The AI + Human Power Play

What Hybrid Intelligence Really Looks Like in the Workplace

It was Hybrid working… now it is hybrid intelligence… keep up already. ;-)

You don’t need to outwork AI.
You need to know how to work with it.

While headlines warn of jobs being automated, what’s actually emerging inside high-performing teams is something far more powerful: hybrid intelligence—the strategic combination of human strengths and machine capabilities.

This isn’t about humans vs. machines.
It’s about the humans who know how to lead with machines.

The Shift Is Already Here

AI can now write sales emails, draft legal summaries, build financial models, and analyse behaviour in real time.
But it can’t:
– Hold space for someone who just needs to feel heard and seen to move forward
– Connect ideas across emotional, ethical, and strategic dimensions
– Read subtle cues in meetings or client conversations

That’s where we come in.

The new power play isn’t replacing people.
It’s repositioning them to do what only humans can—better, faster, and with fewer operational distractions.

Why Hybrid Still Needs Human-to-Human

Even as AI improves at simulating empathy, mirroring tone, and even recognising emotion through advanced vision models, we need to remember this:

Most of our communication as humans is non-verbal.
The hesitation in a voice. The shift in posture. The silence after a loaded comment.
These are human signals AI might decode—but it doesn’t feel them. Although the argument is coming with enough learning it won’t feel, but it will take the actions humans take when they do feel (like WTF).

Connection requires context, vulnerability, energy.
Eventually, people need people.

AI may support connection.
But it can’t replace human presence.

Scenario 1: Marketing Strategy

Before AI:
Marketing teams spent weeks gathering data, building briefs, and manually ideating.

With AI:
– Use AI to generate creative directions based on audience data
– Human strategists refine messaging, sense-check nuance, and lead execution

Prompt to try:

“Act as a creative strategist. (Role)
Based on the product details below, generate 5 campaign ideas with tone suggestions and target segments. (Goal & Format)
It’s a wellness app aimed at burnt-out corporate professionals. (Context)
I’ll paste our current brand voice guide below. (Input)”

Scenario 2: Internal Project Planning

Before AI:
Managers built timelines manually, chased updates, and hoped for risk detection.

With AI:
– Use tools like project management AI (I.E. Notion AI or ClickUp AI) to surface risk, suggest timelines, and optimise workloads ((Note i have not used either of these tools, I am still oldschool with my planning, but my people could be)).
– Human leaders steer outcomes, communicate with nuance, and support teams beyond data

Higher level prompt to try:

“Act as a senior project analyst. (Role)
Help me improve a launch plan for a remote team rollout. (Goal)
Context: My team is distributed across 3 time zones, and we’ve had delays in past product launches. (Context)
Here’s our rough timeline. (Input)
Return a structured risk assessment, flag potential bottlenecks, and suggest ways to accelerate. (Format)”

The Art of a Powerful Prompt: How to Actually Get What You Want from AI

Good outcomes in AI start with good prompts. If your outputs feel vague or generic, it’s likely not the tool—it’s YOU!

Microsoft Copilot’s prompt framework outlines 5 parts of an effective prompt:

1. (Role): Who do you want the AI to act as? (e.g. strategist, recruiter, analyst)

2. (Goal): What’s the outcome you want? (e.g. generate, rewrite, summarise)

3. (Context): What’s the situation, task, or audience?

4. (Input): Give the AI something to work with—drafts, data, or constraints

5. (Format): How do you want the response? Bullet points? Summary? Framework?

You can also add this:
“Ask me one question at a time until you have enough information to help.”
That single line can turn a weak interaction into a powerful collaboration.

5 Ways to Build Hybrid Intelligence Into Your Work This Month

1. Automate the easy stuff.
   Use Superhuman, Otter.ai, or Motion to eliminate admin and focus on strategy.

2. Build your own AI assistant.
   Train a custom GPT using OpenAI’s builder, specific to your workflows or your industry.

3. Use AI to prepare—so you can lead.
   Let AI draft your 1:1 talking points, agendas, and updates. Use your time for context, trust, and decision-making.

4. Turn AI into your second brain.
   Use a tool to tag, store, and retrieve every idea you capture. This will be very valuable in creating more versions of working you down the track. Just make sure you look at data privacy and where it is stored.

5. Learn the skill of prompting.
   This is the new business language. If you can ask better questions, you’ll outpace those still reacting to outcomes.

The rise of AI doesn’t make humans obsolete.
It makes human qualities more valuable—as long as we stop wasting them on work that machines can now do better.

You don’t need to beat the machines.
You just need to be the kind of human they’ll never replicate.