478. Human Connections in a Digital World
From Transform NOW by SSNC Blue Prism
April 30, 2026 · 39 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the interplay between human behavior and AI in organizational workflows, emphasizing the importance of psychological safety and creativity.
In this episode, host Michael Marchuk welcomes technologist David Dean to the Transform Now Podcast to discuss Dean’s book, An Inbox Between Us, which explores how work actually gets done through an “unwritten contract” of emails, meetings, and informal workarounds that sit alongside official processes. Dean explains how bottlenecks are overcome through human lived experience, creativity, and psychological safety, and argues AI should be used as a tool for organizational self-realization rather than a magic fix or a replacement for people. He outlines self-service vs controlled AI, likens AI agents to junior coworkers that require trust-building, guardrails, feedback loops, and optional autonomy, and says AI increases authenticity by exposing hidden workflows and artifacts like spreadsheets. The conversation emphasizes reclaiming time for critical thinking and the risks of ignoring human behavior when redesigning workflows with AI. -The Invisible Contract -Bottlenecks and Experience -Resistance and Self Realization -Self Service vs Controlled AI -Accountability and Delegation -Training Wheels to Autonomy -AI Exposes Hidden Work -Reclaiming Thinking Time -Using AI to Understand…
People in this episode
Host: Michael Marchuk
Guest: David Dean
Topics covered
- human connections
- digital workflows
- AI in organizations
- psychological safety
- creativity
- work processes
Keywords
- human connections
- AI
- workflows
- psychological safety
- creativity
- bottlenecks
- self-service AI
- authenticity
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: An Inbox Between Us
More episodes of Transform NOW
- 491. Weekly Pulse Check on Automation & AI News - 06.12.26 · June 12, 2026 · 35 min
- 490. Checking in on the State of AI in EMEA Financial Services from the SS&C Deliver Conference · June 9, 2026 · 37 min
- 489. Weekly Pulse Check on Automation & AI News · June 5, 2026 · 38 min
- 488. Agentic AI Organization Design · June 2, 2026 · 39 min
- 487. Weekly Pulse Check of Automation & AI News - 05.29.26 · May 29, 2026 · 36 min
- 486. Managing AI Costs while Scaling Agentic Workflows with Small Language Models · May 26, 2026 · 38 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Transform NOW podcast page.