AI-isms: Role Modelship | Eli Potter | How to Role Model when AI is Listening

What am I role modeling today? Most of us think that question belongs to the most senior people in the building. This episode is here to convince you otherwise.In this episode of AI-isms I sit down with Eli Potter, one of the most respected CIOs in Silicon Valley and an advisor to 125+ organizations. Eli was born in Cold War Bulgaria, arrived in the US with two suitcases, and learned English from the Beatles. Out of a lifelong love of words she coined one the moment needed, role modelship, and wrote the book by the same name.The idea that stayed with me: AI can't be what it can't see. AI isn't just code and models, it's a mirror of our habits, our relationships, and our values, and it learns and unlearns the way we do. Which makes role modeling everyone's job, not just the CEO's. Every prompt is training the thing someone you love will one day ask for advice.What we get into:• Why the gap beyond leaders and managers is the who, and how role models "engineer identity"• AI as a mirror, and why it's dangerous to treat it as an independent thing• The five disciplines of role modelship, through real cases you're probably living right now• Creator vs. consumer: why opting out of AI is a destiny choice, not a tech choice• Mentorship vs. sponsorship, and the reputational chip nobody talks about• What happens when a young employee asks the CEO, "what are you doing to learn AI?"Chapters00:00 What am I role modeling today?01:34 Meet Eli Potter02:13 The origin of role modelship03:39 Managers, leaders, and the missing "who"06:27 Role modelship in the age of AI08:02 Why AI is a mirror09:43 The five disciplines10:24 Stewardship: the biased hiring AI13:52 Fellowship: creator vs. consumer17:25 Mentorship vs. sponsorship22:25 Leadership: the town-hall question27:12 The AI-isms Eli lives by30:20 The five-year-old who got it32:05 Finding your voice in a second languageThis is AI-isms, human rhythms in a synthetic world. Next time you open a chat window, ask yourself: what am I role modeling today? Tell me what you see.Topics: role modelship, AI and leadership, AI as a mirror, stewardship, fellowship, mentorship, sponsorship, creator vs consumer, AI-first vs human-first, future of work, CIO leadership, Eli Potter