Humans are still the missing link in your AI strategy

Humans are still the missing link in your AI strategy By Samantha Tremlin As AI reshapes how work gets done, organisations are racing to automate, but often at the cost of the people expected to make that change happen. Samantha Tremlin asks whether progress without balance is really progress at all.

Every conversation I’ve had lately, with HR directors, wellbeing leads, CTOs and founders, seems to circle back to the same two words: AI investment. It’s the headline on every agenda, the answer to efficiency, innovation and growth. And in many ways, rightly so. We all know that the potential of Artificial Intelligence is extraordinary. It’s transforming productivity, speeding up processes and unlocking possibilities we couldn’t have imagined five years ago. But there’s something else happening quietly underneath the surface, and it’s less comfortable to talk about. While AI budgets rise, people budgets are shrinking. And the humans holding everything together are starting to fray. The imbalance behind the innovation In the last few months alone, I’ve seen DEI and wellbeing professionals made redundant while new AI focused roles are created in the same organisations. Leadership and culture programmes paused. Mental health training cancelled. Budgets for the “human work” quietly diverted into implementation. It’s not that AI shouldn’t be a priority, it absolutely should. But it shouldn’t come at the expense of the energy and wellbeing of the people expected to make it work. Deloitte estimates that poor mental health costs UK employers £56bn annually (around £2,200 per employee). The CIPD’s Health and Wellbeing at Work 2025 report found that 78% of organisations have seen stress related absence rise in the past year, and 41% cite mental ill health as the top cause of long-term absence. These aren’t soft issues. They’re structural risks. Yes, AI can help, but only if we use it consciously I hear the argument often...AI will help people. I agree, and in many ways it already does. Used well, AI reduces admin overload, automates repetitive tasks and frees people to do more meaningful work. It’s a powerful partner for decision making and innovation. I use it everyday in my own business, consciously and with balance. And that’s the point. AI isn’t the problem... imbalance is. If we over rotate towards technology without investing equally in the people expected to adapt to it, we build a system that moves fast but breaks easily. Automation gives us speed, humans give us sense. Together, they create progress. Apart, they create burnout. When systems start showing symptoms You can feel it in workplaces everywhere. The pace is relentless, middle leaders are holding too much for too long, teams are reacting instead of reflecting. We call it burnout, but it’s really depletion, emotional, energetic and cultural. Organisations mirror the same symptoms: reactivity, fatigue and short-term thinking. We’ve built systems that run in constant fight-or-flight, fast, productive and deeply unsustainable. Neuroscience tells us what happens next. When the body is in survival mode, creativity and empathy switch off. You can’t innovate when you’re disconnected, you can’t collaborate when you’re protecting yourself, you can’t lead people you no longer have time to really hear and see. Augmented Intelligence is the balance we need A decade ago, IBM popularised “Augmented Intelligence” to describe the partnership between humans and technology. AI was designed to enhance human capability, not replace it. But I think that principle now feels more relevant than ever. AI can process faster, but it still depends on humans to decide what matters. It can generate predictions, but not purpose. It can read tone, but it can’t sense belonging. That’s where Authentic Intelligence comes in, the awareness, empathy and ethical judgment only humans can bring. When people feel seen, safe and connected, they unlock a level of intelligence no algorithm can replicate. That isn’t “soft skills.” It’s how innovation actually happens. The research backs it up too, Deloitte’s Human Capital Trends 2024 found that organisations combining AI with human capability are 2.5x more likely to see engagement rise, and 3x more likely to hit their innovation goals. Proof that it’s not tech or people, it’s both, together, that drive real progress. A quiet ask to leaders So, if you’re leading transformation, technical or otherwise, this isn’t a plea to slow progress. It’s an invitation to consider the rebalance in investment. Before signing off the next AI project or system upgrade, maybe just give a thought to consider: Where are we asking people to keep stretching when they’re already at their limit? Who’s holding the culture together right now, and who’s holding them? And are we building for short-term speed, or for something that will truly last? Because it’s never really been about choosing one or the other. It’s about balance, the kind that lets technology move us forward without leaving people behind. The future of work might be digital, but it still runs on human energy. And if we keep spending that energy faster than we can restore it, we won’t build the future, we’ll burn out before we get there. 💚

About the Author Samantha Tremlin is a Fractional Wellbeing Director and founder of Kuutch, a wellbeing, leadership, and culture consultancy helping organisations engineer consciousness into culture. Subscribe to her weekly newsletter “Work, Life & Wellbeing,” on Linkedin exploring energy, leadership, and the future of work, or get in touch with Samantha at samantha@kuutch.com