A couple of weeks ago, we spent the day at the inaugural AI Saskatchewan Expo presented by AiSK.
The room was full of people across industries, roles, and experience levels—all trying to make sense of AI from completely different starting points. There were technical conversations, policy discussions, live demos, pitch competitions, and plenty of big ideas about the future.
And naturally, we showed up the Growclass way: with a lot of energy, a suspicious amount of sour lemon candy, and a focus on the human side of all of this.
Because that’s how we think about AI adoption, too.
Why We Said Yes to AiSK
Partnering with AiSK felt like an easy yes for us.
Not because everyone there was our exact audience, but because the conversation itself mattered. Saskatchewan is having a real moment around AI, and we wanted to support that conversation in a way that felt practical, thoughtful, and actually useful.
A lot of that came down to Kaitlyn, AiSK’s Executive Director.
From our first conversation, it was clear her vision for AI wasn’t just about growth or infrastructure. It was about people: who gets included, how adoption actually happens, and what it looks like to build this space in a way that feels accessible from the start.
And because the world is somehow *this* small, Kaitlyn and I also went to the same high school.
Which felt like a very on-brand reminder that most partnerships don’t start with a deck. They start with people.
Shared context. Shared values. Sometimes shared Saskatchewan lore.
The Real Barrier to AI Adoption
Instead of centring the conversation around AI tools, we brought it back to the humans using them.
We asked attendees to share the “AI baggage” they brought into the room — the same exercise we use in our course.
Sticky notes. A clear tote bag. And one simple prompt:
What’s sitting underneath the surface for you when it comes to AI?
The answers came quickly.
“Feeling behind.” “Not technical enough.” “Fear of becoming irrelevant.”
As well as concerns around ethics, job security, and whether they were already “late” to all of this.
The tote bag filled up fast!!
And honestly, that became the real starting point for the conversation. Because one of the biggest misconceptions about AI adoption is that the barrier is technical. Most of the time, it isn’t.
The barrier is emotional.
It’s uncertainty. Overwhelm. Fear of getting it wrong publicly. Feeling like everyone else already understands something you missed.
People Need Starting Points, Not More Hype
At the expo, we also introduced our AI Archetype Quiz—not to label people, but to help them better understand how they already approach change and where AI might realistically fit into that.
Over time, through hundreds of learner experiences in our courses, we’ve found that successful adoption rarely starts with mastery. It starts with self-awareness.
Some people want structure before they experiment.
Some want to test everything immediately.
Some need proof that it’s worth their time before they engage at all.
All of those approaches are valid.
The goal isn’t to force everyone into the same workflow or pace. It’s to help people build enough confidence to start. And that’s why conversations like the ones happening at AiSK matter.
Not because anyone has all the answers. But because creating space for honest, grounded conversations about AI is what helps people move from passive awareness into actual participation.
If there was one theme we kept hearing throughout the day, it was this:
People don’t necessarily need more hype. They need clearer starting points.
