#350 AI-Augmented Teams: How to create Defensible repeatable results | Book Release

Summary

Embracing Digital Transformation – Episode #350:

AI-Augmented Teams: How to Create Defensible, Repeatable Results | Book Release
Host: Dr. Darren Pulsipher
Co-Host/Interviewer: Paige Pulsipher (CEO, paydar Productions)
Release Date: May 12, 2026

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Episode Overview

This special episode celebrates the release of Dr. Darren Pulsipher’s new book, AI Augmented Teams, which addresses how organizations can harness artificial intelligence not just as a tool for individuals, but as a driver of team-based transformation. Dr. Pulsipher and special co-host, his wife Paige, discuss the challenges of implementing AI in real-world enterprises, why most AI projects fall short, and how leaders can develop teams that consistently deliver reliable and defensible results with AI. They dive into key concepts from the book, including the dangers of “AI Fakers,” the importance of subject matter experts, and practical toolkits for managers.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Inspiration and Motivation for the Book

• AI in Practice: Dr. Pulsipher’s experiences teaching at Vanderbilt and working with clients at Intel highlighted widespread issues in real-world AI adoption.
• Observing Failure: He cites an MIT study showing “95% of AI projects are not meeting the business expectations. So they're failing now. They're not failing 100%, but they're not hitting where they should be hitting.” ([04:08])
• Purpose: The book aims to offer practical solutions, not just theory, for moving from AI curiosity to meaningful results.

2. From Individuals to Teams

• Initial Focus: The book project began centered on individuals becoming “AI augmented.”
• Evolution: “After I had written good portions of the book, I said, it's not about individuals. It's about teams.” ([05:24])
• Team Dynamics: Effective AI transformation is less about mastering prompts and more about leveraging collective team strengths.

3. Key Concept: AI Augmented vs. AI Fakers

• AI Augmented: “If I'm a subject matter expert...and then I can use AI to make that part of me even better, that makes me truly AI Augmented.” ([06:23])
• AI Fakers: People who use AI tools to appear knowledgeable but lack depth or understanding. “An AI Faker just means that I'm really good at using AI and...it produces really polished work, but there's no depth to it and it's not defensible.” ([08:14])
• Unintentional Faking: Most “AI Fakers” aren't intentionally deceiving; they don’t realize the limitations of polished but shallow AI output.

Dr. Darren:
“AI does a great job at polishing ideas, but it really doesn't do a great job at coming up with new ideas. You have to come up with the idea. You have to then validate that idea that you and AI came up with together, if you don't, then you're just an AI faker.” ([08:14])

• Memorable Quote:

Paige Pulsipher:
“I thought that AI Faker was honestly just too mean.” ([07:15])

• Defensive Work: True team value appears when members can defend and explain outcomes, not just look competent on the surface.

4. Other Team Archetypes

• Underleveraged: Team members with strong expertise who hesitate to use AI, fearing job displacement or dilution of their identity.

  Darren: “Underleveraged people are people that are great at what they do and they're afraid to use AI...That's not a great place to be either. We want to be able to use AI to bring out the most in people.” ([11:19])

• Underdeveloped: New or less skilled team members needing support to build foundational and AI skills.

5. The AI Augmented Operating System

• Team Matrix Approach: The book introduces a framework for identifying and managing the spectrum of team AI skills—AI augmented, AI fakers, underleveraged, and underdeveloped.
• Mixing Skills: Managers are encouraged to strategically pair different archetypes to maximize learning and business impact.
• Practical Toolkit: “Out on our website, paydar, AI, I. I've created toolkits.” ([14:44])
• Beyond Prompting: The focus isn’t just on prompt engineering but on critical thinking, validation, communication, and defensibility.

6. Who Is the Book For?

• Intended Audience: “This book is for managers of people. This is a book about your team.” ([12:27])
• Not an Intro Guide: Individuals looking for personal AI tips will benefit more from Dr. Pulsipher’s upcoming book.
• Next in Series: The forthcoming Becoming AI Augmented will target individuals, with additional volumes planned for enterprise and education audiences.

