The Habit Mechanic - Unlock your Human-AI Edge

How to become a Human-AI Coach (Part 1)

• Dr. Jon Finn

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In this episode of the Habit Mechanic podcast, Dr. Jon Finn explores the foundational challenges we face in the AI era and the critical role of Brain State optimization in thriving amidst rapid technological advancements. 

Building on the previous episode, he delves into the emerging role of the Human-AI Coach—an essential figure in enhancing cognitive performance in the workplace. Dr. Finn outlines three key roles reshaping our future: 

- innovators

- automators 

- Human AI coaches...

...with a particular focus on the vital role of coaches in guiding individuals and teams to optimize their Brain States for peak performance. 

The episode provides a glimpse into how the AI revolution is transforming work and why mastering Brain States will be crucial for success in this new era.

Speaker 1:

Hello Habit Mechanics. It's Dr John Finn here. I hope you're having a fantastic week so far. So, as promised, I want to build on the last podcast, so if you haven't listened to that, go back and listen to it where I talked about the problems that we face if we want to thrive in the AI era and of course, everybody does.

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When I talk about, I talk about the foundational challenges with the approaches that we're using. They're not really designed with the brain in mind. They don't recognize that most of what we think and do is automatic or semi-automatic and therefore any solution to help our brains to work better, to help us to improve our cognitive performance, has to be based on a first principle approach. That means that we have to recognize, well, this is how brains work and therefore any support we give people needs to take how brains work into consideration. People don't just do what they know they should do and agree they should do. They do what they're in the habit of doing, and that's why sports science was so successful in literally revolutionising the physical performance of athletes.

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And in my head I always have this reference won't land with everybody, but in my head I always have that England Euro 96 sort of dentist chair, as it was called after Paul Gascoigne scored against Scotland at Wembley and he ran to the corner and he was being poured the sports drink into his mouth by his teammates. But that, of course, was taken from this infamous episode. I think it was in Hong Kong or Singapore or somewhere where they'd been on a pre-tournament training camp and they ended up in a nightclub and there was this thing called the dentist chair, where you sat in and someone poured a lot of spirits into your mouth, where you're sat in and someone poured a lot of spirits into your mouth. So that sort of episode versus someone like Cristiano Ronaldo and the modern footballer and the completely different approach that they took to his performance. And, of course, the success of sports science was that it became an insurmountable competitive advantage, so everybody had to adopt it. But it's because the sports science worked, because it was based on one of the first principles, the fundamental principles of how human physiology works.

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And if we want to develop soccer players or footballers or tordy fran cyclists maybe not go there with that, actually, but um, you know, tiger woods did it in golf whoever we want to develop, to become better physically, we have to start with those foundational principles, and that, for me, is why the AI era is so exciting because it gives us this unprecedented opportunity to enhance our cognitive performance, which is your most valuable asset. It's my most valuable asset. It's a business's most valuable asset brain power drives everything, but unfortunately, it's becoming harder and harder to get our brains working well, and one of the things I think is really important that we understand is that lots of businesses are trying to capitalize on the performance gains that AI can offer, and they're doing that because they're seeing other businesses being successful when they implement AI tools and, according to big sets of data, when businesses get this right, they're able to grow 2.5% faster. They're able to create 1.6 times greater shareholder returns and other financial measures, but it's not just that they're able to create cultures where people feel happier and more engaged at work. But unfortunately, those businesses that are succeeding only represent a tiny number of businesses that are trying to succeed, and the biggest barrier, if you look at multiple sets of research that keeps coming up, is that when businesses are failing to get value out of AI and I think about 75% of them are, according to the data it's not the tech that's the problem. It's that people are drained. People are the barrier, not deliberately. It's because we're mentally fatigued, we're cognitively overwhelmed, and the AI comes in and it just gives us another thing to have to process, another thing to adapt to so we can unleash all the benefits of the ai revolution.

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Unless people's brains are working well and of course, we know that the traditional approach is to help people's brains work well don't work, otherwise we wouldn't be in this mess, right? Um? You know all the, all the numbers I talk about. A lot still still stand over 20 000 people a month in the uk being signed off on the sick with anxiety and depression. In the us, I think, um, I think about 25 of the adult population have a mental health diagnosis. That's about 53 million people. Um, so, and the things that we've been trying to do to get our brains working well, to enhance our cognitive performance, haven't worked, and that's why the BrainState methodology that I unpack in Train your Brain for the AI Revolution is so key, and we've been using that now for a long time and we've developed it with thousands of people. It's really, really robust, but ultimately, knowing how to use it is one thing, reading a book about it is one thing, putting it into practice is a different story.

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And that brings me on what I want to talk about on this podcast. So, to follow up from the previous podcast, I'm actually going to. So to follow up from the previous podcast, I want to have a three-part focus on becoming a human AI coach, what that means, where it fits into the workplace. So that's what I will focus on in this episode. Then the next episode I want to talk about what do you actually do as a human AI coach? And then in the third episode I'm going to talk about it more strategically as part of a bigger play for businesses who are trying to create what I call brain state intelligent cultures, which I think will be the winning cultures in this era. Workplaces where people are healthy, happy, can be at their best, can do the kind of work that makes them feel good about themselves, and therefore businesses that are thriving.

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So we have to take a human centric approach if we want to capitalize on what the ai revolution offers, and right now we're not. We're taking a technological-centric approach, we're thinking about all the shiny new tools, not optimizing ourselves first and foremost, and what I'm going to share in this podcast for the rest of this podcast is just a short chapter from Train your Brain for the AI Revolution, and the chapter's called the Three Roles Reshaping Our Future, and it's from step five of the book, which is change lives with the success cycle, coaching and leading the brain state revolution, and in this chapter I'm predicting a couple of technical roles that I think will become dominant in the future. But I also think the most important role that is going to emerge and is emerging right now and we're already training people how to do this is the role of the human AI coach, because cognitive performance the AI revolution is making cognitive performance more important than ever before, because the pace of change is getting faster and faster and faster. So we need to be more mentally agile and right now, people are struggling. They're not able to do this, so what they need is a coach, is an expert to actually work with them, step by step, to show them how to optimize how they manage their brain states and therefore optimize their cognitive performance. So what I'm going to share is an overview of what that looks like and why I think the human AI coach is going to be, I think, the most important role in workplaces going forwards. So here it is chapter 26. Remember, you can listen to the full book the full book inside it, for free, inside of the Habit Mechanic University app, which you can access via our website, and also the audiobook now is starting to pop up on mainstream audiobook platforms that you may already subscribe to or that you might want to buy the full book from. So, yeah, this is chapter 26. Enjoy Chapter 26.

Speaker 1:

The three roles reshaping our future. Sarah sat at her desk reflecting on how far she'd come in mastering her brain states. Something profound has shifted, she realised. It's not just about using AI tools anymore. It's about understanding how humans and technology can truly enhance each other. This insight led her to a deeper revelation about the extraordinary transformation happening across every industry. The AI revolution is transforming work in a fundamental way. The industrial revolution showed us how machines could take over physical labour, freeing humans from back-breaking manual work. Now the AI revolution is doing something similar with mental work. Ai will handle most of the routine cognitive tasks humans are currently paid to do. This creates an extraordinary opportunity. Instead of spending our days on repetitive mental tasks, humans can focus on work that engages our unique cognitive abilities the kind of thinking that's both more fulfilling for us and more valuable in the AI era. Based on my deep understanding of human brain capabilities, potential limitations of AI technology and my work with over 20,000 professionals, I believe we're seeing the emergence of three distinct roles in this new era. While others might see different futures, I predict these roles will dominate how humans create value alongside AI. Here are the three distinct roles 1. The innovators. 2. The automators. 3. Human AI coaches. Here are more details on each 1.

