Everyone’s talking about AI adoption. Not enough people are talking about what we lose in the process. As organisations rush to integrate AI into their work, there’s a quiet risk that matters more than most realise: the erosion of critical thinking. When we start deferring to AI outputs without challenge, we stop asking the hard questions — and that’s where things go wrong. In this session, Mick Brian explores why treating AI as a master rather than a tool is dangerous, what happens to our judgement when we outsource it, and how practitioners can keep their thinking sharp in an AI-saturated world.

About the Speaker

Mick Brian is Head of Change at CMC Partnership Consultancy. His background spans military service (including Special Forces), and since leaving the military in 2011, he has worked across both private and public sectors. For the past three years he has been part of an AI team, working at the sharp end of AI adoption and organisational change. He hosts The Waggle Room — a podcast and publication covering AI, complexity, organisations, leadership, and sensemaking. He is also a beekeeper.