S13 E6: The AI Confidence Gap Nobody in HR Wants to Admit (with Theresa Fesinstine)

AI conversations are everywhere right now, but confidence and competence aren't actually moving together, and that gap should worry you more than it does. I'm joined by Theresa Fesinstine, founder of PeoplePower.ai and creator of the AI Fluency Compass, an assessment that over 850 HR leaders have now taken. Turns out about 40% of people who take it present way more confidently than they actually perform. Not great! We get into why HR keeps telling itself it's "not technical enough," the real difference between confidence that's earned and confidence that just performs well in a meeting, and why checking your AI tool settings might be the single most underrated move you can make right now. We also cover agentic AI risk, the pressure to keep up so you don't get left behind, and what it actually looks like to lead your org through this instead of just reacting to it. If you've ever nodded along in a meeting about AI while quietly having no idea what anyone's talking about, this one's for you With Shapes, people management looks completely different. Think AI agents handling the routine, a secure HR core, and the ability to build any people tool your org needs, just by describing it in plain english in their built in Shapes Vibe studio. If your systems feel stuck in 2015, go check out Shapes at ⁠⁠https://shapes.co/⁠⁠ --- If you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba’s newsletter! It’s for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for even more exclusive insider content! --- Follow Theresa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theresafesinstine/ Follow Hebba YouTube:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef⁠⁠⁠⁠ Come join Hebba at Safe Space Summit 2026 in Huntington Beach, CA! To learn more, check out:⁠⁠ https://www.safespacesummit.com/