August 6, 2025 • 17 mins
95% of employees want AI tools. Only 34% trust their leaders to deploy them effectively. This trust contradiction is destroying AI transformations across Fortune 500 companies - and the solution lies in understanding the neuroscience of leadership credibility.
Discover why your team secretly uses ChatGPT while publicly resisting your AI strategy. Learn the neural patterns behind employee skepticism and the three neuroscience-backed strategies that rebuild trust in AI leadership.
What you'll learn:
- The real reason AI adoption fails (it's not technology resistance)
- How executive brains trigger employee trust assessment modes
- Why 65% of leaders admit lacking AI transformation expertise
- Neural frameworks for human-centered AI implementation
- The leadership behaviors that activate team confidence in AI decisions
Perfect for: CEOs, executives, AI leaders, and coaches navigating digital transformation complexity.
Featured insights: Fortune 500 case studies, neuroscience research, and practical strategies for becoming an AI leader your team actually wants to follow.
Transform from AI fumbler to trusted AI leader. Your team's neural systems are evaluating your every AI decision - make sure you pass the test.
Email me for comments or questions sahar@saharconsulting.com
To order my book The Coach's brain Meets AI -
#AIleadership #executiveAItraining #AItransformationtrust #neuroscienceleadership #humancenteredAI #AIcoaching #digitaltransformationpsychology #AItoolsforexecutives #AIforexecutives #neuroscience #AICoachingtoolsforexecutives #AIleadershipdevelopmentforcoaches #AI #Artificialintelligence #learningpodcast
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
1, 2, 3, 4.
Mona started at the employeesurvey results.
The data made no sensewhatsoever.
Question number one Do you wantmore AI tools in your daily
(00:27):
work?
87% said yes.
Her team wanted AI.
They just didn't trust her todeploy it.
(00:50):
That's when Mona realizedsomething that is happening in
boardrooms across America thebiggest barrier to AI success is
not technology resistance.
It's leadership credibility.
Your employees are not afraidof AI.
They are afraid of you messingit up.
(01:13):
Today we are diving into theneuroscience of the trust
contradiction and howunderstanding your team's neural
reality can transform you fromAI fumbler to AI leader they
actually want to follow.
(01:33):
This is Sahar Andrade.
I am your AI whisperer and thisis episode 10 of season two,
and I know, I know.
I know, I know I'm late, I knowI'm a few hours late from the
regular broadcast time that wehave, but for a very good reason
, so let me share it with you.
My new book, the Coach's BrainMeets AI, is due to be released
(01:57):
on Friday.
The e-book is on presale I'mgoing to put the link into the
description and this morning Iwoke up to the very great
surprise on being the number onenew release in ebooks in amazon
the number one rated newrelease on amazon and we are
(02:21):
leading in three categories asbestsellers.
We are number three in businessethics, we are number six in
expert systems and we are numbersix in educational professional
development.
(02:42):
That's off today, wednesday the6th, and we are not even
launched yet.
It's not going to be launchedtill the 8th, so I just wanted
to share that, so my apologiesif I have been late today.
So, going back to what we weretalking about, about how there
is what I call the trustcontradiction and I wanted to
(03:02):
check with you the neuralreality check Let me share
what's really happening in yourorganization right now.
Your marketing team is secretlyusing chat GPT for content
creation.
Your sales team has AI toolsbookmarked your operations.
(03:23):
People are watching AIautomation videos on YouTube
during lunch, but when youannounce the official AI
strategy, they go quiet, armscrossed, skeptical faces, body
language, anyone.
This is not AI resistance.
(03:44):
This is leadership assessment.
Recent research shows 95% ofemployees value working with AI,
but they don't trustorganizational leader to
implement it in a thoughtful way.
Meanwhile, 65% of executivesadmit they lack the expertise
(04:07):
for AI transformation.
Your team's neural systems arerunning a trust audit every time
you mention AI.
Here is what their brains arecalculating.
Does our leader understand thistechnology calculating?
(04:27):
Does our leader understand thistechnology?
Will they protect our interestsor just chase efficiency?
Can they navigate thecomplexity without creating
chaos?
The contradiction is real.
They want the tool, theyquestion the deployer and,
honestly, their neuralskepticism might be protecting
your organization from expertisemistakes.
(04:53):
Now I'm going to discuss themultiple neural realities.
Now you might be thinkingdidn't we talk in another
episode about AI resistancebefore?
And I know we did.
You can go back and check it.
My team seems stressed about AIimplementation and we had a
whole episode about that.
(05:14):
It's still valid, but here isthe neural complexity that most
AI podcasts won't tell you.
