How to get your whole team excited about AI (and actually using it) | Brian Greenbaum (product designer at Pendo)
How I AI
2025/12/22
How to get your whole team excited about AI (and actually using it) | Brian Greenbaum (product designer at Pendo)
How to get your whole team excited about AI (and actually using it) | Brian Greenbaum (product designer at Pendo)

How I AI
2025/12/22
Shownote
Shownote
Brian Greenbaum is a Senior Staff Product Designer at Pendo who led a
company-wide AI transformation after a personal epiphany while on paternity
leave. After experiencing the power of AI coding tools firsthand, he created a
structured approach to help his entire product organization adopt AI. In this
episode, Brian shares his complete playbook for driving AI adoption across
teams, measuring success, and navigating the organizational challenges that come
with new technology adoption.
What you’ll learn:
1. The exact Slack message Brian sent while on paternity leave that kickstarted
his company’s AI transformation
2. How to structure both synchronous and asynchronous AI learning opportunities
for maximum adoption
3. The two-pronged approach that dramatically increased AI tool usage across
teams
4. Why becoming your company’s AI champion is one of the best career moves you
can make right now
5. How to measure AI adoption success with sentiment surveys and clear metrics
6. The critical role of creating a “golden path” for AI tool usage with legal,
security, and finance teams
—
Brought to you by:
Google Gemini [https://ai.dev/]—Your everyday AI assistant
Lovable [https://lovable.dev/]—Build apps by simply chatting with AI
—
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaG70VotukE]) Introduction to Brian
Greenbaum
(01:38 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaG70VotukE&t=98s]) Brian’s paternity
leave epiphany that sparked an AI initiative
(05:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaG70VotukE&t=300s]) Sending the message
that launched a transformation
(12:25 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaG70VotukE&t=745s]) The two-pronged
approach: synchronous and asynchronous learning
(17:29 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaG70VotukE&t=1049s]) Encouraging
experimentation and creative exploration
(18:41 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaG70VotukE&t=1121s]) How AI enables
designers to move beyond MVP thinking
(22:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaG70VotukE&t=1320s]) Quick summary of
the two-pronged approach
(24:43 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaG70VotukE&t=1483s]) Measuring AI
adoption
(33:48 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaG70VotukE&t=2028s]) Creating a
centralized AI knowledge center
(35:58 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaG70VotukE&t=2158s]) Building an MCP
server to demonstrate AI’s potential
(44:08 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaG70VotukE&t=2648s]) Why technical
understanding is crucial for non-technical roles
(46:01 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaG70VotukE&t=2761s]) Final thoughts
—
Tools referenced:
• Cursor: https://cursor.com/ [https://cursor.com/]
• Bolt.new: https://bolt.new/ [https://bolt.new/]
• Claude: https://claude.ai/ [https://claude.ai/]
• ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com/ [https://chat.openai.com/]
• Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com/ [https://www.midjourney.com/]
• Gemini: https://gemini.google.com/ [https://gemini.google.com/]
—
Other references:
• Pendo: https://www.pendo.io/ [https://www.pendo.io/]
• Confluence: https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence
[https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence]
• Slack: https://slack.com/ [https://slack.com/]
—
Where to find Brian Greenbaum:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briangreenbaum/
[https://www.linkedin.com/in/briangreenbaum/]
—
Where to find Claire Vo:
ChatPRD: https://www.chatprd.ai/ [https://www.chatprd.ai/]
Website: https://clairevo.com/ [https://clairevo.com/]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/
[https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/]
X: https://x.com/clairevo [https://x.com/clairevo]
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/ [https://penname.co/]. For
inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
Highlights
Highlights
Brian Greenbaum, a senior product designer at Pendo, shares how a personal experience during paternity leave led to a transformative AI initiative within his organization. What began as an individual exploration of AI coding tools quickly evolved into a structured, company-wide effort to integrate artificial intelligence across product teams.
Chapters
Chapters
Introduction to Brian Greenbaum
00:00Brian’s paternity leave epiphany that sparked an AI initiative
01:38Sending the message that launched a transformation
05:00The two-pronged approach: synchronous and asynchronous learning
12:25Encouraging experimentation and creative exploration
17:29How AI enables designers to move beyond MVP thinking
18:41Quick summary of the two-pronged approach
22:00Measuring AI adoption
24:43Creating a centralized AI knowledge center
33:48Building an MCP server to demonstrate AI’s potential
35:58Why technical understanding is crucial for non-technical roles
44:08Final thoughts
46:01Transcript
Transcript
Brian Greenbaum: I had tried Cursor for the first time, and what I was able to create just blew me away. I sent a message to my manager, my manager's manager, the CPO. And then a few other folks that I knew were really interested in AI, and I was like, lis...
