Human Led, AI Operated: How to Become a Frontier Firm Using ADKAR and the Frontier Maturity Model

Most organizations are testing Copilot, and some manage to transform how work actually happens and optimize the Copilot journey. In this session, we introduce you to Microsoft’s Frontier Firm concept and reveal how CloudWay’s Frontier Firm Maturity Model (levels 100–500) helps organizations move from “AI experiments” to true human–agent teamwork.

You’ll discover how assistant‑first workstyles, work charts, and redesigned information flows (The elements of information: gas → liquid → solid) fundamentally change collaboration across Teams, SharePoint, and Viva. Most importantly, you’ll learn how ADKAR provides the people‑centred structure to make this transition successful and sustainable.

Merethe will map each maturity stage to its ADKAR requirements, show common pitfalls from real‑world workshops, and share practical examples of how leaders and teams build Ability and Reinforcement around new agentic workflows.

Whether you’re responsible for collaboration, change management, leadership communication, EX, or Copilot readiness; this session gives you a clear path to move your organization from AI adoption to Frontier‑level work.

Agenda:

1. The AI Gap
2. What is a Frontier Firm? (The WHY)
3. The Frontier Firm Maturity Model (The WHAT)
   1. Levels 100->500
      • 100 - Emerging - Organic, fragmented use of AI, experimentation is random
      • 200 - Foundation - Platform readiness, governance, IA, security, compliance
      • 300 - AI Adopter - Teams use Copilot, early assistant-first habits, inconsistent usage
      • 400 - AI Mature - Agent workflows appear in core processes, measurable ROI
      • 500 - Frontier Firm - Work redesigned around goals, moved from org-charts to work-charts, human-agent teaming
4. ADKAR as the transformation engine (The HOW and WHO)
   • A = Awareness
   • D = Desire
   • K = Knowledge
   • A = Ability
   • R = Reinforcement
5. How Work Changes: The Practical Patterns
   • Assistant-first workstyle
   • The Work Chart
   • Information Flow (The Elements of Information)
6. Practical Insights from the field
7. Your 90-180 Day Become a Frontier Firm Roadmap with phases
8. What Level 500 Actually Looks Like
9. Q&As

Takeaways: Become a Frontier Firm Toolkit

• Frontier Firm Maturity Scorecard
• Assistant-First Quickstart Guide
• Work-chart template
• 90-180 Day Roadmap Template