Multiple realities exist in asimultaneous way.
Your marketing director mightbe begging for AI copywriting
(05:34):
tools while your HR manager ishaving anxiety attacks about AI
bias in hiring.
Your CEO might see AI as profitoptimization while your team
leads worry about job security.
All these emotions areneurologically valid and
(05:58):
remember, all emotions are valid, period.
This is why cookie-cutter AIstrategies fail.
You're not dealing with onenervous system.
You're orchestrating dozens ofdifferent neural responses to
the same technology.
Some brains are firing dopamineat AI possibilities
(06:19):
happy-go-lucky.
Others are triggering amygdalaprotection responses.
Cortisol is flooding theirbrain.
You know cortisol equals whatwe said it before Equals break
Breaks.
On everything that you do, mostare doing both again in a
(06:44):
simultaneous way.
My role as an AI neurosciencepodcaster isn't to give you
simple answers.
It's to help you map thecomplete neural territory your
leadership needs to navigate.
Real AI transformation requiresunderstanding this complexity,
(07:05):
not pretending it does not exist.
So let's talk about the trustbreakdown.
Let me show you what trustbreakdown looks like at the
neural level.
Again, we go to the root.
We treat the root, we treat theissue better than going to
symptoms, putting a Band-Aid andthe symptoms will always go
(07:29):
back.
The symptoms will always goback when employees don't trust
leadership.
With AI, their brains activatethreat detection systems alarm
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
They start pattern matching fordangerous signals.
Remember and also discomfortand danger.
(07:51):
Our brain feel them the sameway or synthesizes them the same
way Discomfort or danger.
So when they start the patternmatching for danger signals,
this is what happened.
Leader uses AI buzzwordswithout demonstrating
understanding.
(08:11):
Promises efficiency gainswithout addressing job impact
concerns.
Implement AI tools withoutproper training or support
systems.
Makes decisions about AIwithout consulting people who
will use it daily and will beaffected by it, will use it
daily and will be affected by it.
Each red flag mentionedstrengthens their neural
(08:36):
conviction that this person doesnot know what they're doing.
I consulted with the Fortune 100company, where the CEO
announced an AI transformationinitiative Beautiful PowerPoint,
impressive vendor partnerships,Clear ROI projections.
(09:05):
Six months later, 17% adoptionrate.
The problem wasn't thetechnology.
The problem was neural.
The workforce has alreadydecided their leadership
couldn't be trusted withsomething this important.
Their brains were protectingthe organization from
incompetent implementationdisguised as innovation.
Sometimes resistance isorganizational intelligence.
(09:28):
So let's discuss the neuralpathway to trust.
But here is where it getsreally interesting.
Trust can be neurologicallyrebuilt.
The executives who successfullynavigate the trust
contradiction understandsomething crucial competence.
(09:50):
Competence creates confidence.
Three neural strategies thatactually work.
Number one first transparentlearning.
Instead of pretending you arean AI expert, acknowledge your
learning journey.
Your brain's mirror neuronsactivate when you see authentic
(10:10):
growth.
Teams trust leaders who admitthey are figuring it out
together.
Second shared control.
Don't impose AI on people.
Involve them in selection,testing and refinement, and
listen to them.
Listen to the people that isgoing to use it or are using it.
(10:30):
Yet teams help choose their eyetool.
Their brains shift from this isbeing done to me to this is
something we are building,because you're giving them a
place or a seat on the table.
You're letting them feel seenand heard.
(10:53):
So when they help you choosetheir AI tools, you get their
buy-in Because now it's theirproject.
This is where theaccountability actually starts.
This is where they take it withpride to be the responsibility
and this is where mostimplementations are missing.
(11:14):
Third, consistent communication, not corporate announcements.
Real conversations aboutconcerns, failures and
adjustments.
Your nervous system needspredictable information flow to
feel safe.
With change, the fortune 100company I mentioned they tried
again with a different approach.
(11:35):
Ceos started using AI tools,publicly shared mistakes and
asked for team input 94%adoption rate in eight months.
Same technology, differentneural approach.
(11:55):
I want to talk a little bitabout the human-centered AI
leader.
I'm big on that.
Here is what I have learnedfrom working with hundreds of
executives navigating AItransformation your technical
knowledge matters less than youremotional intelligence.
The leaders who succeed with AIare not the ones who understand
algorithms.
(12:16):
They are the ones whounderstand nervous systems.
They're not the techies.
They are the human-centeredleaders.
They know that every AIimplementation is actually a
neural change management project.
They recognize that trust isn'tbuilt through presentations.
