Most large organisations believe they are further along with AI than they actually are. The reality is usually a patchwork of individual tool use, no shared strategy and a significant gap between what the senior leadership thinks is happening and what the teams are actually doing day to day.

For TfW the challenge was compounded by the complexity of the organisation. Multiple departments, a large agency partner ecosystem, legacy ways of working and a commercial team, comms function and customer experience operation that all needed to be brought on the same journey.

The brief was to find out where they really were, map the gap, and build a structured programme to close it.

We designed and delivered a phased AI readiness programme built around genuine organisational understanding rather than off-the-shelf training.

Phase one was a structured questionnaire sent to every member of the marketing team, covering individual AI use, tool familiarity, confidence levels and perceived barriers. Fourteen to fifteen responses came back and we analysed them into a summary of findings and recommendations.

In parallel we developed an agency partners questionnaire to map how TfW’s external suppliers were using AI, ensuring the internal programme could be aligned with what was already happening in the ecosystem around them.

Phase two was one-to-one sessions with the marketing senior leadership team, giving us the organisational context to understand not just what people were doing but how the teams actually worked together, where the friction was and where AI could genuinely help.

Phase three was AI training for the marketing team, structured so senior leadership went first before the wider team, ensuring the direction came from the top and was properly embedded.

• Full internal marketing team AI readiness questionnaire and analysis

• Agency partner AI readiness questionnaire

• Written summary of findings and recommendations

• Senior leadership one-to-one sessions

• AI training programme for the full marketing team, senior leadership first

• Programme roadmap for expansion into comms and CX teams

Post-training feedback was unanimously positive. Participants highlighted the interactive, hands-on approach and the opportunity to practise skills in the room. The clear, concise format, the balanced presentation of information and the mix of slides and discussion were all called out specifically. No negative comments were raised throughout.

The momentum from the sessions is real. TfW’s marketing team moved from curiosity to genuine comprehension, with a clear appetite for practical application. The next phase is a structured programme of AI pilots across seven application areas, turning capability into commercial outcomes.

This is the work that sits behind the ALT AI Audit. Not a concept, not a pilot. A delivered programme inside one of Wales’ most complex organisations.