders race to embrace the potential of AI, sometimes, the hardest part of the transformation isn’t choosing the right technology—it’s getting people to use it. Employees may hesitate to modify established workflows, feel resistant to new technology, or simply not know how or where to start. This can stall even the most ambitious AI strategies.

Insight Enterprises—a Fortune 500 solutions integrator and longtime Microsoft partner—deeply understands this challenge. The company helps clients modernize their operations and embrace innovative technologies to accelerate growth. Their expertise and close partnerships with customers has earned them global recognition, and they were named a 2024 Microsoft Americas AI and Copilot Innovation Partner of the Year.

As a trusted advisor to thousands of organizations, Insight knew they needed to lead by example. While the company was helping clients accelerate their AI journeys, they also wanted to accelerate their own internal AI adoption. To accomplish that goal, Insight launched Flight Academy, a gamified program designed to make AI usage practical, measurable, and rewarding for every teammate.

Leading from within to stay on the frontier of AI innovation

Insight has built their reputation by supporting AI adoption, modernization, and future-readiness for organizations around the world. But they wanted to apply that same philosophy internally, setting the standard for the AI innovation they bring to customers. To remain on the frontier of AI innovation, they committed to becoming an AI-first organization. That meant empowering 14,000 teammates worldwide to embrace AI tools and integrate them into daily workflows.

“We see every teammate as a force multiplier," said Paul Erhart, Vice President, Cloud Solutions & Services at Insight. "When you enable thousands of people with AI and the confidence to use it daily, the momentum that creates across the organization can be transformational.”

Insight's goal was for every teammate to feel confident using AI not as a one-off tool, but as an integral part of how they work every day. “We spent time helping teammates understand that AI is designed to make them more effective and more impactful in their work,” said Erhart. “Once teammates stopped fearing the technology and started engaging with it, adoption accelerated naturally.”

Initially, AI adoption remained lower than the team hoped. But they quickly came up with an idea that changed the AI landscape, inspiring employees to adopt AI and experiment with solutions at a fast and ambitious rate. They built an environment where AI curiosity was encouraged, success was celebrated, and use cases were visible across the business. Essentially, they gamified AI adoption, incentivizing AI use through light competition and rewards—and in the process, they turned initial interest into sustained engagement.

“We spent time helping teammates understand that AI is designed to make them more effective and more impactful in their work. Once teammates stopped fearing the technology and started engaging with it, adoption accelerated naturally.”

—Paul Erhart, Vice President, Cloud Solutions & Services, Insight

Gamifying AI adoption to spark interest and engagement

Everyone enjoys a game, and Insight’s creative solution to the challenge of AI adoption was fun, social, and rewarding. The company launched Flight Academy, an internal program that uses gamification to encourage participation and build momentum for AI use.

In Flight Academy, teammates progress through levels by completing training, maintaining monthly prompt usage, and recording their real-world AI use cases, which the company calls “AI celebrations.” By meeting the requirements to reach new levels, colleagues unlock new opportunities, from advanced tools like GitHub Copilot to deeper integration with Insight’s custom-built AI platforms.

“We saw teammates take real pride in progressing through the program," said Erhart. “But it was important that progress was driven by real usage. Teammates demonstrate what they’re learning through practical prompting, and the platform provides suggestions and feedback along the way.”

As employees move through Flight Academy, they earn badges that show their level. These badges can be shown off in emails, social accounts, or even in printouts that are pinned to the office wall. It’s become a symbol of accomplishment and has evolved into friendly competition between colleagues and teams. Insight designates some colleagues as AI champions, which are advocates who mentor peers, identify use cases, and embed AI in their team’s culture.

To make AI even more accessible, Insight developed Horizon, a secure dashboard built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, and Amelia, a chatbot that helps teammates craft better prompts, discover use cases, and connect with colleagues working on similar projects. These tools, combined with Flight Academy’s gamified structure, create an environment where employees’ AI curiosity graduated into confidence—and then into measurable impact.

“We made AI adoption highly visible across the organization. We often kick off meetings by spotlighting how a teammate used AI in a way that meaningfully impacted the business.”

—Paul Erhart, Vice President, Cloud Solutions & Services, Insight

From curiosity to cultural transformation

Flight Academy has been transformative. In just nine months, Insight achieved 91% adoption across its global workforce, with nearly 1 million prompts executed in a 28-day period and 25,000 AI celebrations logged. These celebrations document real-world productivity gains and innovative use cases, creating a shared library of prompts that teammates can reuse and build upon.

Infographic showing Copilot adoption stats over nine months

That internal success is already reverberating in the company’s client work. Since becoming Customer Zero for their own AI innovations, the company increased productivity at a Canadian government agency by 67%. They also partnered with a construction company to implement an AI and machine learning safety solution, ultimately increasing model accuracy from 65% to 78% and enabling the identification of pre-incident indicators for proactive risk mitigation.

Beyond the technical innovations and efficiency gains, Flight Academy has inspired a company-wide cultural shift. AI is now woven into Insight’s rhythm, from team meetings to business dashboards that showcase top contributors and leading business units. “We made AI adoption highly visible across the organization," said Erhart. "We often kick off meetings by spotlighting how a teammate used AI in a way that meaningfully impacted the business.”

"As an AI champion and a 27-year veteran of the business, I’ve seen teammates navigate countless trainings to stay ahead in a fast-changing world. This one stood out—not just as a favorite, but as a turning point,” said Trish O’Keeffe, Director of Microsoft Alliance, Insight Canada. “It’s the kind of learning that sparks curiosity today and builds confidence for tomorrow, opening doors to opportunities that shape both careers and lives. In a future driven by AI and innovation, this training isn’t just preparation—it’s empowerment."

With a workforce that understands and embraces AI, Insight is better positioned to support clients looking to accelerate their own AI transformations. In the future, Insight plans to continue expanding Flight Academy, deepening integration with tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot and sharing best practices with customers worldwide. By leading from within, Insight demonstrates what's possible when organizations become Customer Zero—and shows that when employees are empowered, innovation follows.

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