The Hidden Work Behind Doing AI Well
We talk a lot about how AI will make our work easier, faster, more efficient.
And to a degree, it does.
But in my work with leaders and teams inside both early-stage and well-established AI companies, there’s something I’ve noticed lingering in the periphery. Something that often gets overlooked, even by the people building these technologies.
What limits or unlocks the potential of AI has surprisingly little to do with AI itself.
It has everything to do with the humans using it.
Specifically, how well we understand what we value, how we make decisions, and what systems we’re operating within… consciously or unconsciously.
Most of us are still learning the tools.
Few of us have spent equal time learning ourselves.
What do I actually value?
What beliefs are shaping how I show up and lead?
What systems am I reinforcing, bypassing, or unconsciously embedded in?
How do I define what “good” looks like. And where did that definition come from?
These aren’t philosophical detours. They’re strategic questions.
Because the people and organizations who will get the most from AI are not the ones who use it the fastest. They’re the ones who know what they’re aligning it to.
This is the hard part…
Not prompt crafting. Not workflow automation.
But self-clarity.
If we don’t invest there, we risk using AI to accelerate misalignment.
To polish ideas we didn’t fully think through.
To amplify what we’ve never actually questioned.
So if you’re trying to figure out how to “get better with AI,” consider this:
Invest as much time understanding yourself as you do understanding the tools.
That might be the greatest advantage we have.