When AI Video Gives People Permission to Create “Wow”
There is a particular kind of moment that changes how an organization thinks.
- It’s not a strategy deck.
- It’s not a leadership mandate.
It’s the moment someone says: “Wait. I can do that too?”
That moment is where adoption begins. Not with licenses. Not with enablement workshops.
With possibility.
The RFP Response That Shouldn’t Have Existed
Twenty-four hours before submitting a major RFP Response, the idea surfaced: could we include a short video?
Under traditional circumstances, the answer would have been obvious. Coordinating executives across time zones, scripting, recording, editing, translating — none of that fits into a single day. Video was something you planned weeks ahead, not something you improvised under pressure.
Instead, we distilled an 86-page response document into a structured script and built an interactive Synthesia video that allowed the client to navigate directly to the chapters relevant to them. To make it more interesting, one of our founders — based in Seattle — had previously recorded an avatar. I was in Germany. The client was Dutch. The introduction was delivered in Dutch.
It wasn’t just the client reaction that mattered.
It was the internal reaction.
People on the RFP team looked at it and said:
“Wait. We can just do that?”
One year later, that video is still referenced. Not because it was cinematic or revolutionary in production quality. But because it shouldn’t have been possible within that timeframe.
That is what makes something memorable.
When the Threshold Flips
Synthesia does not just make video cheaper. It changes the threshold of creation.
When creating a structured, polished video becomes easier than drafting a carefully formatted email or assembling a dense slide deck, behavior begins to shift. Sales teams no longer wait for marketing support to personalize an introduction. Product managers do not postpone release briefings because studio time is unavailable. Internal updates stop being static documents and start becoming contextual explanations.
Video stops being a department.
It becomes a capability.
And once that threshold flips, it rarely flips back.
The most interesting effect is not external perception. It is internal permission. Employees begin to realize that they are no longer dependent on production bottlenecks to express ideas clearly. That realization creates momentum.
“Wait. I can do that too?”
That is how empowerment spreads.
From Feature to Delight
This is where the Kano model becomes relevant.
Organizations often evaluate tools through performance metrics alone: speed, cost reduction, efficiency. These are necessary, but they miss something important. Delight — the unexpected removal of friction — recalibrates expectations. What initially feels like a bonus becomes baseline.
The first time a sales rep personalizes an outreach video in minutes rather than coordinating a formal recording, it feels like an advantage. The tenth time, it becomes normal. Soon, not doing it feels like a disadvantage.
Delight compounds.
And when delight compounds, competitive dynamics shift quietly.
The False Binary About “More Human”
There is a recurring argument that in times of accelerating automation, organizations should focus on being “more human.”
In practice, most companies are not choosing between heartfelt live communication and AI-generated video. They are choosing between friction and clarity. Between delay and cadence. Between a consumable medium and a document that few will read.
When we used AI video internally to communicate strategic change, some questioned whether leadership should deliver the message personally. The alternative, however, was not intimacy — it was a PDF.
AI video did not replace humanity in that instance. It replaced constraint.
More frequent, more contextual communication does not automatically reduce humanity. In many cases, it increases relevance. And relevance is often what people perceive as human.
Empowerment, Not Licensing
This is the crucial distinction.
Empowerment and licensing should not be confused.
Issuing access to a tool does not create impact. Identifying meaningful, value-generating use cases does. When people see what is possible, when they experience that they can produce something previously out of reach, motivation follows naturally.
Tools like Synthesia are powerful not because they exist, but because they allow individuals to create their own “wow” moments.
And those moments are contagious.
When one team produces something that feels unexpectedly sharp or timely, others begin to experiment. Not because they were told to, but because they do not want to be left behind.
That is how adoption becomes engagement.
Measure What Matters
None of this removes the obligation to monitor outcomes. In fact, it strengthens it.
If AI video becomes part of onboarding, does performance improve? If it accelerates sales communication, does conversion meaningfully shift? If it clarifies internal messaging, does alignment actually increase — or does it simply feel modern? What initially creates excitement must eventually justify itself through results. What felt innovative six months ago may require refinement today. Discipline is not the enemy of progress; it is what prevents novelty from becoming noise.
At the same time, skepticism alone has never stopped structural change. Every meaningful shift in how organizations operate has attracted resistance, caution, and well-argued objections. There will never be a lack of arguments against progress. But this does not contradict the inevitability of it.
Some organizations will continue to debate whether the medium is sufficiently pure, sufficiently human, sufficiently perfect. Others will quietly reduce the friction of expression and normalize a capability that used to be rare. Over time, what once felt experimental will become expected — and the absence of it will begin to look outdated.
And somewhere inside those organizations, someone will encounter a moment of possibility and think:
“Wait. I can do that too?”
That is not hype. That is how behavior changes.
And behavior change is where impact begins.
