The 4 stages of AI maturity: A framework

Most companies know they should be doing more with AI. What's harder to define is what "more" actually means in practice.

Looking at how organizations have rolled out AI over the past few years, including Zapier, there's a recognizable pattern: It often starts with scattered AI experiments, expands into AI-powered workflows across connected apps, and eventually becomes embedded into core systems.

Based on my observations, what's clear is that the key to achieving AI transformation—the process of integrating AI into the core of your operations—isn't simply moving faster. It's recognizing where your business is in its AI orchestration journey and building the capabilities that come next.

Here, I'll break down the four stages of AI maturity, how to recognize where your business lands, and what it takes to move forward.

Table of contents: 

• What is AI orchestration?

• The 4 stages of AI maturity 

• Why you can't skip stages 

• Common myths about AI maturity 

• Scale AI orchestration with Zapier 

What is AI orchestration? 

AI orchestration is the coordinated, end-to-end application of AI tools, agents, and automations across workflows, teams, and systems. It combines structured logic (the rules, triggers, and guardrails you define) with adaptive intelligence (AI's ability to interpret and generate) to decide what happens next. It's what turns AI from a collection of tools into operational infrastructure.

The 4 stages of AI maturity

Once you understand what AI orchestration looks like in practice, the next step is figuring out where your organization stands today. Here's a high-level overview of the four stages of AI maturity (keep scrolling for a deeper dive into each one). 

Stage 1: Individual AI experiments    

For most organizations, this is where AI adoption begins: individual experimentation. It's a fast, low-friction way to learn what AI can actually do for your business workflows. 

When Zapier began integrating AI into internal workflows, adoption followed a similar pattern. Individual teams experimented with AI-generated content, support summaries, and automation logic before those efforts were coordinated across the company. It's this type of early experimentation that allowed all users, regardless of their technical skills, to strengthen their AI fluency. 

 What this stage looks like: 

• Individuals and teams using AI tools independently

• No central visibility into which tools are in use

• Point solutions that don't connect to each other

• Bottom-up adoption through individual purchase decisions

• Informal governance—for example, general reminders not to share sensitive data

• Manual copy-paste between tools

Stage 1: Benefits and challenges

Here are the benefits and challenges of operating at this stage. 

Signs you're ready for stage 2 

Here are some signs that you've outgrown this stage: 

• Multiple teams want to connect AI tools to existing systems

• You're manually moving data between tools multiple times per week

• The majority of your teams have tested one or more AI tools

• Leadership is asking what the organization is getting from AI investments

• Success stories aren't spreading beyond the teams that discovered them

How to move to stage 2 

You don't need a major overhaul to move from one stage to the next. Start with: 

• Acknowledging AI as part of your operating model, not just experimentation

• Creating a simple inventory of which teams are using which AI tools and for what use cases

• Identifying high-value workflows worth connecting across systems

• Introducing an integration or AI automation layer to reduce manual handoffs

This is where Zapier can help. Instead of stitching tools together manually, you can use Zapier to connect over 8,000 apps and AI tools, allowing you to build AI-powered workflows that span systems. Not sure where to start? Tell Zapier's built-in AI assistant, Copilot, what you want to achieve in plain language, and it'll build the workflow for you. Copilot can also surface relevant pre-built templates, so you can launch faster and adapt proven workflows to your needs. 

Stage 2: Connected AI workflows

At this stage, AI stops living in side projects and starts showing up in core systems. The shift often happens when early experiments prove valuable enough to formalize. 

That's what happened at Zapier. After the first company-wide AI hackathon, individual wins moved out of Slack threads and demo decks, and into department-wide workflows. For example, the support team built an AI chat coach to automatically review support chats and deliver feedback in Slack, turning what could have been a one-off experiment into a consistent coaching system embedded in daily operations. 

What this stage looks like:

• AI tools integrated with core systems like your CRM, customer support, and project management apps

• Automated workflows that trigger AI actions based on defined events

• Shared use cases across teams instead of isolated experiments

• Reduced manual copy-paste between systems

• Early efforts to standardize prompts, processes, or templates

• Growing visibility into where AI is being used

Stage 2: Benefits and challenges

Here are the benefits and challenges of operating at this stage. 

Signs you're ready for stage 3 

Here are some signs that you've outgrown this stage: 

• AI workflows are running across multiple teams

• You're relying on AI outputs for customer-facing or revenue-impacting work

• Security or compliance teams are asking for clearer guardrails

• Leadership wants reporting on performance, risk, and ROI

• Workflow complexity is increasing faster than documentation

How to move to stage 3 

As AI becomes embedded in operations, structure matters more. Focus on:

• Defining ownership for AI-powered workflows

• Establishing governance guidelines and access controls

• Adding audit trails and documentation for key processes

• Standardizing how AI prompts, models, and workflow logic are managed

Zapier helps you formalize AI-powered workflows so they're governed, documented, and auditable. For example, role-based permissions gives you full control over who can view or edit automations. Version history and task logs create audit trails so you can see how workflows run and what changed over time. And by standardizing logic inside shared, documented Zaps instead of scattered prompt snippets, you minimize duplication efforts and improve consistency as AI usage scales.

