EP 270 - From AI Awareness → AI Readiness → AI Adoption with Jennifer Hufnagel
Release Date: 12/24/2025
EP 274 The Human OS - AI Adoption With Curiosity, Safety, and Monday Ease ft. Melissa Penton
AI Literacy for Entrepreneurs
In the final episode of the Podcast-to-Book series, host sits down with change leader and AI education lead (Sun Life) for a human-first conversation about what actually makes AI adoption work. They talk productivity vs room-for-life, why one-prompt culture is snake oil, the shift from prompt engineering to context engineering, and the simplest enterprise question that changes everything: “What would make Monday easier for employees?” Episode summary Susan closes out the Podcast-to-Book sprint with a conversation that feels like the point of the whole series: AI isn’t a tool problem....
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273 - Future-proofing your organization through continuing AI literacy
AI Literacy for Entrepreneurs
Most companies do a few AI trainings, run some pilots, and then stall. In this episode, host argues the only real future-proofing strategy is continuous AI literacy. She breaks down what “continuous literacy” actually includes (skill, judgment, workflow, norms), the predictable failure modes of the AI literacy divide, and a simple flywheel you can run monthly so capability keeps compounding. Episode summary Susan opens with a familiar pattern: a burst of AI excitement, a deck called “AI Strategy 2025” a few clever workflows… and then reality hits. Tools change. Policies shift....
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EP 272 - Mindset, Sales, and AI That Actually Helps with Gazzy Amin
AI Literacy for Entrepreneurs
Host sits down with sales strategist , founder of Sales Beyond Scripts, to talk about the real ways AI is changing revenue, planning, and scale. They cover AI as a thinking partner, how to use it across departments in a small business, why audits matter more than hype, and how mindset quietly determines whether you treat AI as a threat or an advantage. Episode summary This episode is part of Susan’s 30-episodes-in-30-days “podcast to book” sprint for Swan Dive Backwards. Susan and Gazzy zoom in on the selling process first. Then they zoom out to the whole business. They talk about three...
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EP 271 - How to Quantify AI ROI Beyond ‘Time Saved’
AI Literacy for Entrepreneurs
If you’re measuring AI success by “hours saved” you’re playing the easiest game in the room. In this episode, Host explains why time saved is weak and sometimes harmful, then shares a better “AI ROI stack” with five metrics that map to real business value and help you build dashboards that actually persuade leadership. Episode summary Time saved is fine. It’s also table stakes. Susan breaks down why “we saved 200 hours” is the least persuasive AI metric, and why it can backfire by punishing your early adopters with more work. She then introduces a smarter approach: a...
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EP 270 - From AI Awareness → AI Readiness → AI Adoption with Jennifer Hufnagel
AI Literacy for Entrepreneurs
Host sits down with (Hufnagel Consulting), an AI educator and AI readiness consultant who’s trained 4K+ people. They break down what “AI readiness” actually means (spoiler: it’s not buying Copilot), why AI doesn’t fix broken processes or dirty data, and how leaders can build real capability through training programs, communities of practice, and properly resourced AI champions. Episode summary and met in “the most elite way possible”: both were quoted in The Globe and Mail about women and AI. Jennifer shares her background as a business analyst and digital adoption / L&D...
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EP 269 - Why One-Off AI Training Fails (and What to Do Instead)
AI Literacy for Entrepreneurs
If your organization ran an “AI 101” lunch-and-learn… and nothing changed after, this episode is for you. Host explains why one-off workshops create false confidence, how AI literacy is more like learning a language than learning software buttons, and shares a practical roadmap to build sustainable AI capability. Episode summary This episode is for two groups: teams who did a single AI training and still feel behind, and leaders realizing one workshop won’t build organizational capability. The core idea is simple: AI adoption isn’t a “feature learning” problem. It’s a...
