Written by Sarah Deane

Sarah Deane is a researcher, author, and founder advancing the science of human energy and performance. As CEO of MEvolution, she develops evidence-based systems that combine behavioral and cognitive science with artificial intelligence to help individuals and organizations measure, master, and sustain peak human capacity.

A former HP global leader in employee workplace experience, Sarah holds a Master of Engineering in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and teaches at Stanford University Continuing Studies. Her work has been featured in Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Thrive Global, Reworked, and SHRM, and she regularly speaks at conferences including SXSW, HRWest, and Gartner.

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn.

Ask any CEO what their priorities are, and you’ll hear one item again and again: adoption of AI. It’s on their mandates, it’s on their hiring plans, it’s on their strategy decks. Companies like Zapier now require AI fluency as a part of their hiring process. Gartner says 80% of enterprises plan to integrate AI into operations within the year. McKinsey projects up to $4.4 trillion in annual economic value. And Stanford University reports adoption jumped from 55% in 2023 to 78% in 2024.

It’s pretty clear: AI isn’t a side experiment anymore. It’s here. It’s scaling fast. It’s already changing how we work and lead. And … the benefits are real. Forty percent of U.S. employees now use AI at work, nearly double from just two years ago. One in four use it weekly. One in ten use it daily. Research from Stanford, George Mason, and Clemson Universities found “workers using AI report a three-fold productivity gains on many tasks” — as much as an extra hour back per task!

But here’s the truth: productivity, engagement, resilience — the KPIs we usually rely on to measure success — only tell part of the story. 

Productivity can measure output. Engagement can measure how people feel. Resilience can measure how quickly they recover from challenges. But …

They all run on one thing: energy

Human Energy is the foundational KPI — the core resource that fuels and influences every other human measure. More energy means more capacity to do higher quality work, to build deeper emotional connection, and to maintain perspective under pressure. When energy is depleted, we slip into autopilot, go through the motions, disengage, and lose the ability to bring our best contributions forward. It’s that drained feeling after four back-to-back meetings — or the exhaustion that hits when you are juggling family demands alongside the tasks that seemed to have crept into your job description over the last year.

In fact, research shows that people who are positively energized outperform in performance and profitability by a factor of four or more. In other words, more energy doesn’t just make us feel better — it makes us more effective humans.

So yes, it’s fair to say that AI is already delivering fantastic efficiency gains in many ways. And that it’s just getting started with what it can do for our work and personal lives. 

But if companies fail to measure and manage Human Energy, they’re missing the most critical KPI for sustainable transformation.

And after twenty years studying AI and human behavior, here’s what I’ve seen: AI can accelerate progress like nothing else — but it also creates blind spots, unintended consequences, and challenges that can be easily lost in the hype. 

AI without human depth = AI development and deployment that ignores the very human sciences it depends on

When I completed my master’s with a focus in artificial intelligence, nearly twenty years ago, AI wasn’t just about being able to “code an algorithm.” Along with modules in data and algorithms and computer vision, we also had the opportunity to study modules in contract law, criminal law, psychology, theory of evolution, and behavioral science. Why? Because AI doesn’t exist in isolation. It exists inside human systems. That means every decision in design or deployment connects back to humans. If technology fails in the moment, a human steps in. Who selected the datasets to train the model? A human. Who presents an AI-generated sales report in a way that motivates and engages stakeholders? A human. Who brings a presence or energy that resonates — something that doesn’t feel generic, flat, or repetitive? A human.

Fast forward to today, and AI progress has exploded. Certifications and quick courses enable anyone to start building AI tools in hours. While it’s certainly exciting to tap into all that creativity, innovation, and speed, if you are building tools designed to replicate certain functions of human intelligence, starting with a true understanding of humans is a significant part! That broader context isn’t optional — it’s what makes AI trustworthy, useful, and safe. Without it, unintended consequences happen that will cost in more ways than one.

AI without human wisdom = transformation theater

Too many companies are pouring billions into AI tools and not seeing the results they intended. Why? Because the decisions driving adoption are often made at the extremes. The knee-jerk question becomes: “How many people can we cut because AI can do this task?” That’s not a strategy. It ignores the uniquely human skills and wisdom that make work effective in the first place — the judgment, nuance, and contextual awareness that AI cannot replicate. Strip those away, and you don’t get transformation, you get theater: shiny dashboards masking shallow impact. 

It’s not just about whether AI can complete a task; it’s about how that task fits into the broader ecosystem of people, