The 90-Day AI Agent Marketplace Adoption Playbook
A weekly plan for launching your AI Agent Marketplace, from zero to organizational standard.
Audience: Platform engineers, engineering managers
The Adoption Curve
Most internal tools fail not because they're bad, but because nobody knows they exist. The marketplace has an advantage that it makes AI tools better, but you still need a deliberate rollout.
The curve has three distinct phases, each with its own goals and tactics:
Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1-4)
Week 1: Setup
Goal: Marketplace repo exists, CLI works, 3 plugins ready.
| Day | Task | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | Fork boilerplate, customize org-wide rules (security, coding standards, compliance) | Platform engineer |
| Tue | Build Plugin #1: Code Review Agent (your org's review standards) | Platform engineer |
| Wed | Build Plugin #2: Test Writer (your org's test patterns and frameworks) | Platform engineer |
| Thu | Build Plugin #3: Onboarding Assistant (your org's setup guides, architecture docs) | Platform engineer |
| Fri | Set up CI pipeline, CODEOWNERS, PR template. Test end-to-end flow. | Platform engineer |
Deliverable: Working marketplace with 3 plugins and a CLI.
Week 2: Champions
Goal: Recruit 5-8 early adopters who will seed organic adoption.
| Task | Details |
|---|---|
| Identify champions | Pick engineers who are already enthusiastic about AI tools, from different teams |
| Private demo | 30-minute walkthrough: install marketplace, install plugin, show it working |
| Gather feedback | What plugins do they want? What rules are missing? What's confusing? |
| Fix friction | Address the top 3 issues champions raise |
Champion selection criteria:
Already using AI tools daily
Respected by peers (their adoption signals credibility)
From different teams (cross-pollination)
Mix of senior and mid-level (senior for authority, mid-level for volume)
Week 3: Soft Launch
Goal: Available to anyone, announced to champions' teams only.
| Task | Details |
|---|---|
| Announce in champions' team channels | "Hey, we've been using this marketplace. Check it out." |
| Office hours | 2x 30-minute slots for live help installing and using plugins |
| Track metrics | Install count, questions asked, pain points |
| First external PR | Encourage one champion to contribute a skill or fix |
Week 4: Iterate
Goal: Fix everything that broke in Week 3.
| Task | Details |
|---|---|
| Retrospective with champions | What worked? What didn't? |
| Fix top 5 issues | Documentation gaps, CLI bugs, confusing rules |
| Add 1-2 more plugins | Based on champion feedback |
| Prepare launch comms | Blog post, demo video, FAQ |
Phase 1 Checkpoint:
3+ plugins working and documented
5+ engineers actively using the marketplace
1+ external contribution (not from platform team)
Top friction points resolved
Launch comms ready
Phase 2: Expansion (Weeks 5-8)
Week 5: Org-Wide Launch
Goal: Everyone knows the marketplace exists and how to start.
| Channel | Action |
|---|---|
| All-hands / engineering meeting | 5-minute demo: problem, solution, marketplace browse, marketplace install |
| Email / newsletter | Announce with link to onboarding guide |
| Slack/Teams channel | Create #ai-marketplace channel for support and showcase |
| Wiki / intranet | Add marketplace to engineering tools page |
| README template | Add marketplace setup to your org's repo template |
Week 6: Team-by-Team Onboarding
Goal: Get 3+ teams actively using the marketplace.
| Task | Details |
|---|---|
| Team onboarding sessions | 15-minute live session per team: install, configure, demonstrate |
| Team-specific plugins | Help each team identify one plugin that solves THEIR problem |
| Pair programming | Platform engineer pairs with team member to install + customize |
Week 7: Contribution Drive
Goal: Get engineers outside the platform team contributing.
| Tactic | Details |
|---|---|
| "Plugin of the Month" | Recognize the best community-contributed plugin |
| Hackathon hours | 2-hour dedicated time for building marketplace plugins |
| Plugin ideas board | Shared list where anyone can propose plugins (vote on priority) |
| Mentoring | Platform engineer reviews plugin PRs with teaching mindset |
Week 8: Governance Activation
Goal: The marketplace governs itself.
