How a Big Company Taught 20, 000 People About AI

A major financial company, Principal Financial, has been teaching its employees about artificial intelligence (AI). The CEO, Strable, started by training the top leaders. At first, some leaders questioned why they needed to learn about AI. But Strable believed it was important for leaders to understand AI so they could help the whole company use it better. After the leaders were trained, Principal Financial created an AI literacy program for all employees. This program has four courses that take less than 10 hours to complete. The courses teach the basics of AI, how to write good prompts, and how to use the right data to train AI models. So far, 82% of the company's 20, 000 employees have taken at least one course, and 39% have finished all four. The company also plans to add more advanced training in 2026. Strable thinks AI will help Principal Financial achieve its top three business goals. These goals are selling more retirement and insurance services to small and mid-sized businesses, attracting more global clients, and increasing demand for individual retirement services. AI and other new technologies will play a big role in reaching these goals. Principal Financial has already started using some AI tools. For example, they have a generative AI assistant that helps with tasks like summarizing information and drafting emails. At the beginning of 2025, only 800 employees were using it, but now more than 14, 000 have access to it, and over 8, 000 use it regularly. The company also uses an enterprise version of OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot, AI coding assistant tools, and an AI agent that answers HR questions. The company also has 700 AI "ambassadors" who work in different departments and help their colleagues with any questions about AI. Strable has noticed that more employees are now using AI in their daily work and sharing examples of how they use it. Principal Financial's investment in AI training has led to higher usage of AI tools compared to other companies. According to a recent survey, only 14% of employees at other companies use generative AI daily, and 45% have never used it in the past year. The figures are even lower for AI agents, with just 6% using them daily and 57% never using them. Strable also addressed employees' fears about AI impacting their jobs. She explained that AI will help the company work more productively and that while some roles may change, AI is not necessarily a job eliminator. She believes that AI can help the company serve its customers better without needing to hire more people. Since July, the way the C-suite talks about AI has changed. Each month, leaders share how they and their teams are using AI. These conversations have become more engaging over time. Strable believes that the foundation of AI training has made this change possible.