AI Café Conversations | Leadership Through AI

AI for Executives: How to Lead AI Conversations Without Technical Knowledge

• Sahar the AI whisperer • Season 2 • Episode 4

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Smart, successful professionals everywhere are experiencing a hidden trauma - it's not fear of AI itself, but fear of becoming invisible as technology evolves without them. If you've been nodding along in meetings while secretly panicking, this conversation is your permission slip to admit "I don't get it yet" while still claiming your place at the table.

The latest AI developments are accelerating this anxiety. ChatGPT-5 is launching soon with extended memory and emotional mimicry capabilities. Apple is reportedly in talks with Perplexity, signaling AI's move from optional to essential in every workplace. Claude AI has reached a 100,000 token memory threshold, remembering your communication styles across conversations. These aren't just tech updates – they're reshaping how humans access knowledge.

When we encounter unfamiliar AI terminology, our brain's amygdala fires threat signals, attempting to pull us back to our comfort zone. This isn't weakness; it's neuroscience. The solution isn't pretending to understand, but reframing our approach. Try these three phrases in your next meeting: "Before exploring new tools, can you show me a specific use case where this solved a real problem?" "What's our success metric for this AI implementation?" and "Let's master one AI tool completely before adding complexity." These position you as a strategic leader focused on outcomes, not a tech follower impressed by features.

Your homework: Open any AI platform and use this prompt: "You are my artificial intelligence mentor and coach. Help me understand [your specific challenge] in simple terms." This simple exercise transforms you from someone who talks about AI to someone who uses it. The gap between novice users and those who truly leverage AI's capabilities widens daily – which side will you choose?

You don't need to code or be the most technical person in the room. You need the confidence to lead with curiosity instead of shame. As I share in my new book "Coach's Brain Meets AI," artificial intelligence won't make you less human – it will amplify who you already are. Subscribe to AI Cafe Conversations, share it with someone tired of faking it in AI discussions, and remember: you already have everything you need to lead in the AI age.

Ready to evolve your leadership approach? Grab the free 10-minute AI setup guide in the show notes,


The book "A Coach's Brain Meet AI" with a free pre-sale until July 22nd is here 

https://www.saharandrade.com/ai-coaching-book-pre-order

There are bonuses for $594 value offered with the book till July 20, after that the book will be sold at full value and no bonuses.

 Because in a world of increasing technological noise, people follow what feels real. And that's something no AI can replicate.

Downloaded the free AI starter guide in the show notes and join me for this five-part "Pain to Power" series where we'll build your AI confidence without the technical overwhelm. Subscribe now – your brain is ready for this, even if your inner critic hasn't caught up yet.

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If you have any questions, please email me at: sahar@saharconsulting.com



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Speaker 1:

Hello, hello, hello. This is your host, sahar Andrade. This is AI Cafe Conversations. I know my voice is a little bit cracked today. I don't know what's going on conversations. I know my voice is a little bit cracked today. I don't know what's going on.

Speaker 1:

Anyhow, today is episode four out of season two. This week, in the world of AI, the headlines are darker a little bit than usual. Apple is reportedly in talks to acquire perplexity. Perplexity Chat GPT-5 may arrive with multimodal memory, emotional mimicry and infinite recall. Cloud AI just passed 100,000 contacts.

Speaker 1:

It now remembers everything, and what I hear from you you, my listeners is this I feel like I blinked and ai evolved again without me. If that's how you're feeling tight in the chest, foggy in the brain, ashamed to admit you're still not sure what prompt even means, I want you to stay with me, because this episode is for every leader who has been nodding in an AI meeting while secretly panicking. This is the episode where you stop pretending and start owning our power. Welcome to the AI Cafe Conversations. I'm Sahar, your AI whisperer Conversations. I'm Sahar, your AI whisperer, and this episode might be the one you come back to a month from now and say that's when I stopped hiding.