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EP 268 Women, AI, and ‘Hold the Door’ Leadership with Chris McMartin
AI Literacy for Entrepreneurs
Host is joined by , National Lead for the Scotiabank Women Initiative (Business Banking), for a real-world conversation about how women are approaching AI. They talk about time poverty, fear of asking “dumb” questions, the shame myth of “AI is cheating”, and why the most powerful move right now is women holding the door open for each other - learning in community and sharing what works. Episode summary This episode is a candid, energetic conversation with Chris McMartin - aka “Hype Boss” online and a long-time hype woman for women entrepreneurs. They explore what’s different...
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EP 267 Does AI Make you More or Less Creative? (Paintbrush vs Photocopier)
AI Literacy for Entrepreneurs
AI can feel like a creativity cheat code… or like the death of originality. In this short, punchy solo episode, Susan argues the truth is simpler: AI doesn’t create creativity. It creates options. Creativity still belongs to the driver—your taste, courage, and point of view. Episode summary Susan tackles a question she hears constantly: does AI expand creativity or flatten it? Her answer: it depends on how you’re using it. If you use AI like a photocopier—generate a first draft and ship it unchanged—you’re not becoming more creative. You’re becoming more efficient at being...
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EP 266 - Literacy, Leadership, and the ‘AI for the Sake of AI’ Trap with Shona Boyd
AI Literacy for Entrepreneurs
Host is joined by , a product manager at Mitratech, a SaaS company, and a proudly AI-curious early adopter, for a grounded conversation about what AI literacy actually means now. They talk about representation, critical thinking, everyday meet-you-where-you-are workflows, shadow AI, enterprise guardrails, and why leaders must stop chasing AI features that don’t solve real user problems. Episode summary Susan introduces Shona Boyd - AI-curious early adopter and SaaS product manager—whose mission is to make AI feel less scary and more accessible. Shona shares how her approachable AI...
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265 Buying AI vs Building AI - A Leader’s Decision Guide
AI Literacy for Entrepreneurs
Most teams are stuck in tool obsession: “Should we build agents?” “Should we buy this AI platform?” In this solo, workshop-style episode, host pulls you back to reality with a simple decision guide: buy vs bolt-on vs build, four leadership filters, and a practical workflow exercise to help you choose the right approach - without falling for agentic fantasies. Episode summary Susan opens with a pattern she’s seeing everywhere: 75% of AI conversations revolve around tools - agents, platforms, add-ons - and they’re often framed as all-or-nothing decisions. She reframes it: AI is best...
info_outlineHost Susan Diaz sits down with Jennifer Hufnagel (Hufnagel Consulting), an AI educator and AI readiness consultant who’s trained 4K+ people. They break down what “AI readiness” actually means (spoiler: it’s not buying Copilot), why AI doesn’t fix broken processes or dirty data, and how leaders can build real capability through training programs, communities of practice, and properly resourced AI champions.
Episode summary
Susan Diaz and Jennifer Hufnagel met in “the most elite way possible”: both were quoted in The Globe and Mail about women and AI.
Jennifer shares her background as a business analyst and digital adoption / L&D consultant, and how she pivoted when clients began asking for AI workshops right after ChatGPT’s release.
Together, they map a simple but powerful framework:
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AI awareness (practice + play, foundational learning, early change management)
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AI readiness (software stack, data quality, workflows, current state, and - quietly - the “people audit”)
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AI adoption (implementation, strategy, and ongoing integration)
Jennifer explains why “audit” language scares people, but the work is essential - especially talking to humans about what’s frustrating, what takes time, and where fear is showing up. She shares what she’s seeing after training thousands: AI fluency is still low, people obsess over tools, and many assume AI will solve problems that are actually process or data issues.
The second half gets practical: what “workflows” really mean (step-by-step checklists), how AI now makes documenting processes easier than ever (voice → SOPs), why prompt engineering isn’t dead but “100 prompts for your bookkeeping business” is mostly snake oil, and why one-off training sessions don’t create real fluency.