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The innovators creating our future. Innovators are literally creating the future before our eyes, using AI to extend their high-charge brain states and human intelligence in ways previously unimaginable. In ways previously unimaginable, consider how medical researchers now use AI to screen millions of molecular combinations and identify promising antibiotic candidates in months instead of years, work that's crucial for fighting drug-resistant bacteria that threatens millions of lives worldwide. These innovators are shaping our future by developing breakthrough vaccines and medical treatments, creating next generation AI systems that transform industries, designing sustainable solutions for climate change, building new educational systems that personalise learning, revolutionising healthcare delivery and patient care, transforming how we travel, live and work, inventing new ways to produce and distribute clean energy. But here's what separates successful innovators from those who struggle their brain state profiles. The most effective innovators maintain arrowhead profiles, which I first introduced in Chapter 9, consistently optimising their daily premium cognitive performance. This difference enables them to Direct AI tools with sustained clarity and focus, maintain creative energy for breakthrough thinking. Innovate faster than competitors.

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2. The Automators Engineering the future. The second role is already transforming how we live and work. Think about how banking has been transformed through automation. What once required visiting a physical branch, waiting in line and interacting with tellers for every transaction, now happens instantly through your smartphone. The modern banking experience demonstrates how automators are revolutionising traditional industries. But this is just the beginning.

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Automators are creating two types of solutions physical automation and digital automation. Here are some physical automation examples Advanced robotics for manufacturing and warehouses. Automated delivery systems and autonomous vehicles. Smart machinery for construction and agriculture. Automated medical equipment and diagnostic tools. Next-generation robots that handle dangerous tasks. Intelligent production lines that adapt in real-time. Here are some digital automation examples AI systems that handle routine office tasks. Software that automates customer service and support. Intelligent systems for data analysis and reporting. Digital workflows that streamline business processes. Platforms that automate financial planning. Business processes. Platforms that automate financial planning. Smart systems that optimize supply chains. Again, the most successful automators share a crucial advantage Arrowhead brain state profiles. This optimal state allows them to handle complex technical challenges while maintaining focus. See automation opportunities others miss. Build more effective solutions faster than competitors.

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3. The Human AI Coaches the Critical Link. Human AI coaches are pioneering a crucial new role in professional development. They help people maintain peak cognitive performance in a world where AI handles more routine mental tasks. Drawing on their understanding of brain states and human performance, these coaches guide others to work at their best, especially during periods of intense cognitive demands. Just as athletic coaches help athletes optimise their physical performance, think of human AI coaches as performance coaches for the mind. In the AI era, this is perhaps the most crucial role, the one Sarah found herself naturally growing into.

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Human AI coaches serve as essential guides in this transformation, with a two-fold mission. First, they must master their own brain states, achieving and maintaining their own arrowhead profile, because they model optimal performance for clients. Clear thinking is essential for effective coaching and training. They need sustained energy for deep coaching work and impactful delivery of training. Second, they guide others to peak performance, helping both innovators and automators develop and maintain arrowhead profiles by teaching brain state optimization techniques.

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Supporting sustainable habit formation. Ensuring premium cognitive performance when it matters most. Supporting sustainable habit formation. Ensuring premium cognitive performance when it matters most the human ear, eye edge. Think about what this means in practice. When two innovators compete to solve the same problem, the one with an arrowhead profile has significantly more hours of premium cognitive performance daily. They direct AI tools more effectively during high-charge states. They consistently outperform those with fragmented brain states. Similarly, when automators compete to build automation solutions, those with Arrowhead Prof profiles see opportunities others miss. They maintain focus through complex development challenges. They create more effective solutions in less time. This is why human AI coaches become essential. Their impact extends throughout organisations, from transforming individual performance to optimising entire teams and guiding leaders through organisational change. They don't just help people use AI tools. They help optimise brain states at every level, helping to create workplace cultures that make it easier for everyone to thrive in the AI era. Sarah found particular resonance with the human AI coach role. Looking at these three roles she reflected. I realised that helping others optimise their brain states wasn't just something I enjoyed. It was becoming one of the most valuable skills in this new era. Your path forward, as Sarah discovered, understanding these emerging roles reveals extraordinary opportunities, whether you're drawn to becoming an innovator creating breakthroughs. Whether you're drawn to becoming an innovator creating breakthroughs, an automator building solutions, or choose to become a coach yourself, or simply want to help your team thrive in the AI era.