Here’s a version of you that Googles “AI productivity hacks” at 11pm. That bookmarks articles you’ll never read. That says “interesting” in meetings while mentally composing a grocery list.
And then there’s the other you.
The one who sees the pattern everyone else is missing. The one who knows—in that sudden, whole-body way—that the solution isn’t in the framework. It’s in the space between the framework and the problem.
That version of you exists. You’ve met them before. Usually at 6 AM, or during a walk, or in the shower. They show up when you stop trying to figure it out.
Here’s what nobody tells you about human-AI collaboration: The AI isn’t the problem. Your willingness to trust your own seeing is.
The Best Practice Trap
We’ve been taught to follow “best practices.” To implement “proven frameworks.” To do what successful people did.
But here’s the trap: those practices worked for their context, their constraints, their moment. You’re not them. Your challenge isn’t a copy-paste situation.
Your journey isn’t about following someone else’s map. It’s about discovering you’ve had the compass the whole time.
I spent 59 years getting to Canada – from childhood dreams to actual citizenship. The whole journey, I thought I was following a path. Turns out I was creating one. The difference matters enormously.
The Real Question
At AICO Toronto 2025 on November 28 at Microsoft Canada HQ, I’m giving a keynote on “Hybrid Intelligence: Connecting Human Intuition with Artificial Intelligence.”
But here’s what I’m actually talking about:
What happens when you stop asking “What should I do with AI?” and start asking “What do I already see that AI could help me act on?”
The shift is subtle. The implications are enormous.
The Refusal of the Call
Most organizations are in what Joseph Campbell called “the refusal of the call” stage. They know something fundamental is shifting. They know the old productivity models are dying. They know AI isn’t just another tool.
But knowing and acting from that knowing are different animals entirely.
The refusal sounds like:
- “Let’s wait and see what others do.”
- “We need more data before we move.”
- “What’s the best practice here?”
These aren’t cautious questions. They’re abdications of your own authority to see what’s true.
As Rilke wrote: “The only journey is the one within.”
What Genuine Collaboration Looks Like
Your organization doesn’t need another framework imported from someone else’s success story. It needs infrastructure for trusting its own pattern recognition – the collective intuition that’s already operating but gets overruled by “what we’re supposed to do.”
That’s what genuine human-AI collaboration looks like: not humans becoming more machine-like, not machines becoming more human-like, but both becoming more capable of acting on what’s actually there.
At Impro.AI, I’ve built methodologies with our team for 2,000+ executives who thought they needed better strategies. What they actually needed was permission to trust what they were already seeing – and the courage to act on it.
Join Us at AICO Toronto 2025
📅 Date: November 28, 2025
📍 Location: Microsoft Canada HQ, Toronto
🎟 Register: Event Registration
🗓 Full Schedule: View Schedule
Come if you’re ready to stop asking “what should we do?” and start asking “what do we already see?”
Come if you’re tired of best practices that were never best for you.
Come if you suspect that the version of you who knows what to do next has been waiting for you to stop looking for permission.
The call to adventure isn’t out there. It’s in the gap between what you’re doing and what you already know needs doing.
See you on the other side.
Opher Brayer is Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Impro.AI, where he leads research on hybrid intelligence methodologies that connect human intuition with AI capabilities.
