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About

I’ve spent fifteen years helping leaders and their teams successfully use new technology 

Bill Coombes, founder of WBC AI Change Group

I’m a Fractional AI Adoption Lead for small and mid-sized businesses, and I’ve focused on AI governance and adoption at enterprise scale since 2024. I enjoy helping companies adopt new technology effectively, and I bring 15+ years in technology and process change (digital transformation, ERP rollouts, organizational redesign). Before any work begins, I make sure we’re clear about the measurable results you want. I believe in a people-first approach to AI enablement, so the team feels confident using the technology and business leaders see results from their investment.

This practice is built around AI adoption right now — the same discipline applies to any technology, process, or culture change your leadership team is navigating. If that’s your situation rather than AI specifically, this is still the right conversation to have.

The enterprise AI work

What three years inside a large regulated insurance carrier actually consisted of

AI governance and use case intake

Sat on the Ethics and Standards group and helped establish the enterprise AI use case intake and review process, so business units had a governed path from idea to evaluated use case. Supported evaluation of dozens of submitted use cases against risk profile, adoption readiness and time-to-value.

The cross-functional policy group

Chaired a working group of HR, IT, Legal, Data and Compliance leaders to settle the trust and policy questions that were holding adoption up — including whether leaders may use AI in performance and other people decisions. The guidance the group published became the standing enterprise reference for people leaders.

Interviews with the C-suite

Interviewed the C-Suite and their direct reports to surface competing priorities, risk tolerance and each one's definition of success, then turned those interviews into a prioritized adoption roadmap.

Designed AI champions networks

Designed AI champions groups with participants across business units, and created and maintained the internal AI hub where companywide guidance, FAQs and explainers live.

Enablement training

Helped design and facilitate AI enablement workshops and training for people leaders to build their confidence and trust using AI in their work.

Persona-based adoption framework

Built a persona framework that sequences awareness, capability and reinforcement differently by audience, aimed at real problems: fragmented unsanctioned AI use, distrust, and confusion.

Readiness sessions with SMB C-suite leaders and their teams

Led readiness workshops that helped leaders identify which AI use cases were appropriate for their business.

Change work that wasn't AI

Developed the end-to-end change strategies for multimillion-dollar transformation programs, including readiness assessments, impact analysis, and enablement programs.

Before that

Fifteen years of technology change

  1. 2022 – 2023

    Ernst & Young

    Change management managing consultant. Drove adoption of a ServiceNow enterprise onboarding solution for a global energy client with 54,000+ employees across 120 countries: readiness methodology, adoption planning and executive-facing content. Agreed 20 adoption actions and 13 prioritized success metrics with executives, plus Day 30 and Day 90 sustainment expectations.

  2. 2022

    3D Barrier Bags

    West Coast sales manager for a specialty packaging manufacturer — the full California sales cycle, lead generation through close.

  3. 2016 – 2021

    M2 Strategy

    Manager, then principal consultant, then senior consultant. Federal technology change: a legacy-to-Oracle transition plan, a PMO 2.0 rollout that turned scientists and engineers into project managers, and readiness, communications and cultural assessments for a post-merger integration of two federal offices.

  4. 2010 – 2016

    U.S. Department of Justice

    Organizational communications analyst, then management analyst. Ran organizational communications for an agency component and designed a service-experience strategy with CIO staff, using inbound call data to redesign the public intake process.

Credentials

What I hold

  • AI Governance Professional (AIGP), certified by IAPP

    AI Governance Professional (AIGP)

    IAPP

  • Agentic AI Practitioner, certified by AI Leadership Institute

    Agentic AI Practitioner

    AI Leadership Institute

  • AI Solutions Architect, certified by AI Leadership Institute

    AI Solutions Architect

    AI Leadership Institute

  • Responsible AI Leader, certified by AI Leadership Institute

    Responsible AI Leader

    AI Leadership Institute

  • Generative AI Leader, certified by Google Cloud Certified

    Generative AI Leader

    Google Cloud Certified

  • AWS Certified AI Practitioner, certified by Amazon Web Services

    AWS Certified AI Practitioner

    Amazon Web Services

  • Microsoft Certified Fundamentals, certified by Microsoft

    Microsoft Certified Fundamentals

    Microsoft

  • Prosci Certified Change Practitioner, certified by Prosci

    Prosci Certified Change Practitioner

    Prosci

  • PMP Professional Certification, certified by Project Management Institute

    PMP Professional Certification

    Project Management Institute

Education

Where I studied

  • M.A. Communication, Johns Hopkins University
  • B.A. Political Science, summa cum laude, Moravian College

Questions I haven’t answered here go straight to bill@wbcaichange.com.

Start with a conversation.

Thirty minutes on what you have already bought, who is using it, and what is actually in the way. If I am not the right person, I will say so.