Adage Technologies is a software, ecommerce, and web design and development firm founded in 2001 and headquartered in Chicago. Its 100-plus-person team of strategists, designers, engineers, and delivery specialists builds complex digital platforms for organizations across several industries. Following its 2022 acquisition of Doctus, Adage expanded its presence in Colombia, including a development hub in Medellín.

Adage began working with IMMERSE in 2025 to help its Colombia-based employees strengthen the English skills they need for job-related communication with U.S.-based managers.

Language need

Adage's Colombia-based employees work closely with managers and teams in the United States. That day-to-day collaboration puts English at the center of how projects move forward. Employees need the skills to communicate clearly about job-related matters in meetings, project discussions, presentations, support interactions, and written communication.

Client challenge

Adage had already tried both online and face-to-face English training, but neither approach closed the gap between language knowledge and confident real-time communication. Employees needed an approach that would not only build English skills but also translate those skills into effective communication in real workplace situations. Critically, this included helping them overcome the lack of confidence that can make live communication difficult.

Adage was not looking for employees simply to progress from level to level. The goal was for them to reach the point where they could communicate clearly and independently with U.S.-based managers and teams, in a program they could use consistently alongside their work.

“We realized that we weren't finding enough engagement and consistency with the online approach. The face-to-face provider helped strengthen basic skills and knowledge, but we still noticed a significant gap in real fluency and progress.”

— Cristian Gaviria, Senior People & Culture Specialist at Adage Technologies

Solution

Adage chose IMMERSE to give employees three complementary ways to build workplace English: live instruction in shared interactive 3D environments, educator-designed AI lessons, and self-paced speaking practice.

In live classes, employees practiced real-time conversations as avatars. This provided a low-pressure way to gain exposure to different speakers and accents. Dynamic, educator-designed AI lessons and practice kept activities responsive to individual learners.

Rather than merely practicing English, employees worked through the kinds of communication situations they faced at Adage, including meetings, presentations, and communication with U.S.-based managers and teams. This centered the experience on the functional communication employees needed to perform their jobs effectively.

“At first, when I needed to speak with the U.S. team, I needed someone to help me translate. Now I can attend meetings on my own.”

— Willian Pabon, Senior Mobile Developer at Adage Technologies

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Organizational impact

In its first year, Adage's employees in Colombia logged 875 hours of study across live classes, AI lessons, and asynchronous practice, including taking 569 trainer-led classes.

Workplace communication improves

More importantly, learners carried those skills into their work, and managers noticed.

“Our managers are saying that they're seeing better contact of our employees with the client, better communication, better estimations, and better solutions.”

— Cristian Gaviria, Senior People & Culture Specialist at Adage Technologies

The June 2026 learner survey showed how the learners' language gains were showing up on the job:

86%

reported a moderate to strong positive impact on collaboration across teams and regions

86%

said they applied their learning to real workplace situations

71%

said colleagues or managers noticed improvements in their language skills

Beyond the figures, learners pointed to real gains in everyday tasks. They reported feeling more at ease reading and writing business emails and documents, taking part in virtual meetings, and holding conversations at work.

Productivity gains translate into business value

We connect communication gains to business performance

The productivity gains also translated into measurable business value. Learners reported saving an average of 2.2 hours per week as improved communication skills helped them work more efficiently. Across the participating cohort, IMMERSE estimated those savings at 1,710 hours of regained productivity annually—the equivalent of approximately 0.8 full-time employees.

Based on the annual program investment and an assumed $50,000 FTE cost, IMMERSE calculated an estimated 6.7× return on investment.

6.7x estimated ROI*

• about 2.2 hours saved per learner, per week
• approximately 1,710 hours of regained productivity annually

*ROI estimate based on 15 participating employees, annual program investment, and an assumed $50,000 FTE cost.

Why it matters

Adage renewed its partnership with IMMERSE for a second year, continuing a program designed not to keep employees studying a language forever but to help them reach the level of English communication they need to perform their jobs well.

By the time of renewal, some of the original participants had upskilled themselves out of the need for language training at all.

That reflects how Adage, and IMMERSE, think about workplace language development. The goal is not to keep employees progressing from level to level indefinitely. It is to help them communicate clearly and independently in the situations their jobs require.

For Adage, success is not keeping employees in language training forever, it's seeing employees attain the workplace communication capabilities they need.