(12:37):
It's built through consistent,competent behavior.
Over time, they becomehuman-centered AI leaders.
This means making decisionsthat prioritize human
flourishing, not just efficiency.
Two, creating psychologicalsafety for AI experimentation
(12:57):
and failure.
Number three demonstratinggenuine care for how AI affects
real people doing real work.
Number four building competencein AI, not to show off, but to
make better decisions for theirteams.
This is why executives needcoaching specifically designed
(13:19):
for AI leadership, because theskills that made you successful
in the pre-era AI aren'tautomatically sufficient for the
AI transformation era.
Duh, your teams are watching.
Their neural systems areassessing.
(13:39):
They want to trust you withthis powerful technology.
The question is are you becomingworthy of that trust the next
time you are in an AI strategymeeting?
(14:00):
Watch the body language, noticethe micro expressions, feel the
energy in the room.
Like we say, read the room.
Are people not looking at youbut looking somewhere else?
Are people sleeping in theirchairs?
Are they almost daydreaming?
Is someone playing with a pen,with a watch, with a ring?
(14:21):
Do they have their arms closed?
Do you feel like their face?
Their jaws are clenched?
They're not smiling.
All that are micro-expressionsthat you need to look at to read
the room.
You are not just discussingtechnology.
You're being neurologicallyevaluated.
(14:42):
Your team wants AI to succeed.
They want you to succeed, butthey need evidence that you
understand both the technologyand, most importantly, the human
impact of implementing it.
The trust contradiction isn't aproblem to solve.
(15:03):
It's intelligence to leverage.
If you're ready to become an AIleader, your team actually
wants to follow, not just tocomply with that.
Transformation starts withunderstanding the neuroscience
of trust, the neuroscience ofchange and the science of the
(15:27):
human-centered leadership,because AI success is not about
the smartest algorithms, it'sabout the wisest humans
deploying them.
My name is Sahar Andrade.
This is your AI CafeConversations.
Next week we have a treat.
Next week we have an interviewwith one of my very good friends
(15:50):
that is a CEO of a couple ofcompanies.
That is a CEO of a couple ofcompanies and we kind of started
the AI journey together and sheis going to share how AI has
transformed her life and herbusiness and she started even a
new business using AI and I willbe sharing also the news on my
(16:14):
book.
I will be sharing also the newson my book.
So remember, your newleadership journey starts now.
If you have any questions, ifyou have any comments?
Please put them in the commentsdown here.
Show me some love, likesubscribe, share the podcast,
(16:34):
help us in the ranking.
We have been doing great.
We have been like really goingup and up and up and we have
been ranking really well onApple Podcasts and Spotify.
But show me some love.
I would really appreciate it.
If you want me to speak aboutsomething in specific or you
want to ask me questions, pleaseemail me at sahar at sahar
(16:56):
consultingcom.
Sahar at sahar consultingcom,and till we meet, I promise I'm
going to be on time next week.
I wish you the best in yourlife and your in your ai
implementation.
Bye for now.
Implementation.
(17:22):
Bye for now.
1, 2, 3, 4.
Mona started at the employeesurvey results.
The data made no sensewhatsoever.
Question number one Do you wantmore AI tools in your daily
(00:27):
work?
87% said yes.
Her team wanted AI.
They just didn't trust her todeploy it.
(00:50):
That's when Mona realizedsomething that is happening in
boardrooms across America thebiggest barrier to AI success is
not technology resistance.
It's leadership credibility.
Your employees are not afraidof AI.
They are afraid of you messingit up.
(01:13):
Today we are diving into theneuroscience of the trust
contradiction and howunderstanding your team's neural
reality can transform you fromAI fumbler to AI leader they
actually want to follow.
(01:33):
This is Sahar Andrade.
I am your AI whisperer and thisis episode 10 of season two,
and I know, I know.
I know, I know I'm late, I knowI'm a few hours late from the
regular broadcast time that wehave, but for a very good reason
, so let me share it with you.
My new book, the Coach's BrainMeets AI, is due to be released
(01:57):
on Friday.
The e-book is on presale I'mgoing to put the link into the
description and this morning Iwoke up to the very great
surprise on being the number onenew release in ebooks in amazon
the number one rated newrelease on amazon and we are
(02:21):
leading in three categories asbestsellers.
We are number three in businessethics, we are number six in
expert systems and we are numbersix in educational professional
development.
(02:42):
That's off today, wednesday the6th, and we are not even
launched yet.
It's not going to be launchedtill the 8th, so I just wanted
to share that, so my apologiesif I have been late today.
