From Demo to Diffusion: Make AI Spread
By Sarisha Naidoo | Connect with me on LinkedIn.
Reading time: 5 minutes
Lumina tagline: Developing people, driving strategy, delivering growth.
Vision to Mission: We develop people, drive strategy, and deliver growth so leaders and organisations can turn vision into execution without burnout.
That’s the goal and AI that spreads is part of how we get there.
Demos are easy. Spread is hard.
Most AI pilots shine in one team, then stall.
The tech works. The team’s excited. But it doesn’t move.
Another team tries it and hits blockers.
Different data. No time to train. Nobody owns it.
Momentum fades. Or worse the project gets shelved.
The real problem: Building for optics, not for scale.
We build something clever that works once, then expect others to copy it.
But they can’t or don’t because we didn’t plan for handover.
It wasn’t designed to travel.
What’s happening on the ground
Some teams are in a free-for-all trying everything, learning fast, but with no system to share what works.
Others are stuck waiting for central approval. Governance is tight. Progress is slow.
Either way, the pattern’s the same: local spark, no spread.
The energy is real but it doesn’t go anywhere.
Three shifts that make the difference
- From tools to teamwork
Great tools help. But people carry change across teams.
Managers are the bridge. - From speed to clarity
Clear ownership, clear steps, clear outcomes.
Simple scales. Confusing doesn’t. - From demo to daily use
Test with messy data, in real life, where people work.
If it only works in a perfect setup, it doesn’t work.
The Lumina basics
P1P2: Pattern First, Pilot Second
Don’t build unless you know how others can reuse it.
Inputs, steps, guardrails write it down.
DAC™: Discipline, Action, Consistency
- Discipline = simple standards and decisions.
- Action = short tests, fast feedback.
- Consistency = shared habits and coaching.
This is how adoption grows.
AT-4: 4 simple things to track
- Weekly users
- Time to first value
- How much of the task it covers
- How many teams use it
If it can’t spread, it’s not success yet.
What good looks like: one simple format (UCC-Lite)
Use this on one page. Every pilot should have one.
- Name, owner, sponsor
- Problem in plain English (2 lines max)
- Outcome that can be measured
- Steps, inputs, risks, and who fixes what
- AT-4 numbers
- Change log (date, decision, why, impact, version)
- Transfer notes: what breaks and what it needs to work elsewhere
If another team can’t use it next week, it’s not ready.
A manager rhythm (60 seconds a week)
- Share 1 pattern
- Run 1 small test
- Spot 1 risk
- Track 1 AT-4 number
It’s small. But it spreads.
Simple risk notes
- Use a clear purpose and human review for big decisions
- Keep a short note of what changed and why
- Treat AI as both useful and vulnerable reuse your security steps every time
Good risk design helps you move, not stop.
FAQs
How do we stop the chaos without slowing down?
Use guardrails, not gates. Light rules, reusable formats, fast approvals.
Keep the energy. Give it direction.
Do we need a big strategy before we start?
You need a future vision and one shared pattern format.
The rest grows from there.
Where do managers fit in?
They lead the handover. Help the next team pick it up.
Managers make the pattern trav
Most pilots fade because we didn’t plan for spread.
You don’t need more control. You don’t need more chaos.
You need patterns that travel and habits that stick.
Stop chasing demos. Build for diffusion.
