A digital transformation practice for mid-sized companies and nonprofits, putting people first since 2016.
Your team is already experimenting with ChatGPT and Claude. Running Copilot pilots. Waiting for leaders to catch up.
The gap isn’t technological. It’s organizational. The people, governance, and knowledge practices to make AI work on your terms.
We build the skills, governance, and infrastructure that turn AI experimentation into AI transformation capability that sticks.
No deck · No consultant-speak · 30 minutes with a co-founder
The transformation equation
Drivers
Ideal State is a Microsoft AI Cloud Solutions Partner and certified Women-Owned Small Business. We are also a Microsoft CSP license reseller, which means we can support all of your Microsoft licensing needs. Purchasing your licenses through us qualifies you for additional discounts and incentives, and a complimentary annual license review.
John SuttlesDeputy DirectorSouthern Environmental Law CenterThe response to our work with Ideal State has been overwhelming and positive. People are truly excited.
Two of the most respected workforce studies of 2026 were published eight days apart and reached the same conclusion. Microsoft’s Work Trend Index (20,000 workers across 10 countries) found that 65% of AI users fear falling behind if they don’t use AI, but only 13% say their organization rewards them for reinventing work with AI.
Organizational factors like culture, manager support, and talent practices account for more than 2x the AI impact of individual effort alone.
Microsoft 2026 Work Trend Index
The gap is not technical. Your team is already trying ChatGPT and Claude. They are running pilots in shadow. They are waiting for leaders to catch up to them.
“ By 2027, half of all enterprises without a people-centric AI strategy will lose their top AI talent.
Gartner Global Labor Market Survey, 2026 12,004 employees and managers across 40 countriesEvery engagement is shaped to the client, but most arrive through one of three doors. Each is led by a senior consultant who stays in the room from kickoff to handoff. All three build toward the same outcome: AI transformation capability that sticks long after we’re gone.
A managed service for the AI era. We build and run the people, governance, and solutions pipeline that turn AI investments into AI impact. The Trailblazers Program. The AI Adoption Hub. The agent lifecycle. The monthly rhythm.
Learn moreA focused engagement to modernize and consolidate your Microsoft 365 ecosystem. SharePoint, Teams, Purview. We assess what you have and what people use, reduce clutter, and reconfigure for how your people actually work today.
Learn moreChange management and knowledge management for the AI era. We listen to the people who will be using AI every day, surface their hopes, fears, and dreams, and design a rollout that turns AI into a core competency, not a tool we leave behind.
Learn moreA national real estate development firm turned Copilot from a feature into a daily habit, with 82% active usage, a 59-member internal Copilot community, and construction-specific use cases in production.
Model Group · Commercial real estate A behavioral health organization migrated 18 departments onto a governed M365 environment, with Purview policies designed for patient-data compliance and zero PHI incidents during the migration.
Catalight · Behavioral health One of the world’s largest LGBTQ+ organizations consolidated 548 Teams, 740 SharePoint sites, and scattered HIPAA-regulated content into a governed environment.
LA LGBT Center · Nonprofit A major philanthropy migrated 25+ departments from Dropbox, Google, and on-premise servers to Microsoft 365 and launched enterprise search. AI agents now surface knowledge across the organization.
RWJF · Philanthropy Ideal State is led by Sara Teitelman and Jeremy Nurse. Before founding the firm, Sara was a director of knowledge management at an international nonprofit. She has been writing about and practicing human-centered digital transformation for more than a decade. Jeremy was an IT strategy consultant at Forrester Research and led technology programs at Ford Motor Company, Nationwide Insurance, and the VA.
The pairing is the differentiator. Knowledge management and change management are the disciplines AI made most urgent. Most consulting firms treat them as a post-launch afterthought. We have treated them as essential since the day we launched.
We are senior-led on purpose. Our co-founders are involved in every engagement, bringing perspectives that only decades of experience can deliver.
Meet the teamA 30-minute call with one of our co-founders. No consultant-speak. No pressure. Let’s explore some possibilities together.
We’ll tell you whether we think we can help.