7. Book Series Roadmap

• Five Parts Planned:
  1. AI Augmented Teams (current)
  2. Becoming AI Augmented (individuals)
  3. AI Augmented Enterprise (co-authored with Jeremy Harris, lawyer specializing in data privacy and AI policy)
  4. Educating the AI Augmented (for teachers)
  5. AI Augmented Education (faculty/administrators, co-authored with Karen Taglianti, AI curriculum board member)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Motivation:

  Darren: “I saw a lot of people floundering and frankly failing. So that would do something about it.” ([03:55])

• On Roles in AI-Augmented Teams:

  Darren: “It's not about individuals, it's about teams.” ([05:24])

• On AI Fakers:

  Darren: “I want them to feel bad because if they don't feel bad, then they won't change.” ([09:58]) Paige: “I just want people to know Darren is not trying to be mean...It's not trying to be mean. It's trying to make people be aware.” ([11:01])

• On Team Management Tools:

  Darren: “Managers are encouraged to strategically pair different archetypes to maximize learning and business impact.” ([14:41])

• On Practical Toolkits:

  Darren: “How do I strengthen those critical thinking skills? How do I question better questions and question the results coming back from AI that I'm getting, and how do I use them more effectively?” ([15:33])

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Recommended Listening Timestamps

• Introduction to Episode and Book Release – [02:22]
• Motivation for Writing the Book – [03:31]
• Failure Rates and Gaps in Real-World AI Adoption – [04:08]
• AI Augmented vs. AI Fakers Explained – [06:23] to [09:15]
• Team Matrix and Dynamics; Operating System – [13:16] to [14:41]
• AI Toolkits and Beyond Prompting – [14:44] to [16:43]
• Who the Book Is For & Roadmap for Series – [12:20] and [17:12]
• Lighthearted Banter and Personal Touch – [00:54], [16:58], [20:30]

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Tone and Style

• The episode weaves professional insights with a conversational, at times playful dynamic between Darren and Paige.
• Paige offers grounding questions and a layperson’s perspective, keeping the concepts relatable.
• Darren’s expertise and passion for educational transformation shine throughout, with an emphasis on pragmatic, actionable change.

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Summary Takeaway

AI Augmented Teams isn’t just a “how-to” book for using AI at work—it’s a playbook for leaders and managers who want to develop teams that produce robust, defensible, and impactful results with AI. The episode highlights why a team-based approach, genuine subject matter expertise, and critical meta-skills are crucial for the next phase of digital transformation. The ongoing book series aims to meet learners, workers, and organizations wherever they are on their AI journey, from individuals to enterprise to education.

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For further resources and toolkits:
Visit paydar AI (as mentioned) and embracingdigital.org

Transcript

[A]

Was about becoming AI augmented.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And after. After I had written good portions of the book, I said, it's not about individuals. It's about teams. Yeah. And then I told you I'm writing another book.

[B]

Yeah, we'll get to that later.

[A]

Welcome to Embracing Digital Transformation, where we explore how people process policy and technology drive effective change. This is Dr. Darren, Chief Enterprise architect, educator, author, and most importantly, your host on this episode, AI augmented teams helping teams deliver reliable, defensible results. With special co host Paige Pulsifer, CEO and founder of paydar Productions.

[B]

Well, hello, Darren, and welcome to your show.

[A]

Hey, thanks for having me on my show. This is kind of fun. It reminds me of our old days of doing where's the Lemonade?

[B]

I kind of miss those podcasts.

[A]

I do, too. Well, maybe we'll start them up again.

[B]

Maybe we should. It was good. It was like we got to connect.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Around.

[A]

Sometimes hot topics, sometimes not hot topics,

[B]

sometimes not hot topics. But, yeah, it was fun.

[A]

All right, so why. Why am I on my show today?

