Marissa Afton is a partner and Head of Global Accounts at Potential Project, a global leadership development firm focused on building more human workplaces. With over 20 years of experience in workplace well-being and performance, Marissa helps leaders drive cultural excellence, innovation, and resilience. She’s also the co-author of More Human: How the Power of AI Can Transform the Way You Lead, and her work appears in outlets like Forbes and Harvard Business Review.

Her passion for human-centered leadership began with her father, a corporate attorney who discovered mindfulness to bring balance to his fast-paced life. That practice deeply influenced Marissa’s career and continues to shape her work today. At Potential Project, she’s spent the past decade helping organizations create mindful, connected, and compassionate work environments.

In our conversation, Marissa challenges the common fear that AI will dehumanize us. Instead, she argues that when used intentionally, AI can actually enhance our humanity. Whether it’s helping leaders free up time for meaningful conversations or serving as a mirror for self-reflection, AI has the potential to support—not replace—our most human qualities. The key is making sure we’re still in the driver’s seat. For Marissa, the future of leadership is not about competing with machines—it’s about leading with heart.

The Biggest Helping: Today’s Most Important Takeaway

In our world today, we have lost a lot of the humanness in our day-to-day interactions. Hopefully, we're still staying human in our communities and in our families. But in our workplaces and in our lives, I think we're just going at such a fast pace. We have abdicated a lot of our humanness to other people's perspectives and technology. And really, to be able to keep coming back to our human connection will really, I think, help us in the long run for all of us.

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