Wired for Change: Leading Humans Through AI Transformation with Travis Hahler | Part 1
Join Julie Riga as she sits down with Travis Hahler, Senior Director of Global Strategy and Transformation at Salesforce and founder of Neurological Nomad, to explore why most organizations are getting AI adoption completely wrong and what neuroscience tells us about how humans actually change. Travis's book Rethink Resistance drops June 23rd, and this conversation is exactly what every leader needs to hear before deploying another tool.
In This Episode:
✨ Why handing employees AI access without clarity activates fear instead of innovation
✨ How the brain defaults to the worst-case narrative when faced with ambiguity
✨ Why early adopters are only two and a half percent of your workforce and what that means for the rest
✨ How group exploration lowers perceived risk and accelerates adoption across teams
✨ Why resisting AI to protect your job is, paradoxically, the fastest path to losing it
Key Takeaways:
📌 Telling your team to "go play" with AI is not a strategy; it is a trigger for resistance
📌 The brain cannot distinguish between a career opportunity and a career threat without clarity from leadership
📌 Building competence over time is more powerful than trying to master everything at once
📌 Ninety percent of AI users are only chatting with it, not leveraging its full potential
📌 Leaders must now challenge their teams to rethink how work gets done, not just manage deliverables
📌 Curiosity and adaptability are the new core leadership competencies in the age of AI
📌 Transformation is not a technology problem; it is a human behavior problem
Memorable Quotes:
- "Everyone is talking about AI, but no one is talking about how they are going to do it." – Travis Hahler
- "People's brains automatically go to the negative." – Travis Hahler
- "You do not have to solve everything. Start with the basics. Do you understand what this thing does?" – Travis Hahler
- "Trying to hold on to your job is not going to help you save it. It is going to help you lose it." – Julie Riga
- "AI is the buffet. You could get whatever you want, however you want it." – Julie Riga
Perfect for leaders, executives, and professionals navigating the pressure to adopt AI without a clear roadmap. If your organization is facing workforce resistance, unclear innovation mandates, or the challenge of leading people through transformation, this episode gives you the neuroscience-informed perspective and practical strategy to move forward with purpose.
Connect with Travis Hahler:
- Website: travishahler.com
- Book: Rethink Resistance, available June 23rd on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and major booksellers
- Founder of Neurological Nomad
- Connect with Travis on LinkedIn
Connect with Julie:
- Website: julieriga.com/lead
- Tools and Resources: stacklist.app/julieriga
- Podcast: Stay On Course, available wherever you listen to podcasts
- Social: LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
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💡 Share this episode with every leader in your network navigating change in the age of AI.
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