If 2025 was the year of AI adoption, 2026 is when AI evolves from a software story to a people story. Katya Laviolette, our Chief People Officer, explored this idea in a recent Forbes article about how 1Password’s internal network of AI Champions is shaping this evolution and helping us set the standard for how we use AI to drive impact across 1Password.

AI tools help us move faster, but it takes curiosity and judgement to unlock their full value, build new ways of working, and to deliver meaningful outcomes for our teams and customers. That’s why we’re investing in a culture of AI fluency shaped by people across the business, brought to life through our AI Champions.

Who are AI Champions at 1Password?

AI Champions are internal advocates for AI adoption who guide us as we make AI fluency, security, and experimentation part of our daily work. They’re critical thinkers from both technical and non-technical departments, including Product, Tech, Marketing, Go-To-Market, and Finance, who are passionate and proactive about shaping the future of AI use at 1Password and committed to helping others build that confidence too.

We know the best ideas come from diverse perspectives, and because AI touches every part of the business, we seek out representation across teams and levels. Anyone on our team can apply to join the AI Champions network if they’re excited to spark curiosity, build confidence, and model responsible AI use, empowering colleagues to approach AI with curiosity, critical thinking, and impact.

What do AI Champions do?

At the heart of the program is a simple goal: build internal AI fluency, excitement, and momentum across 1Password.

AI Champions put that into practice by bringing AI learning to life in practical and useful ways across the business. They share specific use cases, contribute to AI workflow integration, and engage in peer learning through discussions, user groups, and office hours. They also play a critical role in enabling enterprise tool rollouts. They experiment intentionally with approved tools, share success stories, add to our Notion-based AI Knowledge Repository, and drive attendance to learning events, driving better business outcomes and forward momentum.

Our AI learning strategy is led by our Learning and Development team, who ensures AI learning is sustainable and cohesive across the company. With AI Champions bridging the gap between enterprise strategy and daily practice, they serve as the grassroots, peer-to-peer channel driving adoption at the team level.

Adoption grows when people can see how something works in context, ask questions in a safe environment, and learn from peers they trust. At 1Password, this work is being shaped by the people closest to it, making AI fluency something we’re building together.

Early impact we’re seeing

Our AI Champions are already turning momentum into tangible outcomes. Here are a few examples of what they’ve made possible.

1. A Finance AI Hackathon that turned manual work into practical automation

AI Champions on our Finance team organized a three-day hackathon that enabled 90 team members to trade manual spreadsheets for custom AI agents. The team built 21 agents that are now saving the team 5-10 hours per person every week.

2. A human-centered AI conversation that reached more than 300 team members

Featuring our Principal, AI Security Advisory alongside a cross-functional group of AI Champions, this session reinforced an idea we care deeply about: AI is core to how we deliver on our North Star, but meaningful adoption requires human judgement, confidence, and control. The panel shared practical ways to apply a human-in-the-loop approach and build with AI responsibly.

3. Launches of new enterprise tools 

AI Champions are involved early in major rollouts, and that early involvement has been valuable in recent launches of new tools with agentic capabilities. They participated in proof-of-concept groups, evaluated functionality, and built their own fluency before broader rollout. When the tool launched more widely, many teams already had trusted peers in place to offer hands-on, context-specific support and help their peers get started with confidence.

These examples show what’s possible when AI is practical, and people feel ownership in the process. AI Champions helped create the peer-to-peer conditions within their functions for that work to take hold, with outcomes people could feel right away.

What our AI Champions are excited about in 2026

The energy behind this work is one of the best parts. Here’s what a few of our AI Champions are most excited about as they make space for more meaningful work:

Tré Bembry, Senior IT Engineer

“I’m excited to see how we continue shaping and refining how we use AI across our development teams, but equally across our non-development teams. As more tools become available, the real opportunity is making AI approachable for everyone. When we pair it with clear standards, it becomes more than a productivity boost. It reshapes how we learn and solve problems together.”

Qingling Oblinger, Senior Staff Tech Program Manager

“The most exciting gift of AI in 2026 for me is time. Real, reclaimed time. When AI handles repetitive routines like synthesizing updates and preparing for meetings, I get to show up differently. AI frees me to focus on strategic thinking and meaningful human connection. And when you engage it the right way, asking it to push back and challenge your thinking, it doesn't replace your mind. It sharpens it."

Audrey Wild, Manager, Service Support 

“I am most excited about the enablement AI creates within training. It allows us to move beyond static materials toward interactive, personalized learning that adapts in real time. That shortens the path from knowledge to confidence. If used deliberately, AI can help teams build skills faster and apply them more effectively in their day-to-day work.”

Monique Mongeon, Staff Manager, Product Ops

“In Product Ops, my job is to chase and erase friction, wherever I can. Helping our teams leverage AI to take care of the busywork and give people back time to think about the meaty security problems our users face has been really rewarding. The outcome of all that thinking is what excites me, as we find new ways to help our customers use these tools in the most secure way.”

Put people first

There’s no shortage of conversation right now about AI tools, but the real story inside organizations is more human. We’re interested in whether people feel empowered to experiment, equipped to think critically, and supported as they learn. We want to create the conditions for curiosity, confidence, and responsible innovation, and recognize that the most meaningful impact doesn’t come from technology alone, but from the people who shape how it’s used.

That’s what our AI Champions network is building at 1Password: a culture where AI is approached thoughtfully, collaboratively, and with purpose.

If this sounds like the kind of team you’d like to grow with, check out our open roles at 1Password.