Stage 3: Governed AI workflows

This stage is where AI orchestration becomes formalized. Workflows span departments, ownership is defined, and guardrails are no longer optional. As AI becomes embedded in core operations, reliability and governance take center stage.

Zapier went through this shift internally as AI automations became embedded in daily operations. Clear ownership, documented standards, and monitoring became critical to maintaining trust and consistency across the board. 

What this stage looks like: 

• AI workflows running across multiple departments

• Clear ownership for AI-powered processes and automation logic

• Defined governance policies for model usage, data access, and approvals

• Role-based access controls and permission management

• Audit trails for AI-generated outputs and workflow activity

• Standardized prompts, documentation, and version control practices

Stage 3: Benefits and challenges

Here are the benefits and challenges of operating at this stage. 

Signs you're ready for stage 4

Here are some signs that you've outgrown this stage: 

• AI is embedded in mission-critical or revenue-driving workflows

• Leadership is asking how AI can proactively optimize operations

• You're managing a growing portfolio of AI-powered workflows

• Teams want AI-powered systems that adapt dynamically rather than follow fixed logic

• You're measuring AI performance but not yet optimizing in real time

How to move to stage 4

As AI becomes core to how your business runs, the focus shifts from control to continuous improvement. Prioritize:

• Implementing performance monitoring tied to business outcomes

• Introducing feedback loops that improve AI outputs over time

• Shifting from static workflows to dynamic AI orchestration

• Aligning AI initiatives directly to strategic KPIs

To do this effectively, you need visibility and flexibility. Zapier allows you to move beyond managing workflows to improving how they perform. Instead of rewriting automations every time requirements evolve, you can modify triggers, actions, and routing logic by dragging and dropping them into place or asking Copilot to intelligently adapt the workflow. That flexibility is what makes AI orchestration at scale possible.

Stage 4: Adaptive AI systems

This is the stage where AI orchestration becomes adaptive. Work isn't just automated; it's continuously refined based on outcomes. Instead of asking how to automate a task, teams focus on improving how the entire system performs over time.

This is also the stage Zapier is operating from today. AI is embedded into internal workflows that route requests, prioritize work, surface insights, and monitor performance across departments. 

What this stage looks like:

• AI workflows that adjust dynamically based on inputs, outcomes, or performance data

• Cross-system AI orchestration spanning departments, data sources, and tools

• Real-time monitoring of workflow performance and business impact

• Feedback loops that retrain, refine, or adjust logic automatically

• AI-informed prioritization of tasks, leads, tickets, or opportunities

• Clear alignment between AI systems and strategic business goals

Stage 4: Benefits and operational considerations

Here are the benefits of operating at this stage, as well as operational considerations to keep in mind.

How to sustain and scale this stage

Operating at this stage means that AI is embedded in how your business runs. Maintaining that advantage requires ongoing refinement and intentional oversight. To strengthen and scale what's already working, focus on:

• Continuously refining performance metrics tied to business outcomes

• Expanding feedback loops across additional teams and workflows

• Investing in observability and system health monitoring

• Regularly reviewing alignment between AI systems and strategic priorities

Zapier is built to support this level of adaptability. You can design workflows that respond to performance thresholds, reroute tasks when signals change, and trigger AI actions based on real-time data across systems. For example, AI can intelligently reprioritize inbound leads when buying signals spike, route support tickets based on sentiment analysis, or escalate renewal risks when usage drops below a defined benchmark.

Because your workflows live in one AI orchestration platform, insights compound across systems. That is what allows you to scale AI workflows company-wide without fragmenting.

Why you can't skip stages

It's natural to want to accelerate progress. As AI becomes more central to business strategy, advancing quickly can feel like the most efficient path forward. But AI maturity builds cumulatively, with each stage developing capabilities that the next one depends on:

• Stage 1 builds AI literacy and clarifies which problems are actually worth solving.

• Stage 2 develops integration muscle and reveals where governance is required.

• Stage 3 establishes the monitoring, trust, and accountability needed before AI can influence higher-stakes decisions.

Without those foundations in place, integration often becomes the sticking point. Seventy-eight percent of enterprises report struggling to integrate AI with existing systems, underscoring how critical that middle layer of connection and coordination really is. 

Of course, there are some exceptions. For example, AI-native startups sometimes compress early stages because they build AI-first from day one. Even then, the underlying capabilities still develop in sequence.

