Podcast Summary: Episode 64

"Using AI for Building Internal AI Teams"

Using AI at Work with Chris Daigle

Guest: Diane Hammond, Director of Digital Engagement at WG Content
Date: August 11, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode explores how Diane Hammond and her team at WG Content built and evolved an "AI Pathfinder" group—an internal, cross-functional team focused on safe, practical adoption of generative AI tools. The discussion provides an in-depth look at real-world AI team formation, change management, security and policy, and continuous education. It’s packed with hands-on lessons for business leaders considering or starting internal AI councils, and advice for overcoming common adoption hurdles.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Diane’s Career Path to AI Leadership

• Transitioned from graphic design/branding to marketing management in a tech setting
• Developed a technical mindset, learning “side by side and ghostwriting for cybersecurity professionals” [03:28]
• Became the tech explorer at WG Content, evolving into managing tools, features, innovation

2. Starting the AI Pathfinder Team

• Formed almost immediately after ChatGPT’s release: “Pretty immediately, you know, a matter of months...our leadership team said we need to focus on that.” [04:36]
• Team began as volunteer-based to foster openness and curiosity, avoid resistance
• Early focus: “It was very important…people who were willing to raise their hand to...learn either because I want to push myself or because I’m just highly curious.” [04:36]

Not chasing shiny objects:

• Lesson from Diane: Begin with business cases, not cool tools. "More of finding something to use a tool for rather than having a purpose first." [05:10]
• Initial use cases: Small pain points (summarization, note taking, email sidekicks)—not massive workflow upheavals

3. Lessons on Getting Started

• Advice: Don’t be overwhelmed; nobody knows everything. Pick one tool (e.g., ChatGPT), stick with it at first. “Focus...choose your tool and just stick with that one for a while.” [07:44]
• Build habit: “Just have it open...Instead of going to Google, you consider going there and you can start there with just asking questions.” [08:15]

4. Identifying AI Business Cases

• Find AI use by asking: What’s a pain point, not “where can we use AI?”
• Example: Client-specific writing style requirements. “Can we have a tool that...does better than what at that time Grammarly was doing...not just check for general grammar, but check for the styles of this client?” [09:46]
• First experiment: Internal knowledge base for style/tone (avoiding costly/complicated Salesforce builds)

5. Team Structure & Buy-In

• Pathfinders group formed naturally with cross-department volunteers
• No forced participation, but ensured at least every function’s pain points were heard
• Incentives: In a small company, motivation was exposure/opportunity, not formal recognition: “People want to because they want to learn and they want the exposure.” [16:51]

6. Challenges & Emotions: Adoption and Change Management

• Strong executive buy-in: "Leadership was not a challenge. They led the charge..." [12:53]
• Peer influence: “Having it come from their peers and not come from me…look what this did. This was amazing.” [13:13]
• Emotional journey:
  • Guilt (“Oh my gosh, this is cheating.” [14:27])
  • Coaching/reminder: “It’s okay. You’re not doing the wrong thing...It’s not doing all the thinking for you.” [14:30]
  • Acceptance: Aim for “80% accuracy—if we're seeing 80%, that is success and it can still help us in our day.” [15:37]

7. Security, Policy & Shadow AI

• Immediate policy: “Our policy is your policy”—AI use is matched to each client’s preferences [18:29]
• Diane's soapbox: Don't delay policy in pursuit of perfection: “All that time you’re getting that together, people are still using AI.” [19:49]
• Education > Prohibition: “If you just say you’re not allowed to use it and end the conversation there, I think is a big detriment.” [20:00]
• Shadow AI: Employees will find ways to use it—“Where there’s a will, there’s a way…” [21:01]
• Proactive steps: Group training on data controls, clear initial boundaries [20:00–20:36]

8. Ongoing Training & Knowledge Sharing

• Monthly team meetings—AI is always a topic for findings, sharing, instruction [23:05]
• Deliberate, gradual rollout: “...start over here, then keep pushing things over. Now...it’s becoming less necessary to work in that fashion...it’s culture now.” [25:14]
• Prompt engineering: Taught after initial tool familiarity [23:05]

9. ROI & Impact

• Has it impacted business? “Yes. Yes. Yes. I mean we all say yeah, I mean everybody who is really using it will say that.” [25:45]
• Frugal but effective: “We’re a small company, we are doing things very self-sufficiently.” [25:58]
• Not everyone has a paid ChatGPT license; usage-based rollout [26:13]