| Task | Details |
|---|---|
| Enable telemetry dashboard | Share usage metrics with engineering leadership |
| First governance review | Review and update rules based on 8 weeks of data |
| Add CODEOWNERS from other teams | Distribute ownership beyond platform team |
| Deprecation test | Deprecate the example-plugin to verify the lifecycle works |
Phase 2 Checkpoint:
50%+ of engineering teams have at least one plugin installed
10+ plugins in the marketplace
3+ contributors from outside the platform team
Telemetry dashboard live and shared with leadership
#ai-marketplacechannel is active (questions AND answers)
Phase 3: Standard (Weeks 9-12)
Week 9: Integration with Engineering Processes
Goal: Marketplace becomes part of "how we build software."
| Integration | Action |
|---|---|
| New repo template | Include marketplace init in the org's repo scaffolding script |
| Onboarding checklist | Add "Install marketplace" to new hire engineering setup guide |
| Code review guidelines | Reference marketplace plugins in review standards |
| Architecture Decision Records | Document the marketplace as an organizational standard |
Week 10: Advanced Use Cases
Goal: Expand beyond code to other personas.
| Use Case | Platform | Plugin |
|---|---|---|
| Incident response in Teams | Copilot Studio | incident-responder |
| Sprint status for PMs | Copilot Studio | project-status-agent |
| Production deployment agents | Azure AI Foundry | deploy-validator |
| Customer support knowledge | Copilot Studio | support-assistant |
Week 11: Self-Service Maturity
Goal: Platform team is no longer the bottleneck.
| Task | Details |
|---|---|
| Authoring workshop | Train 10+ engineers to write their own plugins |
| Self-serve review | Qualified contributors can approve plugin PRs |
| Documentation complete | Every question in #ai-marketplace has a docs link answer |
| Plugin quality metrics | Dashboard showing plugin health (usage, freshness, errors) |
Week 12: Celebrate and Plan
Goal: Report impact and plan next quarter.
| Task | Details |
|---|---|
| Impact report | Quarterly business review with ROI numbers (see ROI Calculator post) |
| Retrospective | What worked, what to improve, what to build next |
| Roadmap | Next quarter's plugin priorities based on usage data |
| Recognition | Thank champions and top contributors publicly |
Phase 3 Checkpoint:
Marketplace is in the new repo template
Marketplace is in the new hire onboarding checklist
3+ non-developer use cases live (Copilot Studio, AI Foundry)
Self-serve contribution pipeline working
First quarterly impact report delivered to leadership
Next quarter roadmap prioritized by data
The Champions Program
Champions are the single most important factor in marketplace adoption. Here's how to run it:
Selection (5-8 people)
| Criterion | Why |
|---|---|
| Already uses AI tools daily | They'll see the value immediately |
| From different teams | Cross-pollination drives discovery |
| Respected by peers | Their endorsement carries weight |
| Vocal in public channels | They'll share wins organically |
| Mix of seniority levels | Senior = credibility, mid = volume |
Responsibilities
Install marketplace in at least 2 repos
Give feedback in the first 2 weeks
Answer questions in
#ai-marketplacechannelSubmit at least 1 plugin or plugin improvement
Demo the marketplace in their team meeting
Incentives
Early access to new plugins and features
Credit in the marketplace README (Contributors section)
Direct channel to platform team for feature requests
Recognition at all-hands
(Optional) Swag, gift cards, or hackathon time
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
| Anti-Pattern | Why It Fails | Do This Instead |
|---|---|---|
| Launch with 0 plugins | "There's nothing here" | Seed with 3-5 plugins before launch |
| Mandate adoption | Resentment kills contribution | Make it so good people choose it |
| Platform team owns all plugins | Bottleneck, no community | Own the framework, not the content |
| No telemetry | Can't prove value, funding dies | Instrument from day 1 |
| Perfect before launch | You'll never launch | Launch rough, iterate weekly |
| Ignore non-developers | Misses 60% of the opportunity | Plan Copilot Studio agents in Phase 3 |
This is a bonus post in the AI Agent Marketplace series.