Common myths about AI maturity

Understanding where you are on the maturity ladder is only half the battle. The other half is avoiding the assumptions that derail progress or create unnecessary pressure to advance faster than makes sense for your organization. Here's what to watch out for.

Myth #1: The highest stage is the goal 

Reality: AI maturity is about fit, not climbing the ladder. 

It's easy to assume that the most advanced stage is automatically the right one. But AI maturity isn't about climbing for its own sake. It's about fit.

For example, imagine a mid-sized company running AI-powered workflows that reliably save time and generate measurable ROI. They have clear integrations and strong team adoption at stage two. Forcing a move into heavier governance structures in stage three could introduce process overhead without meaningfully improving performance. Meanwhile, a highly-regulated healthcare provider may require stage three controls long before expanding automation further. 

Context changes what the "best" stage looks like. Choose the one that matches your operational complexity, risk tolerance, and business goals.

Myth #2: Every team should be at the same stage 

Reality: Progress doesn't need to be uniform to be strategic. Different teams can mature at different speeds.

Forcing every team to move in lockstep can create bottlenecks and slow down departments that are ready to advance. 

Take customer support, for example. The team regularly handles sensitive data across billing, account records, and compliance-bound systems. For them, stage three governance (audit trails, role-based access, and documented workflows) isn't optional. The marketing team, on the other hand, has a lower risk profile. They can move quickly at stage two—connecting campaign tools and automating follow-ups—prioritizing speedy over heavy governance controls. 

Align within functions first, and then build cross-functional consistency over time. 

Myth #3: AI maturity only applies to large enterprises

Reality: This framework applies to any company size. Scale changes the pace, not the principles.

AI maturity isn't reserved for large enterprises. Smaller companies benefit from the same clarity about experimentation, integration, and governance. The only difference is that they move through the stages at a different pace.

For example, a 5,000-person company may take months to align teams, integrate legacy systems, and formalize governance. Meanwhile, a 25-person startup with a single product and shared tooling can experiment, connect workflows, and introduce guardrails much faster because coordination overhead is minimal. 

Regardless of your company size, take time to map your current AI tools, how they connect, and where decisions lack clear ownership. The earlier you build that visibility, the easier it is to scale without friction later.

Myth #4: AI orchestration is just about choosing the right platform 

Reality: Tools support AI maturity, while operational clarity and team capability determine it.

Buying a more advanced AI orchestration platform won't automatically move you up the maturity ladder. AI tools can enable orchestration, but they're not a substitute for the operational clarity required to make it work.

Let's say your company invests in a robust AI orchestration platform with built-in governance controls and monitoring. If teams don't have shared standards for prompts, clear workflow ownership, or agreement on when AI should involve a human, the organization will continue operating like it's in stage one or two—just on more expensive software. 

This scenario isn't uncommon: 35% of enterprises cite AI skill gaps as a top barrier to adoption, highlighting that capability, not tooling, is often the constraint.

Assess whether your teams have the literacy, ownership structures, and documented workflows to support AI orchestration. Strengthening those foundations first ensures that when you do invest in a platform, it accelerates progress instead of masking underlying gaps.

Myth #5: Stage 4 is the finish line 

Reality: Reaching stage four shifts the work—it doesn't eliminate it.  

Stage four isn't an endpoint; it's a foundation for continuous improvement.

For example, a company operating at Stage 4 may have AI dynamically routing tickets, prioritizing leads, and optimizing workflows based on performance data. Even then, teams are regularly reviewing edge cases, refining monitoring thresholds, adjusting decision logic, and evaluating new models as capabilities improve. The infrastructure is mature, but it still evolves.

Schedule regular reviews of your AI-driven workflows, monitoring performance against business outcomes, and updating systems as your goals and technology change.

Scale AI orchestration with Zapier

Wherever your organization falls on the maturity ladder, the next step usually looks similar: connect what's already working, build, and then scale.

Zapier connects with over 8,000 apps and AI tools, making it a natural fit whether you're experimenting in one department or orchestrating processes across your entire organization. The same platform that supports early AI experimentation can also power sophisticated, multi-step workflows at scale, with role-based access controls, approval steps, and centralized visibility to support governance as AI adoption grows.

For example, your marketing team might start by automating lead enrichment and AI-generated follow-ups. As those workflows prove valuable, RevOps can layer in standardized logic, shared templates, and reporting. Over time, security and IT can introduce additional guardrails and monitoring, turning what began as an isolated experiment into a governed, cross-functional system.

Remember: AI maturity is built step by step. With the right AI orchestration layer in place, each step becomes easier to take.

Related reading:

• Process orchestration: The ultimate guide

• What is orchestration in software? 4 examples

• Automation vs. AI: What's the difference?

• What is data orchestration?