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Not Replaced...Relied On: How AI Depends on People
I heard a scary story from an operations leader who’s rolling out AI with their team. They connected a new “sales assistant” to their customer database and marketing tool. Within minutes, the agent interpreted a routine request, “follow up with dormant prospects,” as “email everyone.” It queue...
by Monica Marquez —
Oct 19, 2025
ai governance
ai risk management
ai security
autonomous agents
change management
compliance
data protection
enterprise ai
evaluation
guardrails
human-in-the-loop
leadership
nist genai profile
operations
owasp llm top 10
people-centered ai
prompt injection
From “Prompt or Perish” to “Agents at Your Service”
I was sipping my cafecito, letting my morning skim agent sweep the news, analyst notes, and client pings, when two need-to-know bullets popped up back-to-back.
First: Citi is training 175,000 employees on how to prompt. The article's key takeaway frames prompting as “the new Excel.” Translatio...
Oct 12, 2025
agentic ai
ai adoption
ai fluency
ai readiness
ai secret
career
citi
leadership
productivity
prompting
tools
workflow automation
Sink or Swim with AI: Learn to Float First
Last week, I spoke with an old friend and colleague who is a COO. She said, “Monica, I feel I am sinking in this sea of AI uncertainty, and I am late to the race. Everyone’s talking about agents and copilots. We’re still arguing about pilot scopes.”
I paused for a couple of minutes and then sh...
by Monica Marquez —
Sep 28, 2025
ai adoption
ai fluency
ai readiness
change management
culture
experimentation
governance
leadership
manager enablement
micro-actions
people-first
practical tools
psychological safety
skills reinvention
trust
workflow design
Teach the Tool, Prepare the Talent
Last night at a friend’s birthday party, I met two people who care deeply about words. One was an English teacher. The other was a linguist. Both shared concerns about AI.
The teacher’s district labeled student AI use a “Level 5 infraction,” similar to cheating. She and her school's leadership w...
by Monica Marquez —
Sep 14, 2025
ai fluency
artificial intern
change management
culture
education
human-centered ai
integrity
k-12
leadership
myth-busting
productivity
prompts
responsible ai
skye
workplace learning
Licenses Don’t Adopt Themselves: Stop Buying AI, Start Changing Work
A Fortune 200 CHRO told me over coffee: “We bought the Ferrari. Then we realized… nobody knew how to drive stick.”
The licenses were live. The change wasn’t. Her pain points sounded familiar: lots of seats, not enough usage; a policy memo, but managers “playing it safe”; pilots everywhere, proce...
by Monica Marquez —
Sep 07, 2025
11x11
ai adoption
board oversight
change management
copilot
governance
habits
leadership
microsoft worklab
nacd
nist ai rmf
risk management
viva insights
workflow redesign
Empathy Is a Feature, Not a Feeling: Not Human, But Human-Centered
When I was little, I used to name everything. My stuffed animals, my bike, even the toaster. I gave them personalities, voices, feelings. My mom would chuckle and say, “Estás haciendo novelas con los objetos, mija.” (You’re making soap operas with objects, sweetie.)
Turns out, I wasn’t alone. An...
by Monica Marquez —
Aug 24, 2025
ai adoption
ai discernment
ai empathy
ai in the workplace
ai leadership
ai tools for leaders
ethical ai
executive leadership
future of work
human-centered ai
mustafa suleyman
AI Won’t Work If Your People Don’t
A few weeks ago, I sat in a room with leaders from some of the world’s most powerful companies. Billions are being poured into AI transformation. But when the conversation turned real, the numbers surprised me. Less than half their workforce was using the new tools.
In those moments, the room we...
by Monica Marquez —
Aug 17, 2025
ai adoption
change management
chro insights
employee experience
enterprise ai
executive alignment
future of work
l&d leadership
leadership
organizational culture
talent strategy
trust in ai
workforce transformation
workplace reinvention
Is It Still Hard Work If AI Helped You?
This past week at the ALPFA Convention, surrounded by more than 5,000 Latino professionals and allies, I had the privilege of connecting with peers in some incredible, thought-provoking conversations about AI and what it really means for our work, identity, and leadership.
We weren’t talking abo...
by Monica Marquez —
Aug 03, 2025
ai adoption
ai and work culture
cultural beliefs
dei and ai
emotional intelligence
future of work
latino leadership
people-first leadership
productivity and ai
workplace reinvention
Teamwork 2.0: How AI Became My First Team Player
I used to think being a strong leader meant doing it all myself. Every draft, every detail, every deliverable. If I didn’t, I worried people might question my value. I had internalized this unspoken rule, passed down through years of being the “only one” in the room: keep carrying it all, no mat...
by Monica Marquez —
Jul 27, 2025
ai in leadership
ay ay ay ai
chro
claude ai
delegation
digital transformation
employee experience
executive mindset
future of work
generative ai
krisp ai
latine leadership
leadership evolution
microsoft copilot
monica marquez
people-first leadership
strategic leadership
workplace automation
What You Don’t Know IS Hurting You
Success Isn’t a Bigger Dream. It's a Wider Lens.
I grew up in a small town in West Texas where success had a very specific look. You became a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer. Most often, you worked in the oil fields. That was the blueprint. Those were the wealthiest people we knew, so naturally...
by Monica Marquez —
Jul 20, 2025
ai adoption
ai confidence gap
ai for non-technical users
ai tools for beginners
culturally fluent leadership
digital divide
exposure and opportunity
future of work
inclusive leadership
latine leadership
leadership development
people-first leadership
professional growth
reinvention
workplace equity
workplace transformation
It’s Not Just You. The Smartest People I Know Are Asking This...
“I know I should be using AI…”
The other day, I got a message from a close friend and former colleague, someone I deeply respect and had the joy of working with for years.
She’s now at one of those household-name companies that everyone recognizes, and she reached out to me for advice about som...
by Monica Marquez —
Jul 13, 2025
ai adoption
ai at work
ai leadership
ai prompts
chro strategy
daily ai tools
digital fluency
executive learning
leadership development
people-first leadership
workplace transformation
Everyday Magic: Integrating AI into Your Workflow
Everyday AI
I vividly remember the days when MapQuest felt like cutting-edge technology. Carrying pages upon pages of printed driving instructions seemed miraculous at the time. One memorable journey stands out: navigating from New York City to a small college campus in Upstate New York for a r...
by Monica Marquez —
Jul 06, 2025
ai leadership
digital transformation
everyday ai
executive learning
future of work
human-centered ai
people-first leadership
practical ai tools
strategic leadership
workforce innovation
workforce transformation
workplace ai
