Van knowing to doing: how gamification makes Copilot adoption stick
Team Copilot Session Spotlight – Featuring Dani Brandsma
Gamification. It may sound playful, like it’s a nice extra. But anyone who thinks it’s about gimmicks misses its power. In the practice of Copilot adoption, gamification turns out to be one of the most effective ways to achieve real behavioral change.
In many organizations, the process is similar: the licenses have been arranged, the communication is running, the training courses have been provided. Employees have heard of Copilot, they have seen a demo of it, maybe even followed an introductory training. And yet… the use lags behind. Because knowing that it is there is different from actually using it in your work.
In one of our Team Copilot sessions, Dani showed where things often go wrong: in the final stages of the ADKAR model. Employees have built up knowledge, but lack the trust or the translation into their daily work. They don’t know how to use Copilot in their context, and if they do use it, it often gets watered down again. This is exactly the area where ‘ability’ and ‘reinforcement’ come together. And that’s exactly where gamification works so powerfully.
More and more research shows that gamification makes the difference in these final phases of behavioural change. Studies show that game elements such as challenges, rewards, and social interaction contribute to building habitual behavior, strengthening intrinsic motivation and reducing resistance to change. In other words: people continue to practice longer, experience more pleasure, and feel more ownership, exactly what you need to grow from a first Copilot experience to lasting use.
Instead of another manual or another technical training, we opt for a different approach: imagination, challenge, and a touch of storytelling. Like in the Superhero Assignment, in which participants create their own superhero with Copilot. They use AI to discover where their strengths lie, how they work together, and what their personal added value is. The result is often surprising. People recognize themselves in their superhero, and suddenly Copilot becomes not a stand-alone tool, but a reinforcement of who they are in their work. Some participants have even started using their Copilot superhero in customer conversations. That is no longer adoption. That is ownership.
Another example is the Detective Case. In this fictional murder case, participants, armed with Copilot, went in search of the culprit. Not through one app, but by collecting and analyzing information in Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams. It became an exercise in critical thinking, making connections and using AI smartly, just as you would do in your work. For many participants, this was the first time they had actively used Copilot in multiple applications. And the first time they felt how powerful the collaboration between those apps can be.
What makes this approach so effective is that people get moving because they experience something. They become curious. They start playing, dare to try, to experiment. And it is precisely in that process that their skill grows, and their confidence. Not because you have to, but because it works. For themselves, in their work.
The great thing is: you don’t have to start big. No full game, no murder case, no superhero capes. A simple assignment, a recognizable scenario, a little playfulness, that is often enough to bring a different energy into your adoption process.
Because Copilot is not a button. It’s a mindset. And adoption does not arise in a fact sheet, but in the user experience. If it feels like it suits them (in their words, in their work rhythm, in their way of thinking) then the step to use it is small.
Do you want to get started with gamification in your Copilot strategy? We are happy to help you on your way, with formats, ideas and practical examples. Because it is precisely in the playful parts where the real change often begins.