So, going back to what we weretalking about, about how there
is what I call the trustcontradiction and I wanted to
(03:02):
check with you the neuralreality check Let me share
what's really happening in yourorganization right now.
Your marketing team is secretlyusing chat GPT for content
creation.
Your sales team has AI toolsbookmarked your operations.
(03:23):
People are watching AIautomation videos on YouTube
during lunch, but when youannounce the official AI
strategy, they go quiet, armscrossed, skeptical faces, body
language, anyone.
This is not AI resistance.
(03:44):
This is leadership assessment.
Recent research shows 95% ofemployees value working with AI,
but they don't trustorganizational leader to
implement it in a thoughtful way.
Meanwhile, 65% of executivesadmit they lack the expertise
(04:07):
for AI transformation.
Your team's neural systems arerunning a trust audit every time
you mention AI.
Here is what their brains arecalculating.
Does our leader understand thistechnology calculating?
(04:27):
Does our leader understand thistechnology?
Will they protect our interestsor just chase efficiency?
Can they navigate thecomplexity without creating
chaos?
The contradiction is real.
They want the tool, theyquestion the deployer and,
honestly, their neuralskepticism might be protecting
your organization from expertisemistakes.
(04:53):
Now I'm going to discuss themultiple neural realities.
Now you might be thinkingdidn't we talk in another
episode about AI resistancebefore?
And I know we did.
You can go back and check it.
My team seems stressed about AIimplementation and we had a
whole episode about that.
(05:14):
It's still valid, but here isthe neural complexity that most
AI podcasts won't tell you.
Multiple realities exist in asimultaneous way.
Your marketing director mightbe begging for AI copywriting
(05:34):
tools while your HR manager ishaving anxiety attacks about AI
bias in hiring.
Your CEO might see AI as profitoptimization while your team
leads worry about job security.
All these emotions areneurologically valid and
(05:58):
remember, all emotions are valid, period.
This is why cookie-cutter AIstrategies fail.
You're not dealing with onenervous system.
You're orchestrating dozens ofdifferent neural responses to
the same technology.
Some brains are firing dopamineat AI possibilities
(06:19):
happy-go-lucky.
Others are triggering amygdalaprotection responses.
Cortisol is flooding theirbrain.
You know cortisol equals whatwe said it before Equals break
Breaks.
On everything that you do, mostare doing both again in a
(06:44):
simultaneous way.
My role as an AI neurosciencepodcaster isn't to give you
simple answers.
It's to help you map thecomplete neural territory your
leadership needs to navigate.
Real AI transformation requiresunderstanding this complexity,
(07:05):
not pretending it does not exist.
So let's talk about the trustbreakdown.
Let me show you what trustbreakdown looks like at the
neural level.
Again, we go to the root.
We treat the root, we treat theissue better than going to
symptoms, putting a Band-Aid andthe symptoms will always go
(07:29):
back.
The symptoms will always goback when employees don't trust
leadership.
With AI, their brains activatethreat detection systems alarm
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
They start pattern matching fordangerous signals.
Remember and also discomfortand danger.
(07:51):
Our brain feel them the sameway or synthesizes them the same
way Discomfort or danger.
So when they start the patternmatching for danger signals,
this is what happened.
Leader uses AI buzzwordswithout demonstrating
understanding.
(08:11):
Promises efficiency gainswithout addressing job impact
concerns.
Implement AI tools withoutproper training or support
systems.
Makes decisions about AIwithout consulting people who
will use it daily and will beaffected by it, will use it
daily and will be affected by it.
Each red flag mentionedstrengthens their neural
(08:36):
conviction that this person doesnot know what they're doing.
I consulted with the Fortune 100company, where the CEO
announced an AI transformationinitiative Beautiful PowerPoint,
impressive vendor partnerships,Clear ROI projections.
(09:05):
Six months later, 17% adoptionrate.
The problem wasn't thetechnology.
The problem was neural.
The workforce has alreadydecided their leadership
couldn't be trusted withsomething this important.
Their brains were protectingthe organization from
incompetent implementationdisguised as innovation.
Sometimes resistance isorganizational intelligence.
(09:28):
So let's discuss the neuralpathway to trust.
But here is where it getsreally interesting.
Trust can be neurologicallyrebuilt.
The executives who successfullynavigate the trust
contradiction understandsomething crucial competence.
(09:50):
Competence creates confidence.
Three neural strategies thatactually work.
Number one first transparentlearning.
Instead of pretending you arean AI expert, acknowledge your
learning journey.
Your brain's mirror neuronsactivate when you see authentic
(10:10):
growth.