10. Trust & Security with SaaS AI Tools

• Enterprise controls: “...building custom GPTs within a team environment because it’s that enterprise grade security as a default.” [26:45]
• Diane’s view: Be careful what you put in, treat it like social media—“Be a little bit conscious of what you share.” [28:25]
• Risk thresholds: Prioritize protecting client trust/data above all [33:21]

11. Culture of Collaboration & Continuous Learning

• Organic knowledge sharing: Dedicated Teams channel for AI, constant discussion/sharing wins [36:04]
• “You need that space to curb that ongoing conversation. Absolutely.” [36:33]
• Value: Peer-to-peer lessons are especially relevant—"That conversation is extremely calibrated to AI in your business.” [37:25]

12. Custom GPTs in Practice

• Definition: “It’s a tailored version of ChatGPT, tailored to your specific need...an extension of your team.” [39:30]
• Early use: Internal knowledge base—process docs, brand guides, Q&A [39:30–41:00]
• Outcomes:
  • Uplifts non-writers to writer quality
  • Ensures content and communication consistency
  • Expands to client-facing custom GPTs, strategy assistants, “campaign testers” (AI personas for focus group-like feedback)

13. The Evolution of SEO in the Age of AI

• Shift from traditional SEO to “Answer Engine Optimization” (AEO) and “Generative Engine Optimization” (GEO)
• AI answers are more conversational, nuanced; searchers expect summary and sources
• Content strategy must now incorporate clear, concise answers and summary-friendly formatting
• “Now...can we make sure it’s summarized? The gist, the answer...neatly. Let me pick it up and [an AI] put it over here.” [48:37]
• SEO, AEO, GEO will become “just AI optimization...all of those things combined now.” [51:50]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Starting:

  “Just don’t feel like you have to know everything...choose your tool and just stick with that one for a while.”
  — Diane Hammond (07:44)

• On Early Business Cases:

  “What are our minor pain points and what’s right in front of us? Summarization, note taking. Using it side by side with email…”
  — Diane Hammond (05:10)

• On Training and Policy:

  “Our policy is your policy. We will be a minimal. So if client A is comfortable with us using AI in a more integrated way...we'll do that...Column B says promise me you’re never going to touch it. We won’t.”
  — Diane Hammond (18:29)

• On Shadow AI:

  “All that time you’re getting [policy] together, people are still using AI.”
  — Diane Hammond (19:49)

• On Buy-in:

  “Having it come from their peers and not come from me...hey, it's not threatening. This is...This helped me today and I’m a better writer, faster writer, whatever, because.”
  — Diane Hammond (13:13)

• On Custom GPTs:

  “It’s a tailored version of ChatGPT, tailored to your specific need...think of it as, you know, you just gained an extension of your team.”
  — Diane Hammond (39:30)

• On New SEO:

  “SEO is now AEO...on top of it means how do I frame my content so that it’s more likely to show up in those people also ask this.”
  — Diane Hammond (50:48)

Important Timestamps

• [04:36] Forming the Pathfinder AI team: Immediate, voluntary, cross-functional
• [07:44] Advice on starting: Pick one tool, don’t be overwhelmed
• [09:46] First business cases: Knowledge base, style checker
• [12:53] Leadership buy-in and change management lessons
• [18:29] Initial AI policy, client-driven
• [21:01] Shadow IT and proactive AI training
• [23:05] Monthly meetings, knowledge sharing structure
• [39:30] Explanation and application of custom GPTs
• [45:12] AI’s impact on SEO and how tactics are evolving
• [50:48] AEO, GEO, and the future of content optimization

Final Takeaways

• Don’t wait for mastery: Start small, learn by doing, and let curiosity drive volunteer involvement.
• AI Council/Pathfinders: Building a dedicated, cross-functional team creates a safe, structured way to experiment, share, and educate organization-wide.
• Policy and security: Act fast, educate continually, and avoid analysis paralysis—all while protecting client trust.
• Exponential value: AI frees time and raises the quality of work across experience levels.
• Continuous learning is key: Foster open, ongoing dialogue (channels, workshops) to keep pace as tools and best practices change.
• SEO is changing fast: Prepare content for AI summarization and answers, not just Google’s algorithm.

Find more about Diane or WG Content’s AI work:

• Diane’s LinkedIn
• wgcontent.com (look for “WG Content Catalyst” for AI offerings)

Chris Daigle’s final advice:

“The best thing that anybody could do after listening to this...open up ChatGPT or your LLM of choice and start beating up the keyboard.”

For further resources, links, or to join the free Chief AI Officer community, see the show notes.