Human Intelligence in the Age of AI

Nov 11, 2026

While everyone's racing to get AI-ready, the most pioneering companies in the world are paying Mischief Makers to do the opposite.

​Getting AI-ready has become the baseline, not a differentiator. And in the rush to get there, the thing that actually decides whether a business works is being overlooked: Human Intelligence - HI.

​The relationships, the trust, the connection, the enjoyment - and the conflict and tension too. This is the fuel for business success, and as people get more tech-weary, it's what they're going to look for.

​Get people feeling alive and like themselves at work and you get their best work. Most briefs still ask for faster, leaner, more tech-enabled. The companies ahead of the curve are building friction in, protecting effort, and deliberately slowing down - in order to speed up.

​This is a reframe in the truest sense: from expert-led delivery to shared decision-making only works if the trust is real. HI is the mechanism.

​Emily will get into what HI looks like in practice - from the small everyday moments to mentorship and properly collaborative work. This is an interactive session. Get ready for Mischief!

​💡 What you'll leave with:

  • What we mean by HI, and what it looks like in practice
  • ​Where to bring friction in, while everyone else is taking it out
  • ​How to generate compounding buy-in for human intelligence
  • The commercial courage it takes to sell effort in an efficiency era