#187: AI Answers - Overcoming AI Stigma, Vibe Coding, Redefining Productivity, Building AI-Native Companies, and Finding Trusted Sources

2025-12-18

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As we close out the year, this AI Answers episode offers a reflective look at how organizations are actually navigating AI adoption. Cathy McPhillips and Paul Roetzer take a step back from tools and headlines to talk about the human side of AI: leadership behavior, workplace culture, and how long-held ideas about productivity and value are being quietly challenged as AI becomes part of everyday work. Show Notes: Access the show notes and show links here Timestamps: 00:00:00 — Intro 00:04:05 — What resp...

As we close out the year, this AI Answers episode offers a reflective look at how organizations are actually navigating AI adoption.

Cathy McPhillips and Paul Roetzer take a step back from tools and headlines to talk about the human side of AI: leadership behavior, workplace culture, and how long-held ideas about productivity and value are being quietly challenged as AI becomes part of everyday work.

Show Notes: Access the show notes and show links here

Timestamps:

00:00:00 — Intro

00:04:05 — What responsibility do leaders have to confront the fear of AI head-on?

00:05:53 — Is there value in intentionally keeping some work, not just for fact-checking or “human-in-the-loop” oversight, but as a form of cognitive reset?

00:09:18 — Should productivity still be the primary measure of an employee’s value?

00:012:13 — What are behaviors executives should model to make AI use feel safe, normal, and expected across teams?

00:17:16 — What are the clearest structural signs an organization is talking about AI transformation while actively resisting it?

00:20:47 — Why do so many organizations default to treating AI as an IT initiative?

00:22:17 — What is vibe coding?

00:23:47 — If you could go back to the very first AI Show episode and correct one major prediction or assumption you had about AI, what would it be and why?

00:28:04 — What is one listener question that fundamentally changed how you think about AI?

00:30:43 — What has been the most personally challenging part of leading conversations about AI’s impact on jobs, identity, and the future?

00:35:48 — Where do you think most companies actually over-invested in AI?

00:39:53 — What is one thing you would refuse to automate, no matter how good the tech gets, and why?

00:43:04 — What is your measure for adding a podcast or other medium to your trusted resources?

00:45:03 — How can listeners think about simplifying how they’re thinking about, piloting, and scaling AI?

This episode is brought to you by Google Cloud:

Google Cloud is the new way to the cloud, providing AI, infrastructure, developer, data, security, and collaboration tools built for today and tomorrow. Google Cloud offers a powerful, fully integrated and optimized AI stack with its own planet-scale infrastructure, custom-built chips, generative AI models and development platform, as well as AI-powered applications, to help organizations transform. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted technology partner.

Learn more about Google Cloud here: https://cloud.google.com/

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