How I Work

**Join the AI Agent Bootcamp here: https://www.inventium.ai/learnvirtually-agents**
You sit down to research something for work, open a few tabs, type a vague query into AI, and get back something that feels… fine. Technically an answer. Not quite useful. Meanwhile, that report you've been working on probably needs another set of eyes, but getting real feedback takes time you don't have, so you send it anyway and hope for the best.
There's a better way. In this How I AI episode, Neo and I walk through three agents we think every knowledge worker genuinely needs, including two we're giving away for free.
How I AI, a special series within How I Work where Neo and I explore how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm.
What you'll learn in this episode:
Why a basic AI research query often isn't enough, and what to do instead
What a critical thinking agent actually checks for, and when it earns its place
What a cross-functional advisory board agent is, and who it's built for
How long it really takes to build agents that work reliably
Practical AI tools for productivity and focus
Real-world AI workflows used by high performers
How to use AI at work without burning out
Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load

Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.
Here are links to the free agents mentioned in this episode:
Research agent: https://amantha-imber.kit.com/41cec7c48c
Critical Thinking agent: https://amantha-imber.kit.com/51dd2a9719
Join the AI Agent Bootcamp to access the Advisory Board agent
My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M
Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)
If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/
Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.
Get in touch at [email protected]
Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber
Sound Engineer: Martin Imber
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**This week I'm sharing a crossover episode from the Humans, being. podcast with the wonderful Lael Stone. It's one of the more personal chats I've done in a while. We talk about my burnout year, the tiny experiments that brought me back, AI and where I think it's headed, and the uncomfortable question of whether being ordinary might actually be enough. I hope you love it as much as I loved having it. You can find the original episode on Humans Being here.**

Amantha calls her AI 'Sunny'. She talks to it on the drive to the gym, like she's chatting to a friend. And it has quietly changed how she works, how she writes, and how she gets the thinking out of her own head.
Dr. Amantha Imber is one of the sharpest, most generous humans I know. An organisational psychologist, the founder of Inventium, host of How I Work, the first Australian to win a Thinkers50 Innovation Award, the author of four bestselling books, and her brand new one, The Energy Game, lands in July.
In this episode, we discuss Amantha's burnout year and the tiny experiments that crawled her back, the ones she calls boosts, rest, and protect. Why "fake rest" (Netflix while you scroll) won't fill the bucket. And we talk about the childhood praise imprint that drives so many of us: what if the goal isn't to be more, but to be okay with being ordinary?
We explore:
The pressure we accept being human and thinking we must do it all
The hit-by-a-bus fantasy and what it tells us about how women carry stress
AI as a thought partner, and how Amantha uses it without losing the human bit
What we want for our daughters, and the thinking skills we don't want to outsource
Connect with Humans, being™:
Web: humansbeing.au
YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone
My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M
Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)
If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/
Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.
Get in touch at [email protected]
Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber
Sound Engineer: Martin Imber
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**Join the AI Agent Bootcamp here: https://www.inventium.ai/learnvirtually-agents**
There's a question you've answered a hundred times before. You know the one. Someone pings you, you stop what you're doing, dig through a document or two, and type out the same response you've typed a dozen times this month. It doesn't feel catastrophic in the moment, but across a week it quietly eats hours.
A knowledge agent is built for exactly this problem. It holds the information so you don't have to be the one constantly retrieving it.
In this How I AI episode, Neo and I unpack what a knowledge agent is, how it works, and how to build one that actually saves you time, whether you're fielding questions solo or trying to help a whole team self-serve.
How I AI is a special series within How I Work where Neo and I explore how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm.
What you'll learn:
What a knowledge agent actually is and how it differs from other agents
The kinds of questions and roles that benefit most from one
How to share a knowledge agent across a team without creating problems
What makes knowledge good (or bad) for an agent to work from
The three things you need to set up a knowledge agent properly
Practical AI tools for productivity and focus
Real-world AI workflows used by high performers
How to use AI at work without burning out
Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load
Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.

My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M
Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)
If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/
Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.
Get in touch at [email protected]
Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber
Sound Engineer: Martin Imber
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a moment a lot of professionals know well. You put real thought into a LinkedIn post, hit publish, and watch the likes trickle in. Five. Maybe six. One comment from a colleague you personally recruited into the thread.
Meanwhile, your feed has started to look like it was written by the same person. Polished, vaguely inspirational, and somehow saying nothing at all.
In this episode, I sit down with Jessi Hempel, senior editor-at-large at LinkedIn and host of the award-winning podcast Hello Monday, to get inside what's actually happening on the platform right now. Jessi has spent 25 years in tech journalism and eight years at LinkedIn, and she has a front-row seat to how AI is reshaping what it means to have a voice, both on the platform and in your career more broadly.
We talk about why your LinkedIn profile is doing more heavy lifting than any post you'll ever write, how to approach content in a way that builds real conversation rather than chasing reach, and what the rise of AI-generated posts actually means for anyone trying to show up as themselves online.
If you've been feeling like something's off with how your content is landing lately, this conversation will give you some much-needed clarity.

Jessi and I discuss:
The part of your LinkedIn profile that matters far more than your posts (and that most people ignore)
Why Jessi's posting advice runs counter to what most social media gurus will tell you
The one habit that has made the biggest difference to how Jessi's own posts find reach
What AI-generated content is doing to trust on LinkedIn, and where Jessi thinks it's all heading
The creator who has built one of the most engaged communities on the platform, and what makes her strategy work
Why Jessi thinks a major career shift is becoming the smarter move for mid-career professionals right now
The skill that no bootcamp can teach you, and why it matters more than ever in the age of AI

Key quotes
"If I get off of this conversation and I jump onto LinkedIn and I read a post from you and it sounds like an LLM wrote it, I'm gonna really have distaste in my mouth."
"Success is being in real conversations that matter with people who have the potential to elevate the issues of concern for you in your career."

Connect with Jessi Hempel on Instagram and LinkedIn. Check out her newsletter and listen to her podcast Hello Monday.

My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M
Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)
If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/
Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.
Get in touch at [email protected]
Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber
Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are interviews, and then there are conversations. The best podcast hosts know the difference, and the gap between the two is harder to close than it looks.
In this bonus episode, I get to turn the tables. Jessi Hempel (host of the podcast Hello Monday and senior editor-at-large at LinkedIn) and I nerded out on the craft we both love: what it actually takes to walk into an interview prepared, how to stay present when a guest goes flat, and the moment a scripted exchange becomes something neither person planned for.
If you've ever wondered what goes on in a host's head before and during a recording, this one pulls back the curtain.
Jessi and I discuss:
Why Jessi walks into every interview with no notes, and the preparation habit that makes it possible
The AI experiment that went badly wrong, and what it taught Jessi about how not to prepare
How to tell whether a podcast host has actually read the book (there's a tell, and writers always spot it)
What to do when a guest is giving you nothing and the conversation is going nowhere
The hardest interview challenge to crack, especially with big-name guests on book tour
The moment an interview tips into a real conversation, and why you can't fake your way there

Key quotes
"The process of slowing down and sitting with material and stumbling over it and forgetting a lot of it, but just sort of tracing my own mind to figure out where I feel curious about it, is the process of preparation."
"The best interviews tip into conversations."
Connect with Jessi Hempel on Instagram. and LinkedIn. Check out her newsletter and listen to her podcast Hello Monday.

If you haven't already, listen to the main episode with Jessi - where she gets into what actually works on LinkedIn in 2026. Check it out here.

My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M
Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)
If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/
Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.
Get in touch at [email protected]
Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber
Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.