October 20, 2026 · Jess Pischel
This edition of The Human First Brief covers four habits that help teams get real value from AI without losing the human parts of the work.
Fix the process before you automate it. A lot of businesses feel pressure to "do something with AI," so they buy a tool and point it at whatever process they already have. If that process was confusing, AI just makes the confusion happen faster. The better order is to understand how the work actually flows, let AI take the repetitive tasks like data entry and summarizing notes, and then put the time you get back into the moments that need a person. A grieving family, a service recovery, real recognition for an employee, or a hard conversation should never go to a bot.
Before you automate anything, ask three questions. Does it happen often? Does it follow a pattern? Can you catch mistakes before a customer sees them? If the answer to all three is yes, it is a good candidate. If not, keep a human on it. AI should take the busywork, not the relationship.
Let Copilot read the 15-reply email thread first. If your team uses Microsoft 365, here is a small habit worth building. In Outlook, click Summarize at the top of the thread. Then ask Copilot: "List the decisions already made, the open questions, and who owns each next step. Flag anything that needs my response today." You walk into the conversation informed instead of guessing. It is a small win, and small wins are how teams build trust in AI.
Tell AI to ask you questions before it writes. Most AI drafts miss because the person asking left out the context that lives in their head. Add this to the end of your next request in ChatGPT, Claude, or Copilot: "Before you write anything, ask me up to 5 questions, one at a time, about what you need to know to do this well. Wait for my answers, then draft." Two minutes of answering questions saves the rewrite, and the message lands better because it reflects what is actually going on.
Learning and development teams can start this week. At a recent talent development event, we talked about where AI fits in L&D work. Paste in survey comments or interview notes and ask AI to group the themes. Turn a rough outline into learning objectives and a module structure, then edit. Ask it to play learners who would usually ask tough questions and poke holes in your material. Summarize open-ended learner feedback so you see patterns, not just averages. The common thread is that AI does the first draft and your expertise decides what is right for your learners.
Your next step: Pick one process your team repeats every week and write down each step as it really happens. Run the three questions on it. If it passes, try one AI habit from this article on the first step. If you want help with that, book a discovery call below.
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