AI Champions Program for Canadian Organizations
An AI champions program trains one staff member per team to help colleagues use AI tools well, collect use cases and apply your rules. Remolda runs it over about three months, quoted after a 30-minute call.
In short
- Format: one champion per team of roughly 10–30 people, trained in hands-on cohorts and supported for about three months.
- Champions learn advanced use of your licensed tools (Microsoft 365 Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude), how to coach peers and how to spot and document use cases.
- Safe-use rules come first: what data may go into which tool, how to check output, when to disclose AI use.
- A monthly rhythm: short champion meetings, a shared use-case log, usage figures from the tools' admin reports.
- Priced after a 30-minute call by number of champions and teams; the AI Readiness Review ($490) is a fixed-price first step.
Your situation
A champions program helps when the tools are in place and usage stalls a few weeks after training. Typical cases:
- Copilot or ChatGPT licences, low weekly use. The admin report shows a small group of active users.
- Questions go to IT. "Can I put this document in Copilot?" lands in the service desk.
- Good ideas stay local. One team found a great use; the next floor never heard about it.
- Leadership wants a pipeline of use cases. Nobody collects them in one place.
What the program includes
| Part | What happens | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Selection | Managers nominate, champions opt in | One champion per team |
| Champion training | Two hands-on half-days on your tools and rules | Advanced skills, coaching basics |
| Safe-use rules | Your AI use policy turned into daily practice | Checklist champions can explain |
| Use-case log | Shared template in SharePoint, Teams or Notion | Ranked list for leadership |
| Monthly rhythm | 45-minute champion meeting, short updates | Problems surfaced early |
| Measures | Usage and task measures at 30, 60, 90 days | Report for leadership |
The broad staff sessions are covered by Copilot and ChatGPT training for teams; leaders get executive AI training. Champions who want to go deeper into prompting move on to prompt engineering training.
Why champions matter for adoption
Microsoft runs a Microsoft 365 Champion Program and community for people who lead adoption inside their organizations. The federal AI Strategy for the Public Service 2025–2027 lists training and talent development pathways among its four priorities. Champions put both ideas into one team at a time.
How long it takes
In our experience a program usually runs about three months: two weeks of preparation and selection, the training cohorts, then monthly follow-up. It depends on the number of teams, holiday periods and how quickly licences are active for all champions.
What it costs
The champions program is quoted after a 30-minute call, based on the number of champions, teams and months of support. Tool licences are paid to Microsoft, OpenAI or Anthropic directly. For a fixed-price start, the AI Readiness Review costs $490 CAD + HST and shows where adoption is blocked. All packages are on the pricing page.
Why Remolda for an AI champions program
- Your tools and rules. Training runs on the tools you licensed and the policy you approved.
- Use cases collected. Champions feed a ranked list your leadership can act on.
- Measured. Usage and task measures at 30, 60 and 90 days.
- English or French. Cohorts and materials in both languages.
- Linked to delivery. Strong use cases can move into a six-week build such as AI workflow automation.
How the work runs
The program is the Empower step of the Remolda Cycle (Audit → Strategy → Implement → Empower → Evolve); monthly follow-up feeds Evolve.
- Call. 30 minutes: tools, teams, rules.
- Selection and preparation. Champions chosen, exercises built from their work.
- Training cohorts. Hands-on sessions.
- Monthly rhythm. Meetings, use-case log, support.
- 90-day review. Measures, use cases, next steps.
Frequently asked questions
What is an AI champions program?
It is a structured network of employees, usually one per team, who get deeper training on the organization's AI tools and rules and then help colleagues adopt them, gather use cases and report problems. It keeps adoption going after the initial training.
How much does an AI champions program cost?
It is quoted after a 30-minute call, based on the number of champions, teams and months of support. Tool licences are paid to the vendor. A fixed-price first step is the one-week AI Readiness Review at $490 CAD + HST.
How do we choose champions?
Managers nominate and champions opt in. We help managers look for people respected in their team who already experiment with AI and can spare two to four hours a month; credibility with peers counts for more than seniority.
How much time does a champion spend?
In our experience, the initial training takes one or two half-days, then two to four hours a month for peer help, the monthly meeting and logging use cases. It varies by team size and tool maturity.
How is this different from staff training?
Staff training teaches everyone the basics in a few sessions. A champions program builds a lasting internal network that answers questions, shares what works and feeds good use cases to leadership.
Is the program available in French?
Yes. Cohorts, materials and the use-case log can run in English, French or both.
How do you measure results?
We agree measures at the start, such as active users in the tool's admin reports, number of documented use cases and time saved on selected tasks, and compare them at 30, 60 and 90 days.
Sources
- Microsoft Adoption — Become a Microsoft 365 Champion
- Government of Canada — AI Strategy for the Federal Public Service 2025-2027 (launch release)
- Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada — Principles for responsible, trustworthy and privacy-protective generative AI technologies
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