Event Moment: BDO’s Kirstie Tiernan on Power Users Driving Organizational Change

In this moment, excerpted from the session “From Board Members to Staff, How to Set Organizational Priorities for AI Success,” Kirstie Tiernan, Board of Directors, BDO, discusses how power users are the key to organizational change, providing encouragement for optimizing with AI tools.

AI Agent & Copilot Summit is an AI-first event to define opportunities, impact, and outcomes with Microsoft Copilot and agents. Building on its 2025 success, the 2026 event takes place March 17-19 in San Diego. Get more details.

Key Takeaways

• Power users: Power users are the difference between the person who starts a task and the person who goes to AI first to ask, “What can I do with the tools? How can I use them to create efficiency?”
• The key to change: If you aren’t a power user yourself, the power users within your organization are your biggest key to organizational change management. You need to understand them and know what makes them tick because they will be the ones to drive change for you.
• Motivation: Don’t take away the AI tools from the power users who are using them. Removing access takes away the motivation power users have to accomplish their responsibilities.

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