Why AI Training Is Failing: Neuroscience Insights & Human-Centered AI for Executives

Welcome to AI Café Conversations — where neuroscience meets AI for executives.

In this Forbes Edition, Sahar Andrade explores why so much AI training is failing leaders. The problem isn’t a lack of tools. It’s that most programs ignore the way our brains learn, resist, and adapt.

Through neuroscience and leadership insights, Sahar reveals why executives don’t need coding to succeed with AI. She shares how AI coaching tools for executives can close the gap between resistance and adoption, bringing clarity, trust, and performance back into leadership.

💡 What you’ll learn in this episode:
✓ Why traditional AI training fails to stick in real organizations
✓ Neuroscience-backed strategies to help executives adopt AI without fear
✓ How human-centered AI frameworks build connection, not confusion
✓ Practical ways to integrate AI into executive coaching and leadership development

This episode is designed for executives, HR professionals, and coaches who see the urgency of AI adoption but want it to align with human connection, not replace it.

Email me at sahar@saharconsulting.com with questions or topic suggestions for future episodes.

 My book "The Coach's Brain Meets AI" is available on Amazon, and I'll send extra guides if you email me after purchasing. Follow me on LinkedIn (Sahar Andrade) and Instagram (Sahar the Reinvent Coach). 

Subscribe now to start transforming your leadership with Human-Centered AI!

If you have any questions Email me at sahar@saharconsulting.com

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Introduction
• 1:06 Why AI Training Is Failing
• 2:19 Understanding Your Brain on AI Overload
• 4:05 The Real Problem: Enablement, Not Desire
• 6:15 Blueprint for Successful AI Adoption
• 8:56 Closing Thoughts and Contact Information

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:13

Hello, hello, hello and welcome back to the AI Cafe Conversations, your favorite podcast. This is Sahar Andrade, your AI whisperer. This podcast is where neuroscience meets AI for executives. Like I said, I'm Sahar. I'm a Forbes coach, counsel, influencer and executive coach.

Speaker 1: 0:35

Today I want to explore a truth many leaders feel, but rarely say out loud AI training is failing. I know no one wants to hear that, but you know me, I go. I don't sugarcoat stuff. I tell you as it is. I look at the pros and cons. I'm a big, big, big AI advocate and that's why I want to make sure that we'll look at it with open eye and learn about it as much as we can, the right way. So, not because executives don't care, not because technology is too advanced, but because the way we teach AI ignores the very basic thing that makes leadership human, and it's how our brain learn, resist and adapt. So in this episode episode, we will uncover the neuroscience of learning in leadership, why most AI training programs collapse under pressure and how executives can adopt AI without needing technical expertise. This is not about coding it. It's about clarity, courage and connection. This is based on one of the Forbes articles that I have written lately, and it was titled why your AI Training is Failing. Hope you enjoy it.

Speaker 2: 1:59

Let's be honest Right now, companies are throwing millions, even billions of dollars into artificial intelligence. But you know, behind all the slick branding and the big, splashy promises, something is going really, really wrong. The training it's just failing. You know one leadership coach, after sitting in on a pretty tense AI rollout meeting, he just he nailed it. He said they built the spaceship but they forgot the ground control. And that single metaphor. It explains just about everything that's going wrong with AI adoption today. And what happens when you don't have that ground control. What are you left with? Well, you get this eerie, uncomfortable quiet, the kind of quiet that's just filled with confusion and the sense of shame for not getting it, and a silence from the very people you need to be innovating. So let's really dig into this scenario this beautiful, high-tech spaceship with absolutely no ground control. Okay, so picture this. You've probably seen it A company launches a huge AI initiative. They give it a cool, ambitious name, something like Project Apollo. You've got the inspiring keynotes, the cross-functional task forces, a massive budget, the energy is electric, the vision is aimed right at the moon. But then fast forward, just two months, the rocket it's stalling. Adoption has completely flatlined, as one VP in the source article. Put it honestly, I think everyone's just pretending they know what they're doing. Wow, does that sound a little too familiar?