[B]

Well, first of all, I'm your host today, and. Or the co host, or the sub host. I don't know what I am. I am here. I am Paige pulsifer. I am Dr. Darren's wife.

[A]

Thank you for being my wife and being the host today.

[B]

And I am here to interview Darren because there are some exciting news that Darren has.

[A]

Yeah, I have a book that's coming out today, May 12, 2026. I've been working on the book feverishly. For too long, huh?

[B]

Yes. No, actually, it hasn't been that it's too long. It's just been that it has been compact and very saturated book.

[A]

Oh, yeah. Very intense. Very intense. It's been consuming all my time and thoughts.

[B]

All consuming.

[A]

So. But that'll be over come bill it though, will it?

[B]

I don't think so. I don't think so.

[A]

So my. My book is called AI Augmented Teams, and it came about from work that I've been doing with my students where I teach at Vanderbilt and with a lot of my clients that I have through intel where I help them with their AI adoption and digital transformation and all those things. Everything my show is about, and I just. When did it happen? It was on a trip or something. I can't remember.

[B]

I think it was on. I think it was on a trip. And you said, I need to write a book. Like, you literally said. You were like, I need to write a book. I'm gonna do it. And literally within 24 hours, you. You were writing a book. And then I think you went on another trip and you came back and you were like, I've got four chapters done. And I'm like, it's only been three days.

[A]

It was crazy. Yes. And Being AI Augmented, it's a book on being AI augmented. Of course I used AI to help me with it.

[B]

Of course you did. Yes. Okay. But Darren.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Why did you feel the need to write this book?

[A]

How? I think I felt the need because a lot of people that I see out there, all the stuff they're doing with AI is mostly about prompting. Mostly how to use AI, but not how to use it effectively, how to trust it, how to operationalize, how to make it real for their day to day work. And I saw a lot of people floundering and frankly failing.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So that would do something about it.

[B]

That was the catalyst to write the book.

[A]

It was the catalyst.

[B]

Everybody failing around you.

[A]

Oh, and me not failing? Yeah, no, no.

[B]

Everybody including you.

[A]

Yeah. No. In fact, there's a study that came out by MIT, it's quoted a lot. 95% of AI projects are not meeting the business expectations. So they're failing now. They're not failing 100%, but they're not hitting where they should be hitting. Right. And the big question is, well, why is that the case?

[B]

And there can be something done about it to improve.

[A]

Exactly. Not just, oh, we all fail. And this is. Let's do something about it.

[B]

Right? Yeah.

[A]

Not this.

[B]

Well, that's just AI. And you're going to fail at a lot of things in relation to AI. All AI things. Right. So you were like, no. Right. I can teach people.

[A]

Exactly. And I can learn from doing it. Right, right. And so this was really my journey. When I first started the book. I wanted to be a book about my individual journey on using AI and using it effectively and things like that. But what I found was it was more than that. In fact, I remember telling you. Yes. You remember what happened?

[B]

No, tell me.

[A]

Well, I came to you and said this book was about becoming AI augmented.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And after. After I had written good portions of the book, I said, it's not about individuals, it's about teams. Yeah. And then I told you I'm writing another book.

[B]

Yeah, we'll get to that later. Okay. What's in the book?

[A]

So the biggest thing that comes out of the book is how we can learn how to use AI to augment the work that we're doing instead of replacing it. And it's work that I did with Doug Schmidt, the dean over at William and Mary. He came up with this really cool concept and we played around with it. We were emailing each other back and forth, working on papers. It's the idea of the AI Augmented, which means if I'm a subject matter expert, which means you do 10,000 hours in something that you're really good at.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And then I can use AI to make that part of me even better that makes me truly AI Augmented.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Instead of, I am really good at AI and now all of a sudden I can do everything.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And we came up with this term that said, well, I'm not an expert in anything, but I'm an AI person. So now I come across as someone that knows a lot, but doesn't really know a lot.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And we came up with the name AI Fake.

