What it means to “grow at work” is evolving. Growth once meant promotions or upward mobility. As AI becomes deeply embedded into daily workflows, growth is increasingly about new skills, faster adaptability, and elevating performance right where you are.
At Best Brains, we’ve been leaning into this shift. Early in 2025, we made a company-wide commitment to becoming an AI-fluent organization. Not by simply rolling out tools, but by building the culture, mindset, and confidence teams need to use them meaningfully. We treat AI not as a threat, but as an opportunity and we give employees the space and support to explore, experiment, and build fluency.
This paper looks at growth through one of its most visible dimensions: impact. How is AI changing what people can achieve day-to-day? And what does that signal about deeper, longer-term growth?
AI Confidence Fuels Career Growth
Our internal experience shows a clear link between AI comfort and career clarity. Employees who feel confident using AI are significantly more likely to understand their growth paths at Best Brains. That kind of clarity matters it suggests AI isn’t just boosting output, but opening up new possibilities.
AI adoption at Best Brains is already strong. This year, over 98 percent of our teams have used AI at work, and more than 85 percent are using it monthly. Most importantly, 84 percent feel comfortable using AI across their responsibilities.
This momentum isn’t random. The majority of workplaces still struggle to integrate AI meaningfully, but Best Brains took an intentional, top-down approach. Leadership modeled early adoption, curiosity, and consistent experimentation creating a culture where trying, testing, and learning with AI became normal.
From there, we invested in enablement:
• Deep-dive upskilling workshops
• Weekly knowledge-sharing sessions on practical AI usage
• Curated learning paths and fluency assessments
• Employee-led demos and capability showcases
This foundation helped our teams build confidence, innovate faster, and see AI as a tool for growth not disruption.
“One thing I value here is the freedom and support to experiment with AI. We’re given time, tools, and encouragement to stay curious and build new skills. That makes all the difference.” Best Brains Employee
More than 90 percent of our team members say their departments are acting with urgency to integrate AI not just to adopt it, but to transform how they work.
AI as a Growth Enabler Not Just a Productivity Tool
It’s easy to talk about AI in terms of efficiency: faster drafts, fewer clicks, quicker answers. But growth is a different outcome. It’s about:
• Impact
• Capability-building
• Regaining momentum after setbacks
• Clarity during uncertainty
At Best Brains, we view AI as a growth enabler, not an efficiency engine. Growth is part of our core people strategy alongside clarity, belonging, and recognition. So we started asking: can AI become a driver of how we grow?
The answer is increasingly yes.
AI Drives Higher Sales Attainment
Growth is most visible in fast-paced roles like Sales. So we examined how AI adoption correlates with sales attainment.
We tracked reps’ performance in the month they first adopted AI and again one month later. We compared that against reps who weren’t using AI during the same time frame.
The pattern was unmistakable:
Reps who used AI showed meaningful improvements within just one month.
They didn’t just outperform their own historical performance they outperformed peers who didn’t adopt AI.
Interestingly, early adopters tended to start from a higher baseline, suggesting they were already proactive and looking to level up. AI helped amplify that momentum.
AI Helps Employees Bounce Back After Setbacks
We also looked at performance rebounds. Specifically, employees who had received an “Unsatisfactory” or “Needs Improvement” evaluation in late 2024.
The question: Does AI usage influence recovery?
The data suggests it does. Employees who adopted AI during their review cycle were:
• More likely to improve their rating
• More consistent in performance
• More likely to use multiple AI tools to close skill gaps
For employees trying to get back on track, AI became more than a tool it became a structured support system.
What This Means And Why It Matters
Across functions, one message is consistent:
AI isn’t just helping people work faster; it’s helping them work better.
It enhances:
• Focus
• Clarity
• Momentum
• Confidence
• Growth
But performance gains don’t come from access alone they come from culture. That’s why Best Brains prioritizes an AI-first mindset across teams.
Some of the ways we’re doing this include:
• Leadership modeling usage openly and consistently
• Setting bold goals paired with smart constraints
• Empowering small teams to test, pilot, and share learnings
• Investing heavily in upskilling programs
• Running AI hackathons and innovation challenges
• Measuring and sharing progress to build momentum
“The shift here is exciting. The focus on AI upskilling makes you feel part of something bigger. It pushes you to grow alongside the company.” Best Brains Employee
As we continue learning how teams use AI, our next priority is understanding why it makes a difference. Which practices drive results? Which use cases create the strongest lift? Those insights will shape our AI strategy and enablement approach moving forward.
The Bottom Line
AI is only one part of the equation but the cultural foundation at Best Brains turns it into a genuine growth engine. Curiosity, trust, experimentation, and a growth mindset are the fuel.
And we’re already seeing what happens when that combination comes together:
higher performance, faster rebounds, clearer career pathways, and a workforce that’s genuinely growing with AI not around it.
