Distinctly Humanof individual contributors surveyed describe their manager’s AI leadership as hands-off.
FranklinCovey, 2025 survey ↗FOR LEADERS ROLLING OUT AI
Make AI work
for your whole
team
We help leaders align their whole team using AI with confidence: faster adoption, clear guardrails, and no one left behind.
Leif Hansen + Nadja Haldimann
WHY NOW
The tools went out.
Buy-in didn’t.
of business leaders surveyed say psychological safety affects the success of AI initiatives.
MIT Technology Review Insights / Infosys, 2025 ↗About these findings
These are different surveys reporting respondents’ views, not experiments proving cause and effect. They do not measure the impact of our program. FranklinCovey attributes its finding to its September 2025 AI General Attitudes Survey. The second finding is reported in the December 2025 Infosys / MIT Technology Review Insights release. Both links are provided for review.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR TEAM?
Eight pressure
points.
A useful starting point: name the friction your team is actually experiencing.
Divided views
Enthusiasm and skepticism, with too little honest discussion.
Job uncertainty
People wonder where they fit as the work changes.
Uneven AI skills
Some are racing ahead. Others are more cautious.
Overwhelming change
More tools, more output, less time to integrate.
Unclear boundaries
What is approved? What stays private? Who decides?
Quality and judgment
Faster output needs accountable human review.
An “artificial” voice
The work starts to sound generic and lacks a distinct voice.
Integrity
Ethical, environmental and organizational values get compromised.
Find a starting point for a specific concern
Which concern feels most true for your team?
Pick one of the four options below that feels most true to your organization. Select a button to see how we’d work on it and what you’ll get.
THE AI TEAM ALIGNMENT WORKSHOP
Hear every voice first.
Make it safe enough for people to say what they really think. That’s where the real conversation starts.
HALF OR FULL DAY / TWO FACILITATORS
Team facilitation, not tool training. We practice with everyday AI assistants for writing, research, analysis and planning, tailored to your team’s approved tools.
- 01
Hear every voice
Excitement, doubts and values all get a fair hearing.
- 02
Find common ground
See where you agree, where you differ, and how it fits your organization’s values.
- 03
Build real confidence
Practice on real projects, comparing several AI perspectives, with people making the final call.
- 04
Shape what’s next
Agree what to protect, what to try first, and practices your team can keep running.
How we make room for different views
START WITH TRUSTPeople can disagree about AI
People can disagree about AI
and still move forward together.
The enthusiast, the skeptic and the person quietly wondering what happens to their job all belong here. We listen first, then try AI on the team’s actual work and practice making decisions together.
You can pass on an exercise or personal question. Bring your curiosity, your doubts and a piece of work you’d like help with.
WHAT YOU WALK AWAY WITH
From hidden
to shared.
Before we meet, we agree with your team’s lead what you need to take home. Here’s what we work toward:
- Keep pace, keep control. Agree how to protect quality, privacy and ownership as you adopt AI.
- Make your AI spend useful. Turn uneven use into shared practices your team can apply.
- Keep people involved. Give skeptics and enthusiasts a say in how the work changes.
A picture of where your team stands
A summary of what’s working, what worries people, and where the opportunities are.
An AI Team Agreement you made together
A draft covering privacy, human review, accountability and experimentation: what’s off-limits, who reviews the work, and who owns the results.
New ideas and better ways of working
Hands-on practice with everyday work: which tools to use where, and how to keep the results human. Leave with practices, tools and one project to try. You know who owns it, what to check and when we’ll compare notes.
The draft agreements are input to your organization’s AI-use policy, including human review. They are not a finished legal or compliance policy. Your leadership and policy owners decide what becomes policy.
See a sample AI Team Agreement Written with your team, rather than for them
A STARTING POINT
Agreements your
team can use.
An example of what a team writes together in the workshop. Every team’s version is its own.
Privacy
We never put client, customer or personal data into AI tools our company hasn’t approved. When in doubt, we ask [owner] first.
Human review
A person checks every AI-assisted piece before it reaches a client or the public. We’re open about when AI helped.
Accountability
Whoever sends the work owns it, AI-assisted or not. [Name] keeps this agreement current and answers questions.
Experimentation
Everyone is encouraged to try AI on their own work within these lines. We share what worked, and what didn’t, at our monthly check-in.
Useful input for leadership to help shape your own AI policy.
WHO IT’S FOR
A starting point
for your team.
The same approach works at every level of your organization. HR and People leaders: we’ll help you plan the rollout.
SUGGESTED START
Leadership team
C-suite, founders and senior leaders
Get aligned on your AI vision and guardrails, so you can lead the conversation from the start.