[B]

Okay. Now you told me that this was going to be in your book AI Faker. Yeah, and it did. We had probably an hour long discussion about this.

[A]

It was longer than that. It was long, and it went over a couple days.

[B]

It wasn't an argument, it literally was just a conversation about it. We. I thought that AI Faker was honestly just too mean.

[A]

I know. See, she's always tempering me on my meanness. Well, and I agreed. I said yes. I want it to be controversial. I want the word AI Faker to not be something you want to be.

[B]

Well, and my argument about it was, if you are a faker, if you're faking something, you are intentionally faking it.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So. But that's not 100% true about what? This, in relation to this term that you're using in the book, that's not 100% true, that you're intentionally trying to fake it?

[A]

No. In fact, what I find with my students and a lot of other other people I work with is they may be an AI faker and they don't even know it.

[B]

Right. An unintentional AI Faker.

[A]

Right, exactly. Which means an AI Faker just means that I'm really good at using AI and. And it produces really polished work, but there's no depth to it and it's not defensible. As soon as someone asks questions about the decision that you made or about what you generated, whether it was a PowerPoint presentation or an email, as soon as you dive in just a little bit, it falls apart. Right. Oh. Because AI does a great job at polishing ideas, but it really doesn't do a great job at coming up with new ideas. You have to come up with the idea. You have to then validate that idea that you and AI came up with together, if you don't, then you're just an AI faker. And maybe you're really a good polisher, which is a archetype in the AI Faker, which is. And everyone knows these people. They're the people that always make their presentation look really nice. They have pretty pictures.

[B]

I like those kinds of presentations.

[A]

Well, yeah, of course they look great. Right? Of course they do. Right.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

But there's no depth.

[B]

Yes. Okay.

[A]

Right. As soon as you ask a question and what assumptions did you made? Where'd you get that data? It just all crumbles.

[B]

They said, like, I'll get back to

[A]

you, like, or they'll go, well, it is. Because it. AI told me it was.

[B]

Oh, yeah, that's not a good answer.

[A]

No, it's not. And. But I see that in business quite a bit.

[B]

So we tried to come up with a different name.

[A]

We did.

[B]

We tried so many different names besides AI Faker. Because I thought AI Faker was too mean. I thought that it was. Was just, you know, making people feel bad about something that maybe they didn't. They didn't even know they were doing.

[A]

I want them to feel bad because if they don't feel bad, then they won't change.

[B]

Right, Right. You want them to be aware of. Of their mistakes that they're making so they can improve.

[A]

Exactly. Or. Or feel bad and feel bad like

[B]

you already said you wanted. You want people to take notice of this word, Right. You want people to be like, what, AI Faker? Because then people will go, you know, pay attention to that. Like, AI Faker. What do you mean about that?

[A]

Well, and I was. I was recently talking to a bunch of professors and administrators from universities in Australia, and I threw up that AI Fake award and went, oh, see? See?

[B]

Because it's mean.

[A]

Perfect. I got the reaction that I wanted. And they all went, oh, yeah, I have a bunch of students that are AI Fakers, and they don't even know. I said, and we don't want people to sit in that realm. We want to move them beyond learning just AI really well and having the depth in what we're trying to teach them, whatever the subject is.

[B]

Right. So I just want people to know Darren is not trying to be mean, even though you don't care if people think that. I care if people think that. Not. It's not trying to be mean. It's trying to make people be aware.

[A]

Right. And it turns out it's a really good term because we looked at AI Imposter. We looked at, but you.

[B]

And that also implies that you're intentionally doing. If you're an imposter, you're intentionally doing that.

[A]

So yeah. And then we had some other terms. I can't remember what they were, but they were too fluffy. Yeah, they were. And it didn't motivate people to change. And that's what we want to do. We want to move people into that AI augmented. And people go, yeah, but I'm afraid I'll lose my job. Well, we got a category for those people too. We call them, I used to call them the unconfident, remember? And we changed the name and you came up with the idea on this one to name them the Underleveraged. Underleveraged people are people that are great at what they do and they're afraid to use AI because they feel that it may impede on who they are or it may replace them and things like that. And that's not a great place to be either. We want to be able to use AI to bring out the most in people.