They close with how to build sustainable AI capability: proper training programs, leadership-led culture, communities of practice, and protecting champions from becoming unpaid help desks.
Key takeaways
AI readiness is the middle of the journey. Jennifer frames AI maturity as: awareness → readiness → adoption. Most organisations skip readiness and wonder why adoption stalls.
Readiness includes software, data, process… and people. You can call it a software/data/process audit, but you still have to talk to humans about their day-to-day work, pain points, and fears. That’s where the truth lives.
AI fluency is still lower than the headlines suggest. Jennifer questions rosy “90% adoption” stats because many rooms she’s in still show low real-world usage beyond basic experimentation.
Stop obsessing over tools. Companies are writing AI policy around tools and forcing everyone into a single platform. Jennifer argues the real goal is discernment, critical thinking, and clarity - not “pick one tool and pray”.
AI doesn’t fix broken processes or dirty data. If your workflows aren’t documented, AI will scale the chaos. If your data is messy, the analysis will be messy too. Readiness comes first.
A workflow is just a checklist. Jennifer demystifies “workflow” as step-by-step instructions and ownership: who does what, when. Sticky notes on a wall is a valid start.
Process documentation is easier than ever. You can dictate steps into a model (without passwords) and ask it to produce an SOP/checklist - getting knowledge out of people’s heads and into a shareable format.
Prompting isn’t dead, but promise-all prompt packs are mostly hype. Prompting differs by model, and the best move is often to ask the model how to prompt it - and how to troubleshoot when output is wrong.
One-off AI workshops don’t create fluency. AI changes too fast. Real capability requires programs, practice, communities of practice, office hours, and change management - plus leadership modelling and culture.
Don’t burn out your AI champions. Champions need dedicated time, resources, and leadership sponsorship. Otherwise they become unpaid AI help desks and the entire initiative becomes fragile.
Community of practice is the unlock. Jennifer shares her in-person “AI Chats & Bites” group and encourages finding online + in-person + internal communities to keep learning alive.
Episode highlights
00:01 — The 30-day podcast-to-book sprint and why people are saying yes in December
00:40 — Susan + Jennifer meet via The Globe and Mail “women and AI” feature
01:21 — Jennifer’s origin story: business analyst → digital adoption/L&D → AI readiness
04:09 — The three-part framework: awareness → readiness → adoption
05:03 — Readiness: software stack, data quality (“dirty data”), and mapping current state
06:13 — “People audit” without calling it that: interview humans about pain + fear
08:02 — What Jennifer sees after ~4,000 trainees: fluency still low + stats don’t match reality
09:38 — AI doesn’t fix broken processes; it scales whatever is there
10:55 — Workflows explained as checklists; “won the lottery” handoff test
12:18 — Dictate your process into AI → generate SOPs/checklists
14:24 — Prompting isn’t dead; ask the model to help you prompt + troubleshoot
17:50 — Why one-off training doesn’t work; AI fluency requires a program + practice
22:15 — Burning out champions and why AI culture must be top-down
27:49 — Communities of practice: online + local + internal
31:00 — Common mistakes: vending-machine mindset, believing output, not defining the problem
35:31 — Women and AI: opportunity, fear, resilience, and “be in the grey”
39:51 — Where to find Jennifer: hufnagelconsulting.ca + LinkedIn
Guest info
Jennifer Hufnagel
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Website: hufnagelconsulting.ca
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Email: hello@hufnagelconsulting.ca
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Best place to connect: LinkedIn - Jennifer Hufnagel
If AI adoption feels stuck in your organization, don’t buy another tool first.
Start with readiness:
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Map one workflow end-to-end.
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Talk to the humans doing it daily.
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Clean up the process and data enough that AI can actually help.
Then build fluency through a program - not a one-off workshop - and protect your champions with real time and resources.
Connect with Susan Diaz on LinkedIn to get a conversation started.
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