Why AI's efficiency enhances the value of human judgement

Cambridge-based performance scientist Dr James Hewitt explains why human judgement matters under pressure and where workplace wellbeing programmes go wrong.

As AI takes on more analysis and routine decision support, the hardest calls still fall to people. Those decisions often arrive when information is incomplete, tensions are high and clear thinking is most vulnerable.

Dr James Hewitt is a human performance scientist, bestselling author and former Chief Innovation Officer for the coaching company behind 19 Formula 1 World Championships. Drawing on his PhD research and work with elite teams, he examines how pressure, recovery and workplace culture affect judgement and performance. Champions Speakers

In this exclusive interview with the Mental Health Speakers Agency, James explains which human capabilities will become more valuable as AI develops, why corporate wellbeing schemes often produce weak results and how leaders can build recovery into demanding working environments.

Q. In the age of AI, which human capabilities become more valuable under pressure?

James Hewitt: “This is the question I think every leadership team should be asking right now, and many aren’t, if we’re honest.

“So, here’s what I see happening. AI is getting very good at the predictable, the routine, the complex, the analysable. It can process data, spot patterns, draft documents, generate options. You can plug it into Excel spreadsheets and presentation software, dump in a massive piece of text, and get it to pump out an incredible strategic analysis that would have taken a consultant four weeks and $400,000.

“Now, every time it takes over one of those tasks, something really interesting happens to the human role. The more AI can handle those tasks, I argue that the more human value concentrates in exactly the moments that AI can’t handle.

“Well, the obvious question is: what are those moments? Well, they’re the ones when we’re under pressure. I’d say it’s the board meeting where the data are ambiguous. Even though it’s presented beautifully in that report that the AI tool has generated, someone still has to make the call.

“It’s the client conversation where you need to read the room, not read a report. It’s the crisis where the team needs someone to hold steady, project calm presence, and make a decision with incomplete information, which, even with the best AI tools in the world, there’s still going to be some gaps there.

“And so, AI can analyse, predict, and recommend, but it can’t step into the room when tensions rise. It can’t make the call when information is incomplete or hold the team steady when everything is uncertain. Those are human capabilities, and they’re the ones that break down first when we’re under pressure.

“You know, again, see this in Formula 1. Teams use AI extensively for strategy modelling and data analysis, but the race engineer still has to talk to the driver in the heat of the moment. You know, the car can’t read the driver’s stress level. You know, the AI can’t judge whether to push now or save the tyres, even though it can recommend.

“You know, it comes down to human judgement under pressure. And I argue that’s not being replaced. It’s becoming even more valuable.

“So, the punchline is: AI doesn’t reduce the need for human performance under pressure. It concentrates it. And the organisations that train their people for those moments are going to have an enormous advantage over the ones who don’t.”

Q. Why do most corporate wellbeing initiatives fail to deliver measurable impact?

James Hewitt: “Oh, this is one where I need to be careful not to get on my soapbox, because I feel quite passionate about it.

“You, according to some data, organisations are spending 60 billion, maybe even more, $60 billion, that is, a year on wellbeing initiatives globally. And the results, despite all that investment, are inconclusive at best.

“And I think the reason for that, one of the main reasons, is quite simple. Most wellbeing programmes treat wellbeing kind of as a perk, as a benefit that’s bolted on the edges rather than it being built into how work actually works.

“You’ve probably seen this, I imagine. Probably not in your workplace, but maybe in other workplaces. Sometimes, when I’m sharing these ideas, it can feel quite personal, and so I say, well, probably won’t relate to you, but I’m sure you’ve got a friend who this relates to.

“So, let’s think about our friend who this relates to. You know, it’s your friend in an organisation where there’s a meditation app that nobody opens. It’s the wellness webinar that felt like one more thing to attend.

“It’s classic, isn’t it? It’s like: we know that you’re all under pressure. You haven’t got enough time. Well, don’t worry. You can skip lunch today and join the wellbeing webinar.

“You know, it’s the resilience training that landed while everyone was already exhausted. And it’s like putting a plaster on a broken leg and then wondering why people can’t run.

“So, the deeper problem is that most organisations have this unspoken tension between performance and wellbeing. And unfortunately, they often treat them as competing priorities. You know, as if looking after your people means accepting lower standards. And that’s just not true. It’s a false trade-off.

“And it’s one of the reasons I wrote that book, Regenerative Performance, to address that. Also, my PhD research specifically examined that relationship between wellbeing and cognitive performance in really high-performing organisations.

“The data are really clear. Companies that have got genuinely high wellbeing don’t just have happier people, they outperform commercially in terms of measurable business outcomes.

“But the wellbeing has to be real. It’s got to be baked into how teams work, how meetings are run, how recovery is valued, not just performative theatre wellbeing.

“And again, talking about Formula 1, no one would dream of running a car flat out for an entire race without managing tyres, fuel, engine modes. You know, that’s not weakness. It’s engineering.

“But in business, we run people flat out and we call it high standards. It’s kind of strange.

“So, the fix isn’t another programme. It’s a different model. It’s a model where performing well and feeling well aren’t in competition. And it’s where work itself builds capacity instead of just depleting it.

“Ultimately, that’s regenerative performance. And when organisations get it right, the result isn’t wellness theatre. It’s genuine competitive advantage.”

Q. How can leaders create conditions where energy and recovery are built into performance expectations?

James Hewitt: “So, this is a question that separates leaders who talk about wellbeing from leaders who actually create it. Because you can’t bolt recovery onto a system that’s designed to deplete it. You’ve got to redesign the system.

“And again, in Formula 1, in sport, we see recovery isn’t optional. And it certainly isn’t a reward for good performance. It’s engineered into the race and the performance strategy.

“You know, the driver pushes hard for a stint, comes in for tyres and adjustments, goes back out. So, it’s this, like, push, recover, push, recover. And no one thinks a pit stop is a weakness, right? It’s the thing that makes the next impossible.

“So, I teach leaders and their teams in my keynotes a really simple loop. I call it prepare, execute, reset.

“So, before a high-pressure moment, that pitch, that difficult conversation, that big presentation, you prepare deliberately, not just the content, but your cognitive and your emotional state. And then you execute with full focus, being fully present.

“Now, that presence piece is really important. There was a really interesting study published in Harvard Business Review where they taught a senior leader to develop their ability to be fully present. And they were actually able to reduce their time spent in meetings by 20%. And people rated them as being more pleasant to work with because, suddenly, rather than being continually distracted, you know, in the meeting, on their phone, they were there.

“So, prepare, execute, show up fully, and then reset. And you don’t just charge into the next meeting carrying the kind of the residue from the last one.

“You know, practically, this might look like a few things. First, I think it’s about leaders modelling it. So, if the CEO sends an email at midnight, for example, and schedules back-to-back meetings all day, no wellbeing programme in the world is going to convince the team it’s okay to rest. Your culture isn’t what you say, it’s what you tolerate and what you model.

“Second, building transition time between those high-pressure moments. You know, that might be where you start to put that prepare, execute, reset model into practice. Even two minutes of deliberate reset between meetings can dramatically improve cognitive performance in the next one.

“So, there’s this really interesting piece of research that found that something called symmetric pattern breathing, where you breathe in for a count of five, hold for two, out for a count of five, for just two minutes, improved decision-making performance in a challenging task by over 50% subsequently. And it also reduced physiological stress. So, you’re sort of changing something called heart rate variability.

“So, I give audiences really simple, practical reset techniques, like that breathing exercise, even shorter ones they could use in 60 seconds.

“And so, you know, this isn’t about 60-minute meditation in the morning, even though maybe for some people that’s helpful. Just really simple, fast methods to clear that cognitive residue and then get our best thinking brain back online.

“So, first, it’s about that simple prepare, execute, reset. Second, those transitions between high-pressure moments. Third, creating these team norms that make recovery legitimate. So, protecting deep-work time, meeting-free blocks, agreed response windows for email.

“You know, as I mentioned earlier, those aren’t just perks or benefits, they’re performance strategies. And the teams that I’ve seen implement them consistently, they don’t just feel better. And we don’t just measure better wellbeing, we also record better performance.

“There was a study that indicates that organisations that adopt these proactive recovery strategies see burnout rates drop from over 20% down to 2% and see performance improve by over 26%.

“Because when people recover properly, they perform better. It’s really not that complicated.”

This exclusive interview with James Hewitt was conducted by Tabish Ali of the Motivational Speakers Agency.