Good fitAlignment Workshop
Managers & team leads
The people in the middle
Connect leaders’ AI goals to real work, so managers can help their teams see when AI is useful.
The whole team
Full staff, or one department as a pilot
Hear every voice, make agreements together, and choose a first AI project to try.
Not sure where to start? We suggest leadership first, but it is not a prerequisite. Any single team or department can begin as a pilot.
HOW WE WORK TOGETHER
Align together.
Make it stick.
Our recommended package: the workshop, then eight weeks of practice to make it stick.
AI Team Alignment Workshop
Your team goes through all four steps together and leaves with shared agreements and a first AI project to try.
Half or full day · in person or online · two facilitators
Practice Series
Four live sessions where your team practices AI on real work, shares what worked and agrees what to try next. Between sessions, we work with a few team champions to keep the practice going.
8 weeks · four 90-minute sessions, every two weeks
The workshop also works on its own. Teams that are already aligned can start with the Practice Series.
Focused sessions and keynotes
Also available on request: a focused session on one question, or a keynote with a live experience that gets people involved.
How we prepare and follow through Before, after and a few weeks later · included with every format
HOW YOU’LL KNOW IT WORKED
Did it help?
Let’s check.
A good afternoon matters. So does what happens back at work. New habits rarely survive on a workshop cookie alone. Every format includes a before-and-after check and a follow-up.
- Before
A leadership conversation and a short team survey. Together, agree what success would look like.
- Right after
The same survey: do people feel heard, clearer on boundaries and more confident? Are they bringing original ideas and asking harder questions? See before and after side by side.
- A few weeks later
Review your team’s experiment together: what happened, which decisions got better, and what to try next.
YOUR FACILITATORS
Leif Hansen +
Nadja Haldimann.
Leif Hansen
FOUNDER, DISTINCTLY HUMAN
For nearly 20 years, Leif has led team trainings and keynotes through Spark Interaction for organizations including Sodexo, Microsoft and HubSpot. He helps people listen, adapt and work well together, with hands-on AI fluency and room for play.
More about Leif’s work
His work on the human side of technology reaches back to the SoulTech workshops he co-created in 2007. That work featured on NBC’s Today Show, in the Los Angeles Times and Seattle Times, and on PBS MediaShift. He is the author of Digital Mystics, trained in strategic foresight at the Institute for the Future, and led Test Drive Your Future at Human Tech Week.
More about Leif ↗
Nadja Haldimann
HUMAN EXPERIENCE DESIGNER
For 25 years, Nadja has designed products and experiences for startups and Fortune 500 companies, from Microsoft to leading the design of Mozilla’s virtual reality browser. She brings design thinking, systems thinking, deep listening and creative direction.
More about Nadja’s work
As founder of Podipo, she helps organizations connect performance with the experience of being human at work. Her coaching and 30+ conversations as host of The WakeUp Protocol inform how she designs space for people to think together.
More about Nadja ↗Why we work together
Leif helps a room open up. Nadja helps turn what people say into ideas and a design they can work with. Both of us care about the people who have to live with the decisions afterward.
WHAT CLIENTS SAY
The work,
in their words.
On AI consulting, speaking and facilitation.
The Distinctly Human offer with Nadja builds on this experience.
“Leif skillfully engaged every person with respect and insight, helping us foster open dialogue and build trust across differences. With his guidance, we were able to make intentional, mission-aligned decisions about how we use AI—together, and with integrity.”
Read April’s full testimonial
“Leif's team brought an extraordinary mix of technological fluency, emotional intelligence, and values-based leadership to our organization's AI journey. At Greenprint, our team included a full spectrum of perspectives—from those with strong ethical concerns about AI, to those unfamiliar with the tools, to a few AI-curious and AI-forward staff. Leif skillfully engaged every person with respect and insight, helping us foster open dialogue and build trust across differences. With his guidance, we were able to make intentional, mission-aligned decisions about how we use AI—together, and with integrity.”
“I've benefited personally and professionally from Leif's AI consulting. His heart-centered approach is both refreshing and inspiring in a world often dominated by profit-driven narratives about AI. I highly recommend working with Leif — he makes the learning process deeply engaging and meaningful.”
Executive Producer, We Rise Up
“Whether onstage or in a workshop room, Leif sparkles with energy. Before long, the room does too. Looking for a facilitator or speaker who will enliven your event and push your audience out of their shells? Look no further.”
“This was the greatest training in my 30 year career I have attended.”