Speaker 2: 3:34

This whole scenario is a perfect example of what experts are calling a strategic freefall. It's that moment when a brilliant technical moonshot just doesn't have the basic human infrastructure to succeed. Without clear communication and emotional readiness, most AI strategies right now are in a total freefall. But why? Why does this keep happening? To understand that we have to go deeper than just business strategy, we've got to look at what's actually happening inside our own heads. Let's talk about your brain on AI overload. So when your team doesn't adopt that shiny new AI tool, what do you see? Is your first thought resistance, or maybe laziness? Or could it be something much, much deeper, something biological? And this is where the wires get crossed. Later, see what looks like laziness or maybe even stubbornness, but inside that employee's brain, it is a completely different story. This is not a character flaw. It's a biological survival mode, kicking in, fight, flight or, in this case, a whole lot of freeze. So here's what's actually happening on a biological level. When a person is overwhelmed by a big change, one that maybe makes them feel obsolete, their brain senses massive uncertainty. The amygdala, that's the brain's alarm system. It hijacks all logical thought. The prefrontal cortex, which is what you need for planning and learning, it basically shuts down. This isn't resistance, it's a state of neurological dysregulation. And this neurological reality? It points to the single biggest blind spot for leadership right now. It all leads us to the one question that leaders are completely missing. Now this is where we find the real problem, and the data couldn't be clearer. People are not the problem. Get this Excitement for AI has literally doubled in just six months.

Speaker 2: 5:23

Almost half of employees are eager to use it. The problem isn't desire, it's enablement. Over half of knowledge workers admit they have no idea how to use it, or even what to use it for. So why don't they know how Well it's?

Speaker 2: 5:37

Because most AI training isn't actually training, it's just a content dump. You know these one-size-fits-all webinars and endless slide decks that just check a compliance box. It's like handing your team a spaceship manual written in a foreign language and then asking them to launch. It's not empowerment, it's abandonment, and this creates a culture of total silence. The result it's just like that quote says Everyone's wearing noise-canceling headphones. Marketing has no clue what sales is doing with AI. Middle managers are way too afraid to admit they're confused. Everyone is just isolated in their own uncertainty.

Speaker 2: 6:13

So this means leaders have to stop asking, did they complete the training? And start asking a much more powerful question what emotional state is my AI rollout actually creating in my workforce? Because behavior always follows emotion. It's a simple but incredibly powerful equation. If your team feels curious, empowered and psychologically safe, they're going to explore, they'll practice, they'll share what they learn. But if they feel incompetent, afraid and alone, they're going to hide, freeze and disengage, and no software platform on earth can override that fundamental human truth. Okay, so that's the problem. I know it's big, it's messy and it's very human, but there is a way forward.

Speaker 2: 6:52

So let's look at a blueprint that actually works. This is it. This is the ground control manual. And notice, it starts with the human.

Speaker 2: 7:00

First, you have to regulate the nervous system Before you even talk about prompts. You got to address the fear and normalize the confusion. Second, make it personal. Forget the abstract theory. Training has to be role-based solving a real problem for someone today. Third, create internal champions. Find those naturally curious people in your org and empower them to teach their peers. That's always more effective than a top-down mandate. Fourth, tie AI to identity. You have to frame this not as a tool for more output, but as a way to enhance their unique expertise and value.

Speaker 2: 7:30

And finally, number five, and this one's huge lead with vulnerability. Leaders have to model the learning process. Admit they don't have all the answers. That is what creates safety for everyone else. And let's just double click on that second step because it's just so important.

Speaker 2: 7:44

The mantra here should be this Think 15-minute transformations, not three-hour theory. Don't just teach abstract AI skills. Train specific use cases. Show a marketer how to generate 10 versions of ad copy in seconds. Show a manager how to use AI to summarize dense meeting notes. Make it real, practical and something they can use immediately. So as we start to wrap this up, it becomes really clear that we've been looking at this entire challenge through completely the wrong lens, because the real transformation here it isn't technological at all. Your AI transformation isn't a software problem, it's a human one. It's stalling not because the tech is bad, but because your people don't feel psychologically safe enough to try to fail and ultimately, to grow with it. So the final question for every single leader out there is this you built the spaceship. It's impressive, it's powerful, but will you take the time to build the ground control?

Speaker 1: 8:46

That was today's Forbes edition of AI Cafe Conversation. Like I always say, this is an extra flavor, this is an extra cup of coffee for you. This is not my regular episode. That is usually on Wednesdays. So if you are an executive, hr professional or coach, remember this AI training does not need to be technical to be transformational. With neuroscience insights and AI coaching tools for executives, you can bridge the gap between what your team fears and what your leadership demands. Thank you for listening. Share this episode with a leader who's ready to grow. Show me some love, like it, share it, comment and join me next week on our regular episode on Wednesday, as we keep brewing conversations that bring humanity back into AI leadership.

Speaker 1: 9:47

This is Sahar Andrade, your AI whisperer. If you have any questions, any comments, I would love to hear them, please. You can reach me on my LinkedIn profile, sahar Andrade. You can reach me on my Instagram, sahar the Reinvent Coach, or you can email me at sahar, at saharconsultingcom. I would have all this information in down below in the description. I would love to hear from you and for now, I will tell you. See you next Wednesday.