IMA Financial Group: Power User Cohort

After kicking off the summit and training series, the goal was to create an internal group of power users who wanted to go further with AI on their own books of business. The group spanned the full range, from producers who heard about Copilot for the first time during the summit to ones already experimenting with tools of their own. Our job was to meet each of them where they were and move them toward the version of their day where AI handles the most tedious and time-consuming work.

We run the cohort as a concurrent, one-on-one coaching track for small groups of about five or six producers at a time, three to four sessions each serving 12-15 producers over roughly eight weeks. It follows an undergrad-to-grad model designed to build internal champions without an open-ended time commitment.

The first session is a mini discovery and quick-win session. We learn their role, their focus, and how they actually work. We take an honest look at their current AI use, wherever that happens to be. We have them picture the ideal version of their day, with AI taking the most tedious and important work off their plate. Then we send them off with a few quick wins and a custom plan for the sessions ahead.

From there, the following sessions get hands-on. We work through and actually complete the use cases that matter most to each producer, meeting them at their level and moving at their pace.

We solve what Copilot can do today with the tools producers already have. When a use case is beyond what Copilot can currently handle, we document it with the context and what it would take to implement, build, or create it, then bring it to leadership so they can see the next areas to grow into.

When a producer finishes their sessions, they graduate. Most people don't want to meet every week forever, so graduates keep access to us for questions without holding standing sessions. We give them the download, set them loose, and stay available as a support system whenever something comes up. That keeps the model scalable, freeing capacity to roll the next group in so the power-user group keeps growing across the organization. Alongside the cohort, we also serve as triage and advanced support for the broader org, taking anyone IT points our way for Copilot or advanced AI questions.

The range is the story. Some producers came in having heard about Copilot for the first time at the summit, and within a few sessions they were running automated morning briefings, organizing clients in Copilot Notebooks, and capturing meetings hands-free. Others arrived already experimenting and used the time to push into more advanced workflows of their own. Either way, producers left using AI on their real work every day, not just understanding it in theory.

Because the model graduates producers instead of holding them in standing sessions, the group of power users keeps growing. Each cohort creates a handful of internal champions who show their teams what is possible, while our capacity stays open to bring the next group in. The result is a widening circle of confident AI users inside IMA rather than a dependency on us.

Leadership also came away with a clear roadmap. Every high-value use case the cohort surfaced was documented, including the ones Copilot cannot yet handle, with the context and the work it would take to build or enable each one. That gives IMA a grounded view of where AI is delivering today and where the next investments and capabilities should go.