Teams trust leaders who admitthey are figuring it out
together.
Second shared control.
Don't impose AI on people.
Involve them in selection,testing and refinement, and
listen to them.
Listen to the people that isgoing to use it or are using it.
(10:30):
Yet teams help choose their eyetool.
Their brains shift from this isbeing done to me to this is
something we are building,because you're giving them a
place or a seat on the table.
You're letting them feel seenand heard.
(10:53):
So when they help you choosetheir AI tools, you get their
buy-in Because now it's theirproject.
This is where theaccountability actually starts.
This is where they take it withpride to be the responsibility
and this is where mostimplementations are missing.
(11:14):
Third, consistent communication, not corporate announcements.
Real conversations aboutconcerns, failures and
adjustments.
Your nervous system needspredictable information flow to
feel safe.
With change, the fortune 100company I mentioned they tried
again with a different approach.
(11:35):
Ceos started using AI tools,publicly shared mistakes and
asked for team input 94%adoption rate in eight months.
Same technology, differentneural approach.
(11:55):
I want to talk a little bitabout the human-centered AI
leader.
I'm big on that.
Here is what I have learnedfrom working with hundreds of
executives navigating AItransformation your technical
knowledge matters less than youremotional intelligence.
The leaders who succeed with AIare not the ones who understand
algorithms.
(12:16):
They are the ones whounderstand nervous systems.
They're not the techies.
They are the human-centeredleaders.
They know that every AIimplementation is actually a
neural change management project.
They recognize that trust isn'tbuilt through presentations.
(12:37):
It's built through consistent,competent behavior.
Over time, they becomehuman-centered AI leaders.
This means making decisionsthat prioritize human
flourishing, not just efficiency.
Two, creating psychologicalsafety for AI experimentation
(12:57):
and failure.
Number three demonstratinggenuine care for how AI affects
real people doing real work.
Number four building competencein AI, not to show off, but to
make better decisions for theirteams.
This is why executives needcoaching specifically designed
(13:19):
for AI leadership, because theskills that made you successful
in the pre-era AI aren'tautomatically sufficient for the
AI transformation era.
Duh, your teams are watching.
Their neural systems areassessing.
(13:39):
They want to trust you withthis powerful technology.
The question is are you becomingworthy of that trust the next
time you are in an AI strategymeeting?
(14:00):
Watch the body language, noticethe micro expressions, feel the
energy in the room.
Like we say, read the room.
Are people not looking at youbut looking somewhere else?
Are people sleeping in theirchairs?
Are they almost daydreaming?
Is someone playing with a pen,with a watch, with a ring?
(14:21):
Do they have their arms closed?
Do you feel like their face?
Their jaws are clenched?
They're not smiling.
All that are micro-expressionsthat you need to look at to read
the room.
You are not just discussingtechnology.
You're being neurologicallyevaluated.
(14:42):
Your team wants AI to succeed.
They want you to succeed, butthey need evidence that you
understand both the technologyand, most importantly, the human
impact of implementing it.
The trust contradiction isn't aproblem to solve.
(15:03):
It's intelligence to leverage.
If you're ready to become an AIleader, your team actually
wants to follow, not just tocomply with that.
Transformation starts withunderstanding the neuroscience
of trust, the neuroscience ofchange and the science of the
(15:27):
human-centered leadership,because AI success is not about
the smartest algorithms, it'sabout the wisest humans
deploying them.
My name is Sahar Andrade.
This is your AI CafeConversations.
Next week we have a treat.
Next week we have an interviewwith one of my very good friends
(15:50):
that is a CEO of a couple ofcompanies.
That is a CEO of a couple ofcompanies and we kind of started
the AI journey together and sheis going to share how AI has
transformed her life and herbusiness and she started even a
new business using AI and I willbe sharing also the news on my
(16:14):
book.
I will be sharing also the newson my book.
So remember, your newleadership journey starts now.
If you have any questions, ifyou have any comments?
Please put them in the commentsdown here.
Show me some love, likesubscribe, share the podcast,
(16:34):
help us in the ranking.
We have been doing great.
We have been like really goingup and up and up and we have
been ranking really well onApple Podcasts and Spotify.
But show me some love.
I would really appreciate it.
If you want me to speak aboutsomething in specific or you
want to ask me questions, pleaseemail me at sahar at sahar
(16:56):
consultingcom.
Sahar at sahar consultingcom,and till we meet, I promise I'm
going to be on time next week.
I wish you the best in yourlife and your in your ai
implementation.
Bye for now.
Implementation.
(17:22):
Bye for now.
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