An internal Shark Tank is a program where employees pitch ideas for improving their own work to leadership and the technology team. The best ideas get built, and the person who pitched helps own the result. If you're a leader looking for a way to drive AI adoption that people actually want to join, it's one of the most effective strategies we know, because it hands change to the people who know where the work hurts.
This fall it was also the part of my talks people asked about most, at PMI Eastern Iowa on October 16 and at MECA & UMBUG on October 30. Here's what it is, how our organization changed when I ran one, and why its impacts are deeper than they seem.
What is an internal Shark Tank?
In broad strokes, it works like the TV show, minus the theatrics. Anyone in the company can bring an idea: a process that wastes time, a tool that would help, a task AI could take off someone's plate. They pitch it to a panel that includes leadership and the people who would build it. The strongest ideas are chosen, staffed and built, and the person who pitched stays involved as an owner, not just a name on the suggestion.
That last part is what separates it from a suggestion box. A suggestion box collects ideas. A Shark Tank turns the person with the idea into part of the team that delivers it.
It isn't a hackathon, either. A hackathon tends to reward whoever can build something impressive in a short burst, which usually means people who are already technical. A Shark Tank rewards whoever understands a problem best, then gives them the help to solve it. In a law firm, a manufacturer or an insurance agency, that's very often someone in operations, finance or client service, not IT.
How did our organization change when I ran one?
Before founding Mosaic, I led innovation at Affinity, a legal-tech consultancy. We piloted a Shark Tank in a closed committee first, then opened it to the whole company.
The projects were the visible part. The program streamlined our marketing team's work on the company website, standardized the RFP process for sales, and led to a new product offering in our consulting line.
The bigger change was in the people:
- The reluctant teams showed up. Staff from across the company pitched, including teams that had been the most hesitant about AI. They came in because there was finally a reason to: a real chance their idea would get built, with them involved.
- The ideas got better every round. The quality and number of viable pitches rose quarter over quarter. People got better at spotting opportunities, describing them and judging what was worth building.
- Skills spread past IT. People who had never been part of an implementation learned how one comes together, because they helped build what they pitched.
- People shared the direction. Staff felt more ownership of where the company was going, because they had a visible hand in shaping it.
- IT became a partner. The technology team had a clear, visible way to hear about new projects, instead of discovering them after the fact.
Why are the impacts deeper than they seem?
At first glance, an internal Shark Tank looks like an innovation contest: a few good projects a year. Its real value is that one program does the work of several initiatives leaders usually run separately. That's why it shows up in so many of the questions leaders ask about AI.
| What leaders are trying to do | How an internal Shark Tank helps |
|---|---|
| Change management | The change comes from staff, not at them. People who shape a change defend it. |
| AI adoption | Reluctant teams get a safe, visible way in, and they watch peers succeed first. |
| AI enablement | Employees get the agency, the time and the help to change their own work. |
| AI training | People learn by building something real with the technology team, which sticks better than a slide deck. |
| AI governance | Ideas arrive through a front door, in the open, instead of on personal accounts. |
| AI strategy | Leadership sees, every round, where the work actually hurts, and can fund what matters. |
| Culture and retention | Good ideas get recognized and rewarded, so improving the work isn't just a favor to the company. |
An internal Shark Tank works because it solves several adoption problems at once. It grants agency to the entire staff: anyone can propose a change to their own work and see it taken seriously. It gives leadership a natural place to attach incentives, whether that's recognition, preferred work or pay, so people have a reason to improve their work. It gives IT a visible front door for new technology projects, which is the best answer we know to the shadow IT that grows when people experiment alone. And it builds implementation skills outside the technology team, because the people who pitch help build. Most AI programs push adoption from the top with licenses and mandates. A Shark Tank pulls it from the bottom, from the people who know the work, while leaders keep control over what gets built. Each round can run more smoothly, or aim higher.
That matters more for AI than for most technology. Many employees are already experimenting, often quietly. We've written about why people hide their AI use, and the short answer is that showing it rarely pays. A Shark Tank makes it pay. It also lets IT be the department of how instead of the department of no, the theme of our post on shadow AI. And it puts a policy to work: an AI policy sets the rules, while strategy decides who owns the change. A Shark Tank is ownership you can see.
It fits the AI Proficiency Scale, too. The best opportunity-spotter in your company may be a Beginner who knows exactly where a process breaks. A Shark Tank gives that person a path to pair with a Champion or a Systems Builder and get something built.
What does it take to get those results?
Plenty of companies have tried an employee pitch competition and quietly let it die. In our experience, the causes are organizational, not a shortage of ideas. A sponsor who gives a name but not time and decisions, pitches turned down without a real reason, more winners than anyone can staff, slow decisions, and a reward for winning that amounts to more work: any one of them is enough to stop people pitching.
None of these is complicated on its own. The work is getting all of them right at once, in a way that fits your culture (the name "Shark Tank" suits some organizations and not others). That's what turns a contest into a lasting change in how your people work.
Can Mosaic help us run one?
Yes. We have an all-in-one internal Shark Tank program in the hopper, built from what worked at Affinity and from the questions leaders asked us this fall. It covers the parts that usually go wrong, so your first round builds trust instead of spending it. I also speak on it, as a keynote or a hands-on workshop for leadership teams, conferences and associations across Iowa and beyond.
If you want your people to bring AI ideas into the open, we'd like to talk with you about running one. See our speaking and workshop options, or our Advise, Educate & Lead service if you want help running the program itself.