The “Mirror Test” Every Leader Needs Before Adopting AI

The “Mirror Test” Every Leader Needs Before Adopting AI

From People Managing People by David Rice

May 5, 2026 · 32 min

About this episode

Victoria Pelletier discusses the importance of understanding the real work dynamics before implementing AI in organizations.

Most leaders are making AI decisions in the dark—restructuring roles, cutting headcount, and chasing use cases without understanding how work actually gets done. Not the org chart version. The real, messy, task-level reality. And that’s a problem, because when you don’t understand what creates value, automation becomes guesswork dressed up as strategy. Victoria Pelletier joins the show to challenge the prevailing top-down approach. Instead of starting with AI capabilities, she argues for work...

People in this episode

Host: David Rice

Guest: Victoria Pelletier

Topics covered

  • AI decision-making
  • leadership
  • automation
  • organizational structure
  • value creation

Keywords

  • AI
  • leadership
  • automation
  • organizational change
  • value creation

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