How to Build Trust in Hybrid AI Teams

Should you blindly trust AI? Most teams make a critical mistake with AI - we accept its answers without question, especially when it seems so sure. But AI confidence ≠ human confidence. Here’s what happened: The AI system flagged a case of a rare autoimmune disorder. The doctor, trusting the result, recommended an aggressive treatment plan. But something felt off. When I was called in to review, we discovered the AI had misinterpreted an MRI anomaly. The patient had a completely different condition - one that didn't require that aggressive treatment. One wrong decision, based on misplaced trust, could’ve caused real harm. To prevent this amid the integration of AI into the workforce, I built the “acceptability threshold” framework. Here’s how it works: This framework is copyrighted: © 2025 Sol Rashidi. All rights reserved. 1. Measure how accurate humans are at a task (our doctors were 93% accurate on CT scans) 2. Use that as our minimum threshold for AI. 3. If AI's confidence falls below this human benchmark, a person reviews it. This approach transformed our implementation and prevented future mistakes. The best AI systems don't replace humans - they know when to ask for human help. What assumptions about AI might be putting your projects at risk?

Harvard Business Review just found that executives using GenAI for stock forecasts made less accurate predictions. The study found that:  • Executives consulting ChatGPT raised their stock price estimates by ~$5.  • Those who discussed with peers lowered their estimates by ~$2.  • Both groups were too optimistic overall, but the AI group performed worse. Why? Because GenAI encourages overconfidence. Executives trusted its confident tone and detail-rich analysis, even though it lacked real-time context or intuition. In contrast, peer discussions injected caution and a healthy fear of being wrong. AI is a powerful resource. It can process massive amounts of data in seconds, spot patterns we’d otherwise miss, and automate manual workflows – freeing up finance teams to focus on strategic work. I don’t think the problem is AI. It’s how we use it. As finance leaders, it’s on us to ensure ourselves, and our teams, use it responsibly. When I was a finance leader, I always asked for the financial model alongside the board slides. It was important to dig in and review the work, understand key drivers and assumptions before sending the slides to the board. My advice is the same for finance leaders integrating AI into their day-to-day: lead with transparency and accountability. 𝟭/ 𝗔𝗜 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲. AI should help you organize your thoughts and analyze data, not replace your reasoning. Ask it why it predicts what it does – and how it might be wrong. 𝟮/ 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. AI is fast and thorough. Peers bring critical thinking, lived experience, and institutional knowledge. Use both to avoid blindspots. 𝟯/ 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘆. Treat AI like a member of your team. Have it create a first draft, but always check its work, add your own conclusions, and never delegate final judgment. 𝟰/ 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 - 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. Use AI for what it does best: challenging assumptions, spotting patterns, and stress-testing your own conclusions – not dictating them. We provide extensive AI within Campfire – for automations and reporting, and in our conversational interface, Ember. But we believe that AI should amplify human judgment, not override it. That’s why in everything we build, you can see the underlying data and logic behind AI outputs. Trust comes from transparency, and from knowing final judgment always rests with you. How are you integrating AI into your finance workflows? Where has it helped vs where has it fallen short? Would love to hear in the comments 👇

Prompting isn’t the hard part anymore. Trusting the output is. You finally get a model to reason step-by-step… And then? You're staring at a polished paragraph, wondering:    > “Is this actually right?”    > “Could this go to leadership?”    > “Can I trust this across markets or functions?” It looks confident. It sounds strategic. But you know better than to mistake that for true intelligence. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸: Most teams are experimenting with AI. But few are auditing it. They’re pushing outputs into decks, workflows, and decisions— With zero QA and no accountability layer 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲: Don’t just validate the answers. Validate the reasoning. And that means building a lightweight, repeatable system that fits real-world workflows. 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥.𝗜.𝗩. 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗽: 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 – What’s missing, vague, or risky? 𝗜𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 – Adjust one thing (tone, data, structure). 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 – Rerun and compare — does this version hit the mark? Run it 2–3 times. The best version usually shows up in round two or three, not round one.  𝗥𝘂𝗻 𝗮 60-𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗤𝗔 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗛𝗶𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗱: • Is the logic sound? • Are key facts verifiable? • Is the tone aligned with the audience and region? • Could this go public without risk? 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Prompts are just the beginning. But 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 is what separates smart teams from strategic ones. You don’t need AI that moves fast. You need AI that moves smart. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝗜 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘀? 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗲 for weekly playbooks on leading AI-powered teams. 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 to my newsletter for systems you can apply Monday morning, not someday.

An AI leader asked me how to improve the collaboration with business stakeholders: “I told them: This is what we do and this what we need from you. How can we get more buy-in?” I wasn’t too surprised that “the business” has been apprehensive if the tone has indeed been “us vs. them.” That’s why I suggested to reframe and rephrase it: “Our team understands the technology really well and we are looking to partner with you to uncover the most promising AI opportunities together, based on your domain expertise.” But that is just the first step. Next, we talked about governance. Creating a simple table of roles & responsibilities can already increase transparency and drive alignment (AI team | Business team). Add the technical and business roles you need to bring together to work on an AI idea, consider what each role brings to the project, and who meets with whom and how often. Building on that, we talked about the typical project phases from idea to operation to show the project flow. Add the deliverables and documents needed for each phase along with the outcomes and go/no-go criteria for the project. (Check out the chapter on building your idea funnel in the AI Leadership Handbook.) Lastly, we covered getting sign-off on this governance framework across your senior business stakeholders. This will set you up for an aligned approach with top-down support and help you shine in your AI leadership role. I’ll check in again in a few weeks and can’t wait to hear how things are going. What’s slowing your AI program down? (Drop me a DM for an unbiased perspective.) #ArtificialIntelligence #GenerativeAI #IntelligenceBriefing

Most teams don’t resist AI because they hate technology. They resist it because they don’t understand what problem it’s solving And changing habits? That’s always harder than sticking with “what we’ve always done.” 😩 If you want your team to actually embrace #AI, start here: 1️⃣ Frame it as a tool, not a threat. The goal isn’t to replace people, it’s to amplify them. AI isn’t about erasing human value. It’s about unleashing it. ⚡️ 2️⃣ Focus on use cases that save time or reduce burnout. Think: automated meeting notes, research summaries, project kickstarts. ✨ Small wins = trust. ✨ Relevance = buy-in. ✨ Demonstration = transformation. (Don’t just talk about it. Show them how it makes life better than the old way.) 3️⃣ Make space for learning, not perfection. Adoption starts with curiosity, not expertise. No one needs to go cold turkey on old workflows. Replace just one repetitive task with AI, and build from there. 👣 And the most important piece? 🪞Model it. If YOU, as a leader, aren’t integrating AI into your own workflow…neither will they. Practice what you preach! This is the new edge of leadership: Not just using cutting-edge tools but helping your team feel empowered by change, instead of paralyzed by it. 🌟 Start small. Stay human. Spark curiosity. Where have you integrated AI into your workflow lately? Let me know, I’d love to learn from you. 👇 #NadiaCarta #AIWhisperer