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Innovation StorytellersAuthor: Susan Lindner
Did you ever wonder how an innovation got to its finish line? How innovators saw the future, made a product, and created change in our world and in their companies? I did. Innovation Storytellers invites changemakers to describe how they created their innovation and just as important THE STORIES that made us fall in love with them. Come learn how great innovations need great stories to make them move around the world and how to become a better storyteller in the process. I'm Susan Lindner, the Innovation Storyteller. But I wasn't always. I've been a wannabe revolutionary, an epidemiologist at the CDC and an AIDS educator in the brothels of Thailand helping to turn former sex workers into entrepreneurs. Trained as an anthropologist and the Founder of Emerging Media, I've spent the last twenty years working with innovators from 60 countries. Ranging from cutting edge startups to Fortune 100 companies like GE, Corning, Citi, Olayan, and nine foreign governments, helping their leaders to tell their stories and teaching them how to become incredible advocates for their innovations. Great innovation stories make change possible. They let us step into a future we can't see yet. I started this podcast to shine a light on our generation of great innovators, to learn how they brought their innovation to life and the stories they told to bring them to the world. Language: en Genres: Business, Management, Marketing Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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How Are You Closing the Empathy Gap in Your AI Strategy?
Episode 261
Monday, 8 June, 2026
What if the biggest challenge with AI isn't the technology itself, but how it makes people feel? Lately, almost every conversation I'm having with clients comes back to AI. Not surprisingly, it's dominating boardroom discussions, strategy sessions, and innovation agendas everywhere. But what fascinates me most isn't the technology. It's the human response to it. In this solo episode, I'm talking about something I believe doesn't get nearly enough attention in the AI conversation: empathy. I recently read that companies like Anthropic are hiring storytellers at salaries approaching half a million dollars a year. That caught my attention. Why would one of the world's leading AI companies place such a premium on storytelling? Because even the most advanced AI still struggles to create the kind of human connection that comes naturally through empathy, understanding, and authentic communication. As organizations rush to implement AI tools, I'm hearing the same concerns again and again. Employees are being asked to trust systems they don't fully understand. Leaders are under pressure to move faster than ever before. Customers are interacting with AI-powered experiences that often feel efficient but strangely hollow. That's why I believe empathy isn't a soft skill anymore. It's a business strategy. In this episode, I share why so many AI initiatives struggle with adoption, even when the technology works perfectly and the business case is clear. I talk about the hidden cost of asking people to abandon the systems and expertise they've spent years mastering. More importantly, I explain why resistance to change is rarely about stubbornness and almost always about self-preservation. When we ask people to adopt new AI tools, we're often asking them to give up something deeply valuable: the confidence that comes from mastery. That's a much bigger ask than most leaders realize. I'll also share practical ways to bridge what I call the empathy chasm, helping teams feel supported rather than threatened, involved rather than replaced, and excited rather than overwhelmed. If there's one thing I've learned from working with innovators around the world, it's that people don't resist technology. They resist feeling disconnected from the reason behind the change. How are you bringing empathy into your AI strategy, and are you doing enough to bring the humans along on the AI journey?