“This was without a doubt the most fun, interactive training program I have ever been involved with. My team was fully engaged and had a lot of fun. They were learning without realizing that they were learning.”
“I've seen Leif activate creative thinking in groups that previously had only hoped they could be innovative.”
1 of 6
Organizations and media
from our individual careers
EXPERIENCE ACROSS OUR INDIVIDUAL CAREERS
PREVIOUS MEDIA COVERAGE OF LEIF’S WORK
Swipe or scroll across to see all the logos.
The organizations reflect Leif and Nadja’s individual careers; media coverage relates to Leif’s earlier work. These are not endorsements of the new joint program.
Choose a focus or make notes for our call Optional · no email needed
SPEND MORE TIME ON WHAT MATTERS
Which question
needs more time?
Some questions deserve more than a quick answer. Choose one for a focus session, or work on it over several weeks.
Practical AI confidencePut the tools to work
Practice on tasks your team actually does. Learn to give useful context, evaluate the output and decide when AI is not the right tool.
Judgment & shared boundariesMake the decisions clearer
Work through human review, appropriate data and accountability. Write down who checks the work, what data stays private, and which decisions need legal or security advice.
Distinctive voice & creativityKeep the work recognizably yours
Use AI alongside your expertise and point of view. Compare drafts and ideas against what your team knows about its customers and its work. If the AI calls your first draft “brilliant,” we may still suggest a second draft.
Adaptation & change overloadDecide what can wait
When the tools and expectations keep changing, practice adjusting together. Pick what to try now—and what can wait until next month.
TRY ON A POSSIBLE FUTURE
Test Drive
Your Future.
Imagine a few different futures for your work, then try them on together. What would you welcome? What would you miss? What choices can you make now?
A workshop Leif has led at Human Tech Week, available as a tailored team session.
Where AI rollouts stall
WHERE ROLLOUTS STALL
The tools arrive.
Where’s the conversation?
Tools before discussion
Licenses go out, but nobody asks what worries people.
Rules written for people
People nod along, then do their own thing.
Features without judgment
Knowing what a tool does is different from knowing when to trust it.
One session, then back to work
Without practice and follow-through, the skeptics can stay quiet and get left behind.
We start with the people in the room.
Watch Leif at Human Tech Week Panel conversation and workshop feedback
SEE THE WORK IN ACTION
Take a look
inside the room.
Leif on a Human Tech Week panel, plus participant reflections on his Test Drive the Future workshop.
Fostering More Resilient Human Relationships
Watch on YouTube ↗Test Drive the Future: participant feedback
Watch on Vimeo ↗BEFORE WE WORK TOGETHER
Before you
put it in the calendar.
Who is this for?
Leadership teams, managers, full staff or a department pilot, and HR or People leaders planning an AI rollout. See the suggested starting formats for each group. Enthusiasts, skeptics and people still figuring it out are all welcome.
Do we need to be AI experts?
No. We adapt the session to your team’s experience and work with approved tools and appropriate examples. Enthusiasts, skeptics and people who are still figuring it out all belong in the conversation.
How do you make it relevant to us?
We start with a sponsor conversation and a short questionnaire about current use, concerns and priorities. Together we choose the focus, examples, length and intended outputs.
How will we know it helped?
We agree success criteria, run a short survey before and after, and review your team’s experiment a few weeks later. Participant feedback and practical follow-through guide the next steps; they do not establish causation.
Can we do this online or in person?
Either. We offer a half- or full-day workshop, a short focus session, an eight-week Practice Series or a keynote with a live experience. We’ll agree the schedule, tools and accessibility needs together.
What about fees and availability?
Tell us the team size, timing, location and any access needs. We’ll send a proposal with the preparation, sessions, follow-up and fees spelled out, so you can decide.
Can we try something ourselves first?
Yes. Our free working tools help you reflect on AI use, plan a task, prepare a team conversation or review your distinctive voice. No email is required to use them.
SOMETHING TO SHARE
Think your colleagues
should see this?
Send them the deck. It explains the team challenges, how we work and what you take home, with our backgrounds and the research behind the questions. We’d love to hear what rings true—and what doesn’t.
NEXT STEP
Where does your team
really stand on AI?
Which pressure points ring true? What are we missing?
We’d love your honest reaction, whether or not you’re looking for a workshop.
Tell us about your team on a 20-minute call or in a note. We’ll come back with a suggested format, what’s included and the fee. You decide from there.
Or email leif@co-evolve.now or nadja@co-evolve.now.
Know a team looking to make human flourishing in the age of AI a priority? We’d welcome an introduction.
Sharing observations, rather than looking for support? Contribute to our research.