813 | The BIGGEST AI Mistake Most Companies Can Avoid in 2026 | Dajana Achelpohl

▶️ Watch this episode on YouTube

🎯Your AI rollout didn’t fail because of the tools. It failed because no one wanted to use them.🎯

In this episode, we sit down with Dajana Achelpohl — former Google and PayPal leader, founder of AI Changemaker, and one of the most trusted voices in human-first AI adoption — to unpack the real reasons AI initiatives stall inside organizations.

If your company has:

• Rolled out AI tools that barely get touched

• A small group of power users and a large group of skeptics

• Teams quietly using their own AI tools behind the scenes

• Leaders saying “we need to do AI” without a clear outcome

This conversation will fundamentally change how you think about AI adoption.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why most AI rollouts fail after launch — not before

• The hidden danger of “silent non-use” and fake adoption metrics

• Why fear of job loss leads teams to actively sabotage AI

• What “Shadow AI” is — and why it’s already inside your organization

• How to align non-technical teams around AI without overwhelming them

• Dajana’s AI Building Blocks Framework for practical adoption

• Why small, boring wins beat ambitious AI moonshots

• How to create guardrails that enable innovation instead of blocking it

• What an AI Team Charter is — and why it works better than policy docs

• Why AI adoption only succeeds when teams co-create the rules

• How agencies and service-based businesses are uniquely positioned to win with AI

Key concepts in this episode:

AI adoption barriers

Silent non-use of AI tools

Shadow AI risks

Human-first AI strategy

AI change management

AI literacy for non-technical teams

AI guardrails and governance

AI ethics and data security

AI team charters

Bottom-up vs top-down AI adoption

AI in agencies and service businesses

Agentic AI and workflows

AI implementation frameworks

Practical AI use cases

AI culture and trust

From AI hype to real value

If you’re a CMO, agency leader, founder, or operator who’s frustrated by low AI adoption, unclear strategy, or teams that feel anxious instead of empowered — this episode gives you a practical, human-centered path forward.

👉 Hit play to learn how to turn AI from a mandate into momentum.

CONNECT WITH DAJANA ACHELPOHL

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dajana-achelpohl/

🌐 https://www.aichangemaker.com/

CONNECT WITH VENDASTA:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vendasta/

X: https://x.com/vendasta

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vendasta/

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode 💜

💬 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast

🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/show/0KWXAOn

ABOUT VENDASTA

Vendasta is an AI-powered customer acquisition and engagement platform that helps businesses get more customers—and keep them. Our platform unifies fragmented tools across marketing, sales, and operations, and uses AI assistants plus proprietary SMB data to automate busywork, streamline workflows, and amplify the humans on your team.

We help digital agencies, franchisors, and MSPs scale profitably, deliver better outcomes for local businesses, and grow long-term revenue with less manual effort.

👉 Transform Your Agency with Vendasta – Book a Demo

https://www.vendasta.com/request-demo/