Managers Are Flying Blind: How Baryons Uses AI “Signals” to Predict Burnout, Boost Engagement, and Build Trust (with COO Diane Weaver)

AI is reshaping work fast but most leaders still manage teamhealth with lagging indicators and gut feel. In this episode of In the Queue, Mike Schiano sits down with Diane Weaver, COO and co-founder of Baryons, to unpack a bold idea: managers are “flying blind” on engagement, stress, and burnout and AI can provide earlier, human-centered signals to change that.​Diane explains Baryons’ “flourishing partner” approach -  a voice-first AI companion that supports individuals through quick daily check-ins/check-outs and in-the-moment coaching (prep for tough conversations, role-play, perspective shifts), while surfacing anonymized, high-level trends for leaders via dashboards. They also dig intowhy trust and culture before AI determine whether AI becomes an accelerator or an anxiety amplifier and what one nationwide nonprofit did right to drive real adoption at scale.​You’ll also hear how Baryons ties its approach to the PERMAframework (positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment), why “human energy” may become the most valuable metric in AI-heavy workplaces, and how the company is thinking about ethics, efficacy, and democratizing coaching beyond the C-suite. Want to explore it yourself? Diane shares how individuals like you can try a Baryon directly and what it takes to roll it out across entire organizations.