Charlotte Davies has been a copywriter her whole life. She wrote through a cancer diagnosis alone in a Thai hospital. She wrote student newspapers as a kid. Writing is who she is. So when people started asking her whether AI was going to take her job, it didn't feel like a career question. It felt like an existential one. 

In this conversation, recorded live with Edward Vitalis, CEO of Invictus Education Trust, Charlotte and Paul Estes go somewhere most AI conversations don't: what it actually feels like to be human in a world that's changing faster than we can process.

It's a conversation about what we risk losing if we're not paying attention, in our schools, in our families, and in ourselves. Paul shares why he's banned algorithmic content in his house (yes, including YouTube), Charlotte unpacks the unsettling idea that AI might be shrinking our world rather than expanding it, and Edward pushes both guests on what leaders and educators should actually do about it.

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Producer: David Grabowski | Theme Music: Aleksey Chistilin

Career coach and author Ozlem Brooke Erol spent years chasing the formula: good grades, impressive company name, solid title, only to feel completely hollow inside. In this candid conversation with Paul Estes, Brooke traces the history of work itself and makes the case that the systems are failing us, not the other way around. Her new book, You're More Than a Paycheck, is part permission slip, part workbook.

If you've ever woken up Sunday night with dread already setting in, this episode is for you.

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Producer: David Grabowski | Theme Music: Aleksey Chistilin

Think about the last time you saw a company's marketing and actually felt something more than mild interest.

Chances are you're struggling to come up with one. And that's not an accident.

Vi Wickam has spent 30 years in digital marketing, helping companies fix this mistake. His premise is simple and kind of uncomfortable: honest marketing always wins, most companies aren't doing it, and AI is about to make the gap between the two a whole lot wider.

But this conversation goes deeper than marketing. Vi and Paul get into something most people don't want to sit with: your creative thinking might be slowly dying. You probably haven't noticed because your social media feed has been doing your thinking for you. Just one example from the episode: Paul Simon didn't stay creative by consuming more of the same thing. He listened to different music. That’s it. And if that sounds too simple to matter, that's exactly the problem.

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Producer: David Grabowski | Theme Music: Aleksey Chistilin

I spent an hour with Diana Wu David, a top 10 global futurist who advises Fortune 500s on what's next. She told me 95% of workers see value in using AI, but they don't trust their companies to ensure positive outcomes for them.

So people automate parts of their job in secret. They become what Diana calls "secret cyborgs."

We've created an environment where being more productive is something you have to hide. And the organizations that are actually succeeding with AI aren’t the ones with the biggest budgets, they're the ones doing "job crafting"—redesigning work in partnership with employees, not imposing AI from above.

Diana also dropped a brutal insight on how AI gets adopted (poorly) at scale, why AI is making everyone busier, and the one skill your kids actually need in the AI age.

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Subscribe to the Expert Intelligence podcast so you don't miss future conversations with leaders at the forefront of technological transformation. Each episode brings you practical insights to navigate our rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Kevin Henrikson has built and sold companies for hundreds of millions, scaled teams at Microsoft and Instacart, and now runs an AI healthcare startup—and he called complete bullshit on the productivity myth we've all been sold.

The most unmovable meeting on his calendar? 8 PM: GO TO SLEEP. When people want late meetings, he says no. When he travels, his admin moves the sleep block. In his 20s, he was the "code until 2 AM" guy. Now? He protects his ability to think like his business depends on it. Because it does.

But the biggest insight that stuck with me: "If you got in a car accident tomorrow and had to be out for three days, you'd cancel everything. People would understand. You need to give yourself permission to have that car accident periodically."

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In a world drowning in AI-generated content, Joe Lazer is betting his career on the one skill machines can't replicate: authentic storytelling. The author of The Storytelling Edge and creator of a popular Substack newsletter walked away from an executive role at a fast-growing startup to pursue what he calls humanity's most essential superpower. In this candid conversation with Paul Estes, Joe reveals why he left stability to write his second book, how he built and sold his first media company, and why the "vortex of mid" is sucking the soul out of modern content.

Understanding which skills will matter when machines can do almost everything else is crucial. Joe shares his framework for using AI ethically in the creative process, explains why neural coupling makes storytelling our most powerful business tool, and offers a radically different vision for preparing the next generation. From the neuroscience of oxytocin to the reputational damage of AI slop, learn why mastering storytelling might be the ultimate competitive advantage in an AI-saturated world.

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What happens when you realize the career you're in isn't your future? For Alyson Griffin, that moment launched a three-decade journey from Silicon Valley PR agencies to becoming the marketing force behind State Farm's Emmy-nominated Super Bowl campaign and Intel's Cannes Lions-winning drone light show. In this revealing conversation with Paul Estes, Alyson shares how she navigated a dramatic career pivot, brought humanity to one of America's most iconic insurance brands, and is now leading her team through the AI revolution.

From experimenting with AI-generated creative attempts that hilariously failed to building Jake from State Farm into a cultural phenomenon, Alyson offers a masterclass in balancing innovation with authenticity. She opens up about surviving breast cancer in the midst of her executive-level career, and how State Farm's risk-averse culture is learning to embrace cutting-edge technology. Whether you're considering a career transition or leading teams through technological change, this episode delivers actionable wisdom wrapped in honest storytelling.

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Producer: David Grabowski

While headlines scream about AI replacing call center jobs, Chris Dumpleton reveals a different reality. As an executive at Limitless Technology, he's spent 20 years in telecom and contact centers—today he shares why organizations struggle to implement AI cost-cutting measures and how the gig economy model can create better outcomes for both companies and customers.

With a storied career that includes helping eBay increase seller revenue by 24% using peer-to-peer expert coaching, Chris discusses how Limitless Technology evolved from "taking the Uber business model to contact centers" to becoming a key player in AI training through RLHF (Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback). Chris explains why outcome-based pricing creates better incentives than traditional employment models and how the same platform that connects customers with brand experts is now connecting AI companies with the specialized knowledge workers needed to train sophisticated language models.

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Tom Davenport has been watching technology transformations for over 30 years, and he's not joining the AI hype wagon. As a distinguished professor at Babson College and author of 27+ books, Tom brings hard-earned wisdom to the AI conversation that's refreshingly realistic. While Silicon Valley promises instant transformation and a job apocalypse, Tom reveals why real AI success requires the unglamorous work of process redesign, patient leadership, and years of persistent effort.

In this eye-opening conversation, Tom debunks the myth that AI will eliminate 50% of white-collar jobs while sharing practical insights on how organizations can actually capture value from AI. From his "super tech leader" framework to the critical mistake of not planning for entry-level hiring, Tom provides a clear and realistic vision of AI's true potential and timeline.

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Brea Starmer helped build the future of work out of necessity. As founder of Lions and Tigers, she's unlocking millions in economic opportunity for independent workers, particularly women navigating caregiving responsibilities. When Brea was laid off seven months pregnant, facing workplace discrimination, and having to choose between career ambition and family flexibility, she discovered that the traditional employment system simply wasn't designed for people like her.

What started as personal survival—self-funding her own maternity leave by billing 60 hours a week for 13 weeks—evolved into a movement reshaping how enterprises think about workforce planning. Brea's vision of "no more layoffs" is a practical blueprint for using blended teams of employees and independent workers to build more resilient, flexible organizations that can adapt to rapid change without devastating human costs.

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