I Resisted AI Too Until I Realised This One Thing

I am no AI expert and you wouldn’t call me an early adopter. But since I’ve embraced ChatGPT (or as I like to call it, chatty chat), my efficiency levels have skyrocketed. It’s a game changer.

Not just at work, but in life. It shops for me, researches, price matches, and even searches for flights and accommodation – things I used to spend hours on. Now it takes minutes.

It’s not without its faults, and you definitely need to check the facts, but I must say, I love it. Chatty Chat and I are pals!

And here’s the thing: I was super resistant at first. Worried it would take my ideas. Worried about safety and security. But eventually I realised, at some stage you have to get amongst it. Because AI isn’t going anywhere. And if you use it the right way, it can work for you.

Why Women Need to Lean In

  1. Representation Matters

AI has largely been shaped by men – in coding, in datasets, in leadership. If women don’t adopt and influence how it’s used, our intelligence and perspectives risk being left out of the future of work. AI that doesn’t reflect women’s thinking won’t truly serve women.

  1. Time is Your Greatest Currency

Leaders constantly juggle. AI can take the load off the repetitive tasks – drafting, researching, summarising, structuring – so you can focus on what only you can do: leading people, making decisions, building culture. It doesn’t remove your voice. It amplifies it.

  1. Staying Relevant as a Leader

 

The biggest risk isn’t that AI replaces leaders. It’s that leaders who don’t adopt it become irrelevant to those who do. Using AI shows adaptability, curiosity, and courage – traits every future leader needs.

How to Jump in Without Losing Yourself

  1. Start Small – Try it for simple tasks: summarising meeting notes, drafting a first version of an email, finding a flight, or exploring an idea. Get used to understanding how the prompts work – or don’t. These are your key to using well.
  2. Protect Your IP – Be mindful of what you put in. Don’t feed in confidential details or sensitive data. Work with prompts that let AI structure your thinking, not own it.
  3. Keep Your Voice – Remember: AI doesn’t think. It assembles. Your ideas, your intent, your words are what matter. Use AI as the scaffolding, not the architect.

 

Used well, AI gives you back what you’re craving most: time (so much), clarity, and energy.

The Caution

Where AI will work against you is if you hand over your thinking completely. When you let it lead instead of support, you risk losing your edge as a leader. True influence comes from your perspective, your judgement, and your ability to connect dots that AI never can. You need to continue to be the thought leader – not the other way around.

The Realisation

And that was my realisation. I went from resisting AI out of fear… to realising that when I use it on my terms, it gives me back time, clarity, and energy. It hasn’t replaced my voice. It’s helped me use it more powerfully. And it has made the many roles I play in my business so much easier.

AI doesn’t just need more data. It needs more women – our intelligence, our thinking, our voices.

Because when women step in, we don’t just adapt to the future of work. We shape it.

So here’s my question to you: Will you resist it… or realise what it can do for you?