How do you use AI for business without handing over your judgment?

Start with a business problem, identify the workflow that needs to change, and keep people responsible for defining the problem and checking the results. 

In Episode 309 of Success Leaves Clues, Robin Bailey and Al McDonald sit down with Karla Congson, Founder and CEO of Agentiiv, to explore practical AI adoption, human-led leadership, and the curiosity required to reinvent your career.

After more than 20 years in corporate marketing and senior leadership, Karla became an entrepreneur and later began learning AI and prompt engineering at 50. She shares why she sees reinvention as walking toward an opportunity with the expertise you already have, and why staying curious matters as much as becoming an expert.

Karla explains the difference between using AI to expand your capabilities and falling into “cognitive surrender,” gradually allowing technology to take over your judgment. Her approach puts humans in the lead: asking better questions, challenging assumptions, reviewing outputs, and involving other experts when needed.

Through client examples, she explores how AI agents can support research, marketing, and communications while helping teams improve quality and reduce external costs. She describes how the Canadian Marketing Association created 70 playbooks in a year through a process combining AI-generated drafts with human expertise and review. 

The conversation also covers how to measure AI ROI through business outcomes, why adoption should begin with workflows, and where risk and governance belong in the process. Along the way, Karla shares why rest, relationships, and protecting your capacity to think are essential to entrepreneurial success.

For entrepreneurs and business leaders exploring AI, this episode offers a practical starting point: solve a meaningful problem, preserve human judgment, and stay willing to learn.

You’ll hear about:

• How Karla moved from corporate marketing into entrepreneurship and AI
• Why experienced leaders still need the curiosity of a beginner
• What cognitive surrender means and how it can show up at work
• Why Karla advocates for humans in the lead when using AI
• How expert AI agents can support teams and challenge assumptions
• How the Canadian Marketing Association combined AI with human review to create 70 playbooks
• Why AI ROI should include quality, business outcomes, and employee capacity
• How to identify your first AI use case through business problems and workflows
• Why AI governance and risk management belong in adoption decisions
• What Karla hopes her entrepreneurial journey teaches her daughters

We talk about:

00:00 Welcome and meet Karla Congson, Founder and CEO of Agentiiv 

01:34 Moving from corporate expertise into entrepreneurship and AI 

05:06 Making learning feel exciting instead of threatening 

07:36 AI superpowers, cognitive surrender, and human judgment 

14:32 Using AI to extend expertise and validate your thinking 

17:01 Managing the pressure to do more as technology accelerates 

19:13 Why rest and relationships support entrepreneurial success 

23:09 Measuring AI ROI through meaningful business outcomes 

23:33 How the Canadian Marketing Association uses AI and human review 

25:56 AI results in an aviation and infrastructure communications team 

28:39 How AI personas can challenge assumptions and support critical thinking 

30:43 Where business leaders should start with AI adoption 

34:09 Managing AI risk and governance 

37:35 Building a legacy through curiosity and lifelong learning 

41:15 Connect with Karla Congson

Connect with Karla

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlacongson/ 
• Website: https://agentiiv.com/blog 

Connect with Us

• LinkedIn: Robin Bailey and Al McDonald  
• Website: Aria Benefits and Life & Legacy Advisory Group