Case Study

How Agital turned ad hoc
AI usage into enterprise transformation

How a fast-growing digital agency moved fast to create AI super users and champions
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“The relationship we have with Section has been a refreshing departure from usual consulting. It’s been partnership-driven and productive, combining tools with services to deliver both a strategic roadmap and a tailored approach to make it happen."

- Matt Heffernan, CIO, Agital

By the numbers

90%

trusted AI to support them in 
their work

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79%

BUT 79% of use cases were revealed as beginner-level 


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40%

weekly active use of Section AI platform

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The quick summary

Agital had AI tools deployed, executive awareness, and an appetite to transform – but usage was untracked, accountability was unclear, and no one officially owned the initiative. Section helped Agital baseline their actual AI proficiency, co-develop a 2026 transformation roadmap, and design a champions program structured for sustained adoption rather than short-lived enthusiasm.
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About Agital

Industry: Digital Marketing & Advertising

Company size: 350 employees

Location: United States

Section use cases: 
AI Maturity Benchmarking, Transformation Planning, Champions Program Design, AI Enablement

The challenge

Tools without transformation

Agital came together quickly through a series of acquisitions in 2022-2023, inheriting a patchwork of founder-led cultures across its now-325-person organization. By early 2025, the company had:

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ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini deployed - but unused

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Executive awareness and appetite for AI transformation

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An agentic AI product already generating value in-house

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No formal owner for AI transformation


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No validated baseline on proficiency or actual usage

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No accountability structure for adoption


Usage was entirely ad hoc – siloed within teams, untracked at the organizational level, and with wide variance in depth and sophistication. The company had done kickoffs and pep rallies. They had signed an OpenAI Enterprise agreement. But sustained, measurable adoption hadn't followed.

Compounding challenge:

No single person had AI transformation in their formal remit. Without dedicated ownership, activation stalled.

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Smiling man with short brown hair and beard wearing a blue blazer and floral shirt outdoors.
“Section was the perfect fit for us. We needed a strategic approach and help understanding where we were on AI – objectively and transparently - before we made the plan.” 

- Matt Heffernan, CIO, Agital

The diagnosis

Enthusiasm without infrastructure equals expensive drift.

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The proposal

The Section partnership

Agital’s CEO recommended Section as a strategic partner – specifically, to help validating where they actually were on AI proficiency and build a roadmap they could activate quickly. The Section partnership covers:
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AI Maturity Benchmarking
to establish an honest, third-party-validated state of AI within Agital
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Transformation Planning

development of a full 2026 AI roadmap, presented to senior leadership and the board, focused on business outcomes
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Champions Program Design
including eligibility structure, governance model, goal-setting frameworks, and manager accountability architecture
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AI Enablement
to drive baseline certification and build personalized AI skill development across all employee tiers
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Ongoing activation support
as Section moves from a singular engagement model to a true transformation partnership
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The journey

Agital's AI adoption journey

(Early 2025)
Strategic foundation
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Section conducts AI Maturity Deep Dive across Agital's 325-person organization

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Assessment reveals wide variance 
in proficiency and near-zero organizational visibility into actual usage patterns

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Section and Agital co-develop a transformation plan presented to senior leadership and the board

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Agital forms an informal AI steering committee to provide cross-functional governance

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Agital signs ChatGPT Enterprise agreement and deploys ProfAI for baseline certification

(Late 2025–Early 2026)
Roadmap and champions design
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Agital develops a full 2026 AI roadmap following a crawl-walk-run structure, tightly aligned to business outcomes and PE return expectations

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Champions program designed with 
open eligibility, manager endorsement requirement, and bottom-up goal 
ownership

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Two-track governance model established: one track for AI-powered product/technical development, one for org-wide enablement and adoption

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Dedicated AI innovation hire made to lead the technical track; champions program covers the enablement track

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Steering committee formalized to ensure coordination between both tracks

(2026 and ongoing)
Activation
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Section re-engaged to move from transformation planning to roadmap activation

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Champions program launches 
across key teams and departments; ambassadors defined by manager-approved use cases and active usage metrics

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Manager accountability structures formalized to ensure AI adoption is a daily leadership behavior, not a periodic initiative

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Pathway to full-time AI transformation hire scoped for latter half of 2026

Why this matters

Lessons from 
Agital + Section

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Start with a validated baseline, not assumptions.

Agital knew they needed external validation of their AI proficiency before building toward anything. Assumptions about "where the org is" consistently overestimate adoption and miss the specific gaps that matter for program design.
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Solve the manager layer before you launch champions.

Agital's clearest lesson: champions without accountable managers above them will plateau. AI adoption must be a leadership behavior, not just an individual one.
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Separate your AI tracks.
Conflating technical AI product development with org-wide enablement creates confusion. Agital's two-track model – with coordinated governance – keeps both moving without collision.
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Activation is the step most companies skip.
Agital had a strong diagnostic and a solid transformation plan. Re-engaging Section specifically for activation (moving from plan to practice) reflects a realistic understanding of where AI programs actually break down.
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Make

AI

a practice your team can run.

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