Speaker 1:

Let's stop talking about this. Why smart people feel stupid in AI spaces or feel that they don't know what they're doing or they don't have no power. Let me name what no one wants to say You're successful, you're smart, intelligent, but in the last six months, ai made you feel irrelevant. That's the trauma no one is naming. That's the trauma no one is talking about. And it's not fear for tech or of tech. It's fear of becoming invisible. We're going through a whole collective change management and what do we do when we feel like we are falling behind? We smile, we not? We screenshot things we don't understand and say I'll read it later. I'm guilty of that sometimes. You should see my collection of pictures on my phone. This episode is your permission slip to say I don't get it yet and I still belong in the room. So what's the truth about changing and what's changing this week? Chat GPT-5. That is launching soon. Sam Altman said, probably by the summer. We're already end of June.

Speaker 1:

Right, confirmed features include extended memory, real-time multimodal conversation, ability to mimic tone and emotional tone recognition, translation what does that mean? All the big words right? Ai is getting better at sounding human. Your response Stay more human than ever. Apple and perplexity rumors. Apple and perplexity integration. Apple is building AI-powered search directly into its ecosystem.

Speaker 1:

This is not just tech news people. It's a signal that AI artificial intelligence is moving from optional to essential in every workplace. This signals a battle, for now humans access knowledge and it's only just the beginning. Cloud 100,000 token memory it now processes entire documents, long threads, and remembers your communication and writing styles across conversations. The opportunity train it to sound like you on your best day, which means if you don't lead the narrative, the AI will.

Speaker 1:

Let me add a little bit of neuroscience about that. You know I'm a neuroscience addict. So when you hear terms like tokens and context windows, your survival center, your amygdala or your brain alarm system fires a threat signal because the brain perceives a danger coming to you, so it wants to protect you, to pull you back in your comfort zone. That's not weakness, that's your brain protecting you, like I said, from perceived dangers. Acknowledge it, Then choose to engage anyway. So what do we do? We don't freeze, we frame. Remember fearless doesn't mean that you don't have any fear. Fearless means that you act despite of fear.

Speaker 1:

So let's walk into these meetings ready. Let's talk now on how to talk in an AI meeting without faking it. I don't believe in to fake until you make it. I believe in fake it till you become it. Till we engrave these habits in our brain, we gain new habits. Neuroplasticity at its best and these habits become automatic. After that we create new things that actually help us. You know what they say it takes six to eight weeks to gain a new habit. If we do it the same way over and over, it's like building new pathways, building new freeways in our brain.

Speaker 1:

So here are three phrases that position you as the strategic leader, not the tech follower. One before we explore new tools, can you show me one specific use case where this solved the real problem? This will move the conversation from hype to results. This grounds abstract talk into real business. Number two what's our success metric for this AI implementation and how will we know it's working in 30 days? Kpis right. This shows you thinking business outcomes, not tech features. This recenters the conversation around results, not novelty. Number three let's master one AI tool completely before we add complexity. What's our pilot approach? What does this do? This demonstrates strategic focus and protects your team from overwhelm. This shows strategic focus and protects your team from tech burnout and fear the pro tip here after asking these questions, stay quiet, let the tech enthusiast fill the silence.

Speaker 1:

You just became the adult in the room, so let me give you a five minute. Ai confidence builder. Want to walk into tomorrow's meeting with actual ai experience? Here is your homework tonight open chat, gpt, open perplexity, open cloud, open perplexity, open cloud any of your preferred AI platform and ask you are my artificial intelligence mentor and coach.

Speaker 1:

Help me understand and then insert your biggest work challenge in simple terms. It be tokens, it could be contacts, it could be prompt, it could be prompt engineering, it could be prompt training, it could be how to build a prompt. Don't edit the prompt, just do this. You are my artificial intelligence mentor and coach. Help me understand and again, your biggest short work challenge in simple terms. You can even say explain it like if I was a high schooler, or 12 years old, or 16 years old, whatever you want that it will give it to you in very simple terms. You can even say avoid tech terms or avoid jargon, industry. So this is all that can help you with that. Read the response, notice what's useful, what's not. No like, don't try to make everything perfect. Okay, just write it hit, send, look at the response, notice what's useful and what's not for you.