[B]

Enhance.

[A]

Enhance, yeah, and augment them. That's why the term AI augment.

[B]

Right. Okay. Darren, who is this book for? Is it for me? Is it for a stay at home mom?

[A]

No, it's not. No, this, this book. This book. And this is why I was a little upset with when the book started going in this direction. I wanted to be for everyone. But this book is for managers of people. This is a book about your team. I have another book I'm almost done with called Becoming AI Augmented. That's for an individual. So that's for a stay at home mom or someone that is even an executive trying to be a better executive or I can even say an individual contributor in a company that maybe you're a salesperson or maybe you're a software engineer or maybe you're a welder or a bus driver. How in the world can AI help you? Gotcha. That's the idea.

[B]

So that's the next book. That's not this book.

[A]

That's the next book. This book is for managers and it turns out to be a really powerful construct. I was really happy with how it ended up because I took a lot of the learnings from my students and me being almost like their manager instead of their teacher. How can I get the most out of my team? Right. And understand their. Where they sit in that matrix of AI augmented or an AI faker, an under leveraged or an underdeveloped person, which is your new. Your new person that's on your team and things like that. So it's. How do I manage that team and all those dynamics? And it turns out to be a really powerful tool that I came up with called the AI Augmented Operating System. Okay. Which really helps people understand how to use AI appropriately in the different postures that people fit in. If I've got someone that's really good at AI, I need to pair them up with maybe a subject matter expert that's a little afraid of AI because they're afraid they may lose their job. Pair those two up together, they can learn from each other. And there's a lot of dynamics in these teams. So that's what the book really talks about.

[B]

Is there a toolkit that goes along with this?

[A]

Absolutely. So out on our website, paydar, AI, I. I've created toolkits.

[B]

Like hammers?

[A]

Yeah, like hammers, nails.

[B]

Is that kind of toolkit?

[A]

Yeah, just like that. A lot of. A lot of toolkits that you get out there on AI right now are all about prompting. How do I ask the right questions and things like that?

[B]

Yes. You've taught me so much about that because I asked something, you know, about traveling or, you know, kids or recipes or whatever it is, and it. So it takes me down a hole that. A rabbit hole that I don't want to go down, and I'm like, how did this happen? And you've taught me so much about refining how I ask questions and. Yeah, making sure I'm asking the right. The right prompts.

[A]

Right. And so that prompting is really important. This book doesn't have any of that in there, which is people are like, yeah, maybe write an AI book without writing prompte because it's the meta skills behind it. You know, you're an expert in raising children. You've raised 10 children. Right. And we're still raising our adult children. You're an expert at this. So when you ask AI things, you're the expert. You're in control. And that's what I've taught you is, hey, you don't trust everything. You gotta question it. You gotta look at it from different angles. That's what this book talks about. How to build up those meta skills and those core skills, how to communicate effectively with it. That's what the book really talks about. So these toolkits that I've developed around the book that you can go to the website and download, they help you, kind of walk you through that process. How do I strengthen those critical thinking skills? How do I question better questions and question the Results coming back from AI that I'm getting and how do I use them more effectively? And it's not just about prompting. It's about strengthening those skills that we have.

[B]

That's fantastic. I'm excited. I'm excited to try those tools. I'm going to go and buy them right now.

[A]

There's my sales. She's more than. She's more than what she says she is. She's also the CEO. Yes.

[B]

Of our. Of Paidar.

[A]

Of paid. Our production.

[B]

Yes, of course. Yes. Very exciting. Okay, you have talked about this, but this is not your only book. There are more to come. Tell us a little bit about the books to come.

