AI Is Moving Fast. Here’s How I’m Keeping My Footing

“Don’t fear AI taking your job. Fear someone using AI taking it.”

I heard some version of this quote a while back, and I’ve never forgotten it.

Part of me finds it motivating. It makes me want to learn, experiment, and get more comfortable using AI at work. But another part of me thinks: Am I already too far behind to keep up?

At one point, I felt like I was keeping up with AI. Lately, keeping up feels like a job in itself. There are always new tools, new features, and new ways people are using AI to work faster and better.

In leadership development, we often say that if a goal feels too small, it’s easy to procrastinate. If it feels too big, it’s easy to give up.

So, to make navigating AI feel more manageable, I’m releasing the pressure to keep up with every possible way I could use it. Instead, I’m choosing to stay curious and trust that I can learn what I need as I go. For me, that starts with three questions: Where can AI help me? Who can I learn from? And what needs more of me and less AI?

Where Can AI Help Me?

When I first started using AI at work, I had a lot of questions. What tools can I use? What information should never go into AI? What is encouraged? What isn’t?

I wanted an AI policy. Then, when we got one, I was almost nervous to read it. Instead, I felt relieved. It helped me understand why we had a policy, what was prohibited, and what was encouraged.

Understanding those guardrails gave me more freedom to explore. I could spend less time wondering whether I should or could be using AI and more time getting curious about where it could actually help me.

Of course, your organization may not have all those guardrails figured out yet. AI is changing quickly, and many organizations are still working through their policies and expectations. That makes ongoing conversations even more important.

According to Blanchard’s own research, nearly three in 10 employees (29%) identified unclear policies or expectations as one of their biggest challenges when using AI. The research also reveals a gap in perceived clarity: 89% of leaders believe there are clear expectations for when and how AI should be used, while only 61% of individual contributors say the same.

A policy is an important starting point, but clarity can’t stop there. If you’re a leader, you may feel a policy has answered the big questions while an employee is still trying to figure out what it means for the work right in front of them.

And this is where I think conversations really matter. If you want people to explore how AI can improve their work, you can help by creating an environment where people feel safe asking questions and by initiating conversations even when you don’t have every answer. An easy place to start is to ask, “Where are you already using AI?” or “Where do you think AI could help you?”

If you’re an employee, you have a role to play, too. You can ask for clarity when you need it and, once you understand the guardrails, get curious about your own work: What takes time? Where do you get stuck? Where might AI help?

Start there. Get curious about your own work and safely experiment with where AI might support you.

Who Can I Learn From?

Of course, sometimes you don’t even know where AI could help yet. I get that.

As a newly certified coach, I’m experiencing this right now. I know there are probably ways AI could support my coaching work, but I don’t yet know what those are or what I want that to look like. Trying to understand all the ways coaches are using AI can quickly feel overwhelming.

Rather than trying to figure it all out on my own, I can ask: Who can I learn from?

That person may not be my direct leader. It might be another coach or colleague who is already experimenting with AI. I can simply ask, “How is AI helping you?” or “What have you learned that might be useful for me?” It could also mean finding a course and carving out an hour this month to learn from someone else.

Taking ownership doesn’t mean figuring everything out on your own. It’s about finding the right people who can help you learn.

What Needs More of Me and Less AI?

Other times, you already know where AI can help. Then the question becomes: How do I use it without giving away too much of my own thinking?

I was recently asked to take on a new responsibility: creating a monthly newsletter.

Normally, my first thought might have been, With my current workload, will I be able to do this job well? But knowing AI could support parts of the work made me feel more confident saying yes.

AI helped me brainstorm ideas and subject lines, check grammar, and get started when I wasn’t sure what to write. But AI didn’t own the newsletter. I did.

I was still responsible for asking: What are we trying to say? What will help the reader? Does this sound like us? Is it accurate? Is it ready to send?

The time AI saves gives me more time and energy for the human parts of my work I want to keep strengthening: my critical thinking, creativity, judgment, relationships, and voice.

Blanchard’s research found that 78% of individual contributors agree or strongly agree that AI has helped them work more efficiently. But when asked about the risks of relying too heavily on AI, 34% identified inaccurate information and 29% pointed to a loss of critical thinking.

I appreciate the efficiency, but I don’t want efficiency to be the only goal.

I don’t want AI to do all my thinking for me. I want it to help me think better. It’s important to not to use it mindlessly. Often, that means challenging the output and asking: What is AI missing? What doesn’t sound right? What do I think?

Keep Asking Questions

If you’re navigating AI in your own work and feeling some of this same pressure to keep up, know that you’re not alone. What I’m learning is that I can stay curious, keep asking questions, and take the next step in front of me. These three questions are helping me do that:

How can AI help me? Start with the work in front of you and identify one or two safe places where AI might help you work more efficiently.

Who can I learn from? Ask questions and seek out people who are already using AI in ways you want to learn more about. Stay curious and open.

What needs more of me and less AI? Pay attention to the human parts of your work you want to keep strengthening: your critical thinking, creativity, judgment, relationships, and voice.

As I reflect on my own response to AI, I don’t want it to be one of fear that leads to inaction. I want to take a deep breath, seek clarity, learn from others, and, above all, remind myself that I still own the outcomes and decisions, even when AI supports the process of getting there.

I plan to keep asking these questions, keep learning, and use AI in ways that help me strengthen the parts of my work that need more of me.