Speaker 1:

Tomorrow you will walk into meetings knowing you're actually, you have actually used ai, not just talking about it, maybe steps. That's the difference between faking confidence and building it. Let me tell you something real like. I'm about real talk. Let me get you an emotional gut punch, if you want to call it. You are not invisible. You're not here is what I know. You have a brilliant brain, a career, a life you built with your bare hands. You don't need to code I don't. I'm not a techie. You don't need to be the most technical person in the room. You just need the confidence to lead with questions, not shame.

Speaker 1:

That's what we're doing with this podcast AI Cafe Conversations. They're just conversations. That's what our book is about. That's why I put everything I know in a book, because I know a lot of people are struggling right now with AI. They either struggling or they denying they're struggling or they are just doing it. They think they're experts and they just put a couple of words and get results that don't get them anywhere. They're actually hurting themselves. The gap between novice AI users and people that really know how to use is becoming wider. Every single day, people are using AI or chat, gpt like a Google search, like a calculator. When they have a super duper, very intelligent computer, you're not even scratching the surface and that's why I wrote my book. That is Coach's Brain Meets AI, and that's what AI conversation is Not just a show, but a space for reinvention, because when leaders like you rise with humility and clarity, guess what happened? Everyone in the room breathes easier. So you know.

Speaker 1:

Every time, I give you some prompts to practice. So the first one again you are my artificial intelligence coach or mentor. You always start with a function before you do anything. This is key to get the proper response. You are framing your platform ai where you want it to be. So you are my artificial trainer or intelligence trainer or artificial intelligence mentor. What's a good AI tool I can introduce to my team to reduce meeting time without increasing complexity? That would be great for you. Prompt number two you are my content creator and leadership expert. Help me draft a message to my leadership team addressing our AI learning curve with transparency and confidence. Prompt number three you are my writing partner and content creator. Give me talking points for a five-minute update on where AI is headed in our industry. Enter your industry. What it is, simplified for a non-tech audience. These prompts are not gimmicks. They are tools of influence. So this is your homework. These are three prompts that you need to practice this week. Put it in the comments for me. What did you learn? What happened? What shift in your brain happened? So I'm so happy to share with you that I finally finished my book coaches brain meat ai uh, it's on pre-sale right now. I'm gonna put the sales page link into the description so I want to share some a little bit an excerpt with it from you.

Speaker 1:

Bella is my ARC guide or my ARC coach throughout the whole book. That shows you where she was to, where she went in her journey. So in our book, bella admits something many coaches won't say. She says I wasn't afraid of AI replacing me. I was afraid people would find out. I didn't know what I was doing. That's what broke her and that's what helped her also to rise.

Speaker 1:

Ai didn't make her less human. It made her own humanity out loud. Ai is not going to take your place. Ai will amplify who you are, will make you more human. If you are a good coach, it will amplify who you are, will make you more human. If you are a good coach, it will amplify your skills. If you're not, it will amplify what you are. So I want you to reflect on these questions till we meet next week.

Speaker 1:

What's one meeting where you faked understanding this week? Where can you lead with curiosity next time? What story are you telling yourself about being behind and who gave you that script? You don't need a masterclass. You need a moment of honesty. You already have everything you need to lead in the AI age. You just forgot to give yourself permission. So give yourself the permission. Give yourself the permission to not knowing for now. Give yourself the permission, the vulnerability, to ask for help. Give yourself permission to start learning from scratch and it's okay. This was your reminder today.

Speaker 1:

Please subscribe to AI cafe conversations. That will help us a lot with the engines, with the SEO. Share it with someone that needs to hear it in non-tech words. Pre-order the book. I would really love that. It's built for leaders who lead with humanity, not technology. Download the free AI startup guide. I'm also putting the link below in the description.

Speaker 1:

Please share this episode with someone who's tired of nodding in AI meetings while secretly panicking Someone who deserves to stop faking it and start leading in the AI page or AI age Next episode next week. The coaches mirror what ai reveals about who you really are. This is not just a mic drop. It's a heart opener. This is sahar, your ai whisperer. Until we meet next time. If you want to get hold of me, please email me at sahar at saharconsultingcom or comment below. Please become one of our subscribers. We have one episode every week. I would love to hear from you if you want me to talk about anything special. If you want to be interviewed on my podcast, email me at sahar at saharconsultingcom. Till we meet again, keep getting curious about AI.