[A]

Yeah. So I got to thinking more about this, and instead of just writing one book, I created a series of books, and there's five books in the series. The next book that will come out will be called Becoming AI Augmented. This is for the individual person. Right. And this is your personal journey on how you can become AI Augmented. And there's worksheets and things like that that go with the book that guide you through. These are the skills that you should be working on. And they're not prompting skills. They're interpersonal communication skills. They're things that I think we've kind of left behind in the world that we need to get back at. And I think AI can actually help us do a better job with those types of skills. So that book is coming out next. Then I realized, hey, I haven't talked about the enterprise.

[B]

He realized, hey, I got free time now. I've got like five minutes a day that I'm not doing something. Okay, continue.

[A]

She's a little sour on this.

[B]

I'm a little salty right now. Okay, go ahead.

[A]

So I have a best friend, Jeremy Harris. He is a lawyer, and he specializes in data privacy and an AI policy for large corporations. So that's. That's what he does on. On his job. And he agreed to sit down with me and go over the whole AI Augmented operating system. Okay, right. And he goes, darren, this can really apply well to the enterprise. Why don't we write a book on the enterprise? I said, all right, let's do it. Right. So we're writing that book together right now.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And then because of the work that I've been doing at Vanderbilt University and a lot of work that I do with a lot of schools, universities right now talking about AI Augmented, they said, darren, you need to gear this towards education. So there's two books in that part of the series, Educating the AI Augmented, which Is as a teacher, how did I change the way that I taught my classes, which I have done, rewritten all the curriculum to gear it more towards not just teaching the subject that I'm teaching, but teaching the AI skills, teaching meta skills and core skills as well. So that we're not just doing a one of or I'm just policing AI all the time. Instead, we're embracing AI we're using in the course and we're building up those really strong skills to make sure someone truly AI augmented. And then. So that's the individual teacher. And then the last book in the series is AI Augmented Education. And this is really at the faculty level. How can I take these concepts of AI and really change the education system as a whole? And I'm writing these two books with Karen Taglianti, who teaches at Wake Forest and Northeastern. He sits on the AI curriculum board at Wake Forest, which just asked me to help. Help out with that as well. So really great. I really included some great subject matter experts into this series and I'm really excited about where the series is going.

[B]

That's fantastic. Don't worry, he's not included me. I'm not a psych.

[A]

AI Augmented household.

[B]

That's a good one.

[A]

AI Augmented households, right? Yes.

[B]

Okay, so by the time you get all these books done, we are going to go on a fantastic vacation.

[A]

I'm hoping so.

[B]

Well, we were without a computer.

[A]

Without a computer. I don't know if I could do

[B]

that because, yes, we. We have been on vacation the last few weeks.

[A]

Well, it's been work vacation.

[B]

Yes, it has been. It started with work and turned. And we turned it into a vacation for us. But it's all been about the book.

[A]

It has been about the book because it comes out. It comes out today. So, I mean, this is an exciting day. It's not my first book. This is my fourth book.

[B]

Yes, you've written. Yes, you have. You have patents, you have books. You are.

[A]

But it's been a long time.

[B]

It has been. You're. You're dusting off here.

[A]

I'm dusting off some old skills.

[B]

Yeah, some old skills. And you're getting right back in there.

[A]

Yeah. Exciting times.

[B]

It is exciting. Well, thank you, Darian, for being on your show today.

[A]

You know what? Thank you, sweetie. I appreciate you coming on and interviewing me because I thought a dialogue that's going to be really boring, you guys just listening to me and, you know, my better half is here. She always makes my podcast much better. So if you like her on my show, a lot, which I know you will. You gotta comment to have her come back on. I think it would be awesome.

[B]

Bye Bye.

[A]

Thanks for listening to Embracing Digital Transformation. If you enjoyed today's conversation, give us five stars on your favorite podcasting app or on YouTube. It really helps others discover the show. If you want to go deeper, join our exclusive [e-mail] embracingdigital where we share bonus content and you can always connect with other change makers like yourself. You can always find more [e-mail] until next time, keep Embracing the Digital Transformation.