Case study · Major UK retailer
In-house creative team • Design, copy and photography

AI understanding up 28%.
Confidence now 4 out of 5.

Measured before and after, on the same questions

Every designer, copywriter and photographer we surveyed at a major UK retailer was already using AI, and nobody rated their own understanding above 3 out of 5. After the training, on the same questions, understanding rose from 2.7 to 3.5 and confidence averaged 4 out of 5.

2.7 → 3.5/5
Understanding of AI
4.0/5
Confidence using AI
36% → 83%
Want a steering seat
4.5/5
Rating of the training
The team's own scores, before and after, on the same questions.
The team

A major UK retailer's
in-house creative team

Designers, copywriters and photographers at a major UK retailer. We ran a team survey, played the findings back to leaders and the team, then ran face-to-face, hands-on sessions for each craft. An AMA followed, and tools were built with the team. Baseline first, re-measured one month later on the same questions.

3 crafts
Design, copy, photography
Before → 1 month
Baseline, re-measured
Diagnose

100% already used AI.
Nobody rated their understanding above 3 out of 5.

We ran a team survey across design, copy and photography. Most of the team could name the mechanical work eating their week.

100%
Already using AI for work
64%
Called themselves the "AI Underground"
2.7/5
Self-rated understanding of AI
82%
Listed mechanical weekly work

The signal: the appetite was already there. Everyone was using AI for work, 64% called themselves the AI Underground, and 36% wanted a seat on the AI steering group. Understanding had not kept up: nobody rated their own above 3 out of 5.

Findings Playback: what leaders were asked to do
01

Play the findings back

We took the survey results to leaders and the team together, benchmarked against other creative teams, so everyone saw the same picture before anyone was trained.

02

Publish the vision and guardrails

We asked leaders to put the AI vision and the guardrails in writing. 64% of the team had called themselves the AI Underground, so the team needed to know what it could use and how.

03

Train each craft on its own work

Design, copy and photography each got their own hands-on session, on their own briefs, their tone of voice and the tools the business already pays for.

Diagnose. Enable. Embed. Survey → Playback → Training → AMA → Tools
How it rolled out

Diagnose. Enable. Embed.

A survey, a training day, then an AMA and tools built with the team.

01
Diagnose

Team survey

The AI Alignment Survey across design, copy and photography: where AI was already used, how confident people felt, and which weekly tasks were mechanical and slow.

02
Diagnose

Findings Playback

Results played back to leaders and the team, benchmarked against other creative teams. Leaders asked to publish the AI vision and guardrails.

03
Enable

Face-to-face training

Separate hands-on sessions for design, copy and photography, built on the team's own briefs, tone and tools they already pay for.

04
Embed

AMA and tools built with the team

A follow-up AMA to review homework and take questions from practice. Then tools built with the team: seven in the AMA build plus four copy apps.

Our test: two weeks later, is there a task your team now does differently?

What it changed

Understanding 2.7 to 3.5.
83% now want a seat on the AI steering group.

The same survey, sent again one month later. Overall feeling toward AI moved from 3.6 to 4.1 out of 5, and nobody on the team now scores below neutral on AI.

Before vs one month later, same questions
Before One month later
Understanding of AIOut of 5+28%
Before
2.7
After
3.5
Overall feeling toward AIOut of 5
Before
3.6
After
4.1
Want a seat on the AI steering groupShare of the team2.3x
Before
36%
After
83%
One month later: confidence using AI
83% rated themselves 4 or 5
Average 4.0 out of 5.
The team's rating of the training
93% gave it 4 or 5
Average 4.5 out of 5.
The team's own scores, before and after, on the same questions.
Embed

Tools built with the team,
on the team's own work

01

Built in the AMA, after the homework review

Seven tools in the AMA build plus four copy apps, built with the team. Two of them: a customer sentiment analysis, and a check on sustainability claims in copy.

7 tools in the AMA build4 copy appsCustomer sentiment analysisSustainability claims check
02

What the team wants to build next

Brand-tone assistants for better briefs and keeping other teams on voice. Small agents scouting the week's trends. Quick motion and animation concepts for social. An on-brand photography reference so image mock-ups land on style. A GEO and SEO optimiser for copy.

Named by the team themselves, after the training and the AMA.

What the client said
“

G3NR8 delivered insightful and actionable Gen AI training for the creative team that brought everyone up to speed and unlocked approaches to some specific challenges. They took the time beforehand to understand where the team was and our specific requirements, delivering tailored training based on our existing enterprise contracts. I was impressed with the research and pre planning that went into building bespoke and effective training sessions, along with their flexibility and adaptability on the day to ensure everyone got the most out of it. Follow up sessions really helped to cement the training and allowed the team to ask further questions ...

Head of Creative Content, major UK retailer
Proof, not promises

More teams, measured the same way.

Internal comms leaders at global brands

96% rated it 4 or 5.

Comms leaders from GSK, Visa, the Bank of England and more, in live cohorts run with the UK's professional body for internal communication. Each webinar followed by an Ask Me Anything.

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GCC financial regulator

An AI change and competency framework for every role.

Aligned to the national digital skills framework, with a training programme mapped to it.

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UK digital agency

AI training and adoption at an award-winning digital agency.

Alignment, use case discovery, then hands-on training for dev, sales and marketing. The agency now offers AI services to its own clients.

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Global electronics brand

87% confident using AI after the sessions.

Interviews across the UK teams, a champions workshop and a charter we helped shape, then AI 101 with a practical assessment and divisional training days.

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Change, adoption and training

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