The rapid emergence of generative AI is reshaping educational practice by requiring teachers to renegotiate professional roles, competencies, and class-room routines. This study examines how Estonian teachers understand and adopt AI, drawing on survey data from 210 teachers, reflections from 40 trainers and IT-education experts, and a stakeholder focus group conducted in 2025. The analysis deliberately centers on teacher readiness rather than student experiences, treating it as a prerequisite for how AI is framed, regu-lated, and enacted in classrooms. Using the Kübler–Ross change curve and the Concerns-Based Adoption Model, the study maps teachers’ emotional readiness and adoption stages across school types. Results show rapid growth in digital and AI competencies but uneven, largely individual-driven adop-tion, with persistent uncertainty around ethics, academic integrity, and im-plementation. The findings indicate that national initiatives must align more closely with teachers’ foundational needs, emotional readiness, and organiza-tional conditions to enable responsible AI integration by 2026/27.