Real AI Adoption Starts With Process, Not Tools ft. Rebecca Maloney

How did a home builder drive real AI adoption? Rebecca Maloney, Director of IT at Hayden Homes, started with process and culture, not tools: governance, training and honest conversations that unlocked faster handoffs across the chain. On this episode of the I Have Some Questions… AI series, Erik Berglund and guest co-host Justin Coats (founder of LearnAir) talk with Rebecca about where the real drag lives: duplicate entries and broken handoffs between teams. She explains why clean data and clean process matter equally, how cross-functional conversations in the same room cut cycle time, how Hayden built an acceptable-use policy and an AI committee before expanding tool access, and how they addressed the "it's going to take my job" fear with transparency instead of reassurances. ⏱ Chapters 00:00 Justin Coats co-hosts: meet Rebecca Maloney, Director of IT at Hayden Homes 01:30 Streamlining communication across handoffs 03:00 It wasn't about putting AI everywhere 04:30 Dashboards built with Claude Code 06:00 A central platform that branches out 07:30 "If we did this differently, how would it benefit you?" 09:00 What Rebecca heard when she opened up the discussion 12:00 The culture at Hayden 13:30 The underlying culture as the biggest success factor 15:00 The excitement piece: "wait, what did she do?" 16:30 How humans have worked for ten years 18:00 Start with yes and see what we can do 19:30 The policy layer 21:00 Acceptable use and governance 22:30 Fundamentals training: generative vs agentic AI 24:00 Diving in without evaluating other tools 25:30 How far down the road do you go before deciding? 27:00 Taking the time to evaluate new tools 28:30 More than a year of looking at AI 30:00 An AI committee that includes the executive level 31:30 Why would anyone propose something? 33:00 Tracking ROI on ideas 34:30 A client who came in last December 36:00 Why education matters 37:30 The PC rollout in 2000 as a precedent 39:00 Connecting Claude to NetSuite and other systems 40:30 Don't feel like you're behind 42:00 "All I hear is Claude Design" 43:30 HTML dashboards for the organization 45:00 "It's going to take my job": lessons learned 46:30 Trained and comfortable 48:00 Putting the fear on the table 49:30 You can do it by having conversations with your people 51:00 A committee that asks the right questions 52:30 Wrap-up 💡 Key takeaways • Start with process and communication gaps. AI is often the accelerator, not the fix. • Treat data hygiene and security as prerequisites, not afterthoughts. • Governance works when it is business-case driven, inclusive and paired with an easy way to submit ideas. • Trust is built through honest conversations, not reassurances. Focus on enabling people, plus human oversight. 🗣 Notable quotes "It's not necessarily what the tool is, it's the process." "If the data that we're pointing to is not clean, it's kind of rendered useless." "The job is gonna change. We're here to make sure that you have the tools and the training." 🤖 More from the AI series with Justin Coats:    • AI at Work with Justin Coats   🎧 Listen to I Have Some Questions… on your podcast app Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/32YmTnR... All platforms: https://podcast.languageofleadership.io 📺 All full episodes:    • I Have Some Questions... Full Video Episodes   🌐 Erik Berglund and The Language of Leadership: https://www.languageofleadership.io If this conversation gave you something to think about, subscribe: a new deep conversation with an author, founder or executive every week. #AI #AIAdoption #LeadershipPodcast