Confidence in the Age of AI

A few months ago, someone told me I was hard to find. They’d searched for a leadership speaker in Florida, and I didn’t show up. As someone who’s spent years helping people step into their confidence, I’ll admit that one stung.

So I did something that would have intimidated me not that long ago. I rolled up my sleeves and started using AI to help me rebuild my website. I have an accounting degree and six kids. Nobody would ever call me a web developer. And yet things that used to sit on my to-do list for months are getting done.

I’m sharing this because I know how a lot of people feel when they hear the letters A and I. Their stomach tightens. They wonder if their job is next, or if they’re already too far behind to catch up. If that’s you, you’re in very good company, and I want to show you why that fear deserves a second look.

How we’re feeling about AI right now

If AI makes you uneasy, you’re far from alone. When Pew Research Center asked U.S. workers how they feel about AI in the workplace, more than half said they’re worried.

When I hear that, I see the same thing I see in every room I speak in: smart, capable people holding onto a story about themselves that isn’t serving them. That’s a confidence challenge as much as a technology one, and confidence is something we can build.

What the research actually shows

Here’s the part that rarely makes the headlines. The World Economic Forum expects AI and other shifts to create 78 million more jobs than they replace by 2030. Work is changing, and a lot of that change is growth.

The people who learn the tools are pulling ahead, too. PwC found that workers with AI skills earn, on average, 62% more than people in the same roles without them. Learning AI makes you more efficient, and that efficiency frees up time for the parts of your work that need a human touch, like building relationships, making judgment calls and showing up for your team. That’s what makes you more valuable.

What happened when I let AI help with my website

Remember that comment about being hard to find? It turns out the way people search has shifted. More and more, people ask ChatGPT or another AI tool a question and get a short list of names back. One 2026 survey found that half of business buyers now start their research in an AI chatbot instead of Google. Event planners are doing the very same thing when they look for their next speaker.

So I started working through my website with AI as my partner. It helped me sharpen my message so it speaks clearly to the leaders and teams I serve. It helped me rewrite page descriptions so search engines understand what each page is about. It even walked me through adding the behind-the-scenes code, called schema markup, that tells Google and AI tools who I am, what books I’ve written and where to find my podcast.

I didn’t do any of this perfectly on the first try. I asked a lot of questions, some of them probably silly. I pushed back when an answer didn’t sound like me. And every time I learned something, the next task went faster.

Here’s the moment that really got me. I needed eight new pages for my site, and it took five minutes to create them. Five minutes! And they look like a web designer made them.

What surprised me most was how it felt. I stopped waiting on someone else’s schedule, the technical details stopped feeling so foreign, and I felt capable. That feeling is what I want for everyone who’s nervous about AI.

How to feel confident with AI

Confidence with AI starts in your head long before it shows up on your screen. That’s why I like to start with a Ctrl-Alt-Delete reset.

Ctrl. Notice the story you’re telling yourself. Maybe it’s “I’m too old for this” or “AI is coming for my job.” Ask yourself if it’s real and if it’s helpful.

Alt. Tell yourself a better story. “What if I can’t figure it out?” becomes “When I figure this out, I’ll get hours of my week back.”

Delete. Let go of the comparison game, especially with the 25-year-old who seems to know every tool already. Their journey has nothing to do with yours.

Then put the REAL Method® to work:

1. Respect Yourself. Your experience, judgment and relationships are exactly what make AI useful. The tool needs someone who knows what good looks like, and that’s you.
2. Embrace Your Failures. Your first few attempts will be clunky. That’s how everyone learns. Treat each awkward answer as information and try again.
3. Ask Yourself What You Want. Pick one task you do every week that drains you, and spend 20 minutes asking an AI tool to help with it. Give it context, ask follow-up questions and check its work.
4. Live Without Limits. Once one task gets easier, pick the next one. Share what you learn with your team so everyone grows together.

The confident path forward

AI is going to keep changing how we work, and I’d love for us to start thinking about it differently. AI should never take the place of people or the human connection that makes our work meaningful. Think of it as a tool that makes us more efficient. When it handles the tasks that slow us down, we have more time and energy for each other, and we can accomplish more than we ever expected.

You don’t need to master every tool this week. Start with one task, one question, one small win. Confidence grows every time you prove to yourself that you can learn something new, and this is one of the best places to practice.

If you’re planning an event and want your people to feel this kind of confidence with AI, I’d love to talk. My keynote, Confident in the Age of AI, helps teams move from fear to curiosity so they can use these tools with confidence. You can learn more about it on my speaking page.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Pew Research Center, U.S. Workers Are More Worried Than Hopeful About Future AI Use in the Workplace
• World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025
• PwC, 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer
• G2 2026 buyer survey, via Demand Gen Report