Brian Solis Frames AI Adoption as 'Infinite' Workplace Shift

In a June 21, 2026 column published by Vicki Salemi for The Tribune and republished on Brian Solis's site, Solis defined "becoming 'infinite'" as an intentional mindset where AI "will automate and augment work perpetually, to free up time and resources to allow constant expansion and reinvention," said Solis. He outlined four stages of AI adoption and identity, using quoted labels and explanations:

• •"AI Followers": "They wait for proven ROI and best practices before moving. They let others take the risks. They prioritize stability and compliance over speed and possibility," said Solis.
• •"AI Forward": "Integrating AI alongside humans deliberately...the human is always in the loop by design," Solis said.
• •"AI First": Solis described this stage as where "AI should be the default solution for an increasing number of tasks, with human intervention as the exception rather than the rule."
• •"AI Native": Solis said a product in this stage "wouldn't exist if AI wasn't part of the equation."

Staged adoption frameworks are a common genre in technology consulting. Comparable taxonomies help teams prioritize tooling, data pipelines, and human-in-the-loop controls at each maturity level, though they do not specify implementation choices such as model architecture, inference strategies, or governance mechanisms. For engineering teams, practical barriers often appear when moving from pilot projects to production at scale, where data quality, monitoring, and retraining challenges dominate.

Indicators that map to these stages include standardized ROI measurements, human-in-loop design patterns, automation rates for routine tasks, and new product features that are infeasible without AI.