AI Innovation Day
AI Innovation Day is a half-day team session in which a team brainstorms where AI could help with its real work, tries tools on selected use cases in small groups, and then demos and reflects on the results. It is a play from the Atlassian Team Playbook, designed to build practical confidence with AI through hands-on experiments on the team's own tasks. It runs for two to four hours with 3 to 11 people, plus about an hour of preparation.
Facilitation script
- 1
Welcome the team, state the goal of the day and confirm which tools and data may be used.
5 min - 2
Brainstorm use cases on the shared whiteboard, starting from what people noted in advance. Discuss and vote on the ones to test.
30 min - 3
Form small groups with mixed experience and assign one use case to each.
10 min - 4
Groups experiment with AI tools on their use case and keep notes. Check in halfway and let stuck groups change use case.
90 min - 5
Each group demos its results and what did not work.
20 min - 6
Discuss the difficulties, select one to three ideas to pursue, name owners and agree how the team will keep sharing what it learns.
10 min
Tips
Insist on real work as the test material: a use case from this week's backlog teaches more than a toy example.
Before the day, clarify which tools and which data the team is permitted to use, so no group spends its first hour on access questions.
Mix experience levels in each group.
Ask for failed attempts in the demos as explicitly as for successes, because the limits of the tools are part of what the team needs to learn.
Common pitfalls
Choosing invented example tasks. The experiments work but nothing carries over into daily work
Starting without clarity on permitted tools and data, so groups lose time on access problems or put sensitive material into a tool that is not approved
Letting the most experienced person in each group do all the prompting while the others watch, which leaves the skill gap as wide as before
Showing only polished successes in the demos. The team leaves with an inflated picture of what the tools can do
Ending without owners for the selected ideas, so the day stays a one-off event
Variations
For a remote team, run the brainstorm and the demos on a video call and let groups work in breakout rooms. A shorter two-hour version keeps one hour of experimentation and limits each group to a single use case. Larger departments can run the day team by team and hold a joint demo session afterwards. Teams with little AI experience can extend the preparation with a short hands-on introduction before the brainstorm.
Where it fits
When to use it
The team has access to AI tools and most people have barely used them
A few enthusiasts use AI daily while the rest of the team has not started, and you want to spread that knowledge
New AI tools have been licensed and you need to find out where they help in this team's work
Discussion about AI in the team is abstract and needs to be grounded in concrete tasks
You want a shortlist of use cases tested by the people who would use them
When not to use it
The team has no approved AI tools or no clarity on which data may be used. Settle that first, for example with AI Working Agreements
Leadership needs a strategic view of AI opportunities across the business. Use the AI Opportunity Radar
AI pilots already exist and are not scaling. Diagnose the obstacles with AI Scaling Blockers
The team cannot protect two uninterrupted hours. A series of short Lightning Demos on AI use fits better into a normal week
People fear that AI will be used to cut their jobs and that concern has not been addressed. Talk about it openly before asking them to experiment
Related methods
Frequently asked questions
What is AI Innovation Day?▾
AI Innovation Day is a two- to four-hour team session from the Atlassian Team Playbook. The team brainstorms where AI could help with its work, splits into small groups to test AI tools on chosen use cases, and then shares demos and decides which ideas to pursue. Its purpose is to build practical confidence with AI on real tasks.
How long does an AI Innovation Day take?▾
The session itself takes two to four hours: 30 minutes of brainstorming, one to three hours of experimentation and 30 minutes of sharing and debrief. Add about an hour of preparation for scheduling, the whiteboard and pre-reading. Despite the name it is a half-day format.
How many people should take part?▾
The play is designed for 3 to 11 people, which is one team. That size allows two to four small groups and keeps the demo round short. Larger units should run it per team and share results in a joint demo afterwards.
Is an AI Innovation Day a hackathon?▾
It is close to a small internal hackathon, with two differences. The goal is learning and confidence, not a finished product, and the use cases come from the team's existing work. There is no competition or jury, and failed experiments count as useful results.
What should happen after the day?▾
The team selects one to three ideas to pursue and gives each an owner. Atlassian recommends continuing with regular learning sessions and an open channel for sharing AI tips. Without that follow-up, the skills practised on the day fade quickly.
Plan your next workshop with AI
Workshop Weaver helps you combine methods like AI Innovation Day into a complete, timed agenda in minutes.
Try it freeMethod descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices. This method was inspired by work from Atlassian Team Playbook.