Joe O’Connor

AI is reshaping work at an unprecedented pace, but most organizations are struggling to translate ambition into adoption. In this talk, Joe O’Connor shows why sustainable human performance and innovative work models are essential to unlocking AI’s potential. Drawing on global case studies, cutting-edge research, and Work Time Revolution’s AI Adoption Framework, he explains how to transform anxiety into agency, build capacity for learning, and redesign work so people can do fewer, higher-impact things better while AI handles the rest.

This session will cover the following:

The AI Adoption Gap:

• 85% of enterprises call AI a strategic priority, yet fewer than 20% have redesigned work to support adoption
• Time, not skills, is the #1 barrier; employees feel overwhelmed, leading to resistance, shadow AI, or sabotage
• Trust crisis: most workers doubt AI will improve their lives.

Why This Is a Human Performance Challenge:

• Past “productivity tools” created more noise, not clarity.
• Sustainable human performance—focus, energy, recovery—is the foundation for adoption.
• Outdated productivity metrics (activity, presence) undermine effectiveness in knowledge work

3Four Shifts to Unlock Human Potential:

• Break Barriers: Overcome fear and mistrust with clear, shared gains (e.g. AI “time dividends”).
• Create Capacity: Free space before adding tools; carve out protected time for AI learning.
• Shift Skills Focus: From efficiency to effectiveness; prioritize creativity, judgment, and adaptability
• Redesign Roles with People: Involve employees in task “rebundling” to turn anxiety into agency

Innovative Work Models for the AI Age:

• Collective flexibility and shorter workweeks as powerful incentives and enablers of transformation.
• Sustainable performance practices (detachment, balance, outcome-based metrics) as accelerators of adoption.

The Choice Before Us:

• If designed extractively, AI will amplify burnout and distrust.
• If designed human-centrically, it can unlock creativity, innovation, and shared progress.
• Leaders must decide: will AI be a force for concentrated advantage, or collective advancement?

Key Takeaways:

Context: Understand why AI adoption struggles are less about technology and more about human capacity, trust, and work design.

Proof: Learn from global pilots and case studies showing how innovative work models improve both adoption and wellbeing.

Strategy: Gain practical steps from the AI Adoption Framework to turn AI anxiety into agency and unlock sustainable human performance.

Burnout has become the silent productivity killer of our time. In this talk, Joe O’Connor exposes how busywork, digital distraction, and outdated productivity metrics are draining employee energy and eroding performance. Drawing on cutting-edge research, global case studies, and incisive original insights, he shows why balance—not blend—is the foundation of sustainable performance. Leaders will learn how to redesign work to protect focus, normalize detachment, and create cultures where people thrive over the long term.

This session will cover the following:

The Crisis We Face:

• 82% of workers at high risk of burnout.
• o41% of desk time consumed by busywork; hundreds of hours lost annually in unnecessary meetings, duplication, and “work about work.”
• Digital distractions fragmenting attention — 1,200+ app/site switches per day, 23 minutes to recover after each interruption.

Why Traditional Solutions Fail:

• Billions invested in wellness programs with little measurable impact.
• The detachment paradox: leaders know time off boosts performance yet reward constant availability.
• Cultural hardwiring equates activity and presence with value.

The Case for Redesigning Work:

• Energy is the new scarce resource—leaders must treat attention like money.
• Protecting work-life balance (not embracing blend) is key to protecting focus.
• Boundaries enable deep work, recovery, and creativity.

Blueprint for Sustainable Performance:

• Measure outcomes, not activity. Eliminate “productivity theater.”
• Create collective flexibility models instead of relying on case-by-case exceptions.
• Protect detachment through policies, cultural modeling, and fair promotion criteria.
• Build recovery into work rhythms.
• Use AI for intentional subtraction—removing low-value tasks to free up energy for high-value work.

The Future of Work

• Curiosity, judgment, and creativity are the premium human skills in an AI age.
• To sustain them, organizations must redesign work around balance, energy, and effectiveness.

Key Takeaways

Context: Recognize how busywork and distraction drive burnout and why traditional wellness programs fail.

Proof: Understand the research and case studies demonstrating that balance, focus, and detachment fuel sustainable performance.

Strategy: Learn practical steps to redesign work by eliminating low-value tasks, protecting boundaries, and building cultures that sustain performance.

The five-day workweek is a relic of the industrial age. In this engaging and evidence-based session, Joe O’Connor explores how forward-thinking organizations are embracing the four-day workweek to address some of today’s most pressing workplace challenges—burnout, retention, productivity, and AI integration. Drawing on global pilots and original research from Do More in Four, Joe O’Connor demonstrates how reducing working hours can unlock higher performance, healthier teams, and more sustainable business models. Attendees will discover why now is the pivotal moment to redesign work for a smarter, more human future.

This session will cover the following:

Past → Present:

• How the 40-hour standard was born (and why it’s outdated).
• Industrial-era time-based measures of productivity vs. the realities of today’s knowledge economy.

Problems with the Status Quo:

• Overwork, burnout, and “performative busyness.”
• Misalignment between hours worked and value created.

The Case for Change:

• Evidence from global pilots.
• Case studies across industries: professional services firms, global multinationals, nonprofits, SMEs.
• Three headline benefits: recruitment and retention, wellbeing, and incentivizing productivity and tech adoption.

The Future of Work:

• AI as a force multiplier that makes shorter weeks viable.
• Why “less is more” is a smarter, more humane approach to work.
• How the four-day week can serve business, employees, and society.

Blueprint for Action:

• A six-step formula for making the four-day week succeed.
• Why a four-day week is not simply a perk but a strategic tool for transformation.
• Practical, tested tactics drawn from diverse organizations worldwide.

Key Takeaways

Context: Understand the origins of the 40-hour week and why it’s outdated in the age of AI.

Proof: Learn from real-world examples of organizations that have implemented the four-day week to solve core business challenges.

Strategy: Gain actionable strategies to reduce working hours, advocate for change, and apply “do more in four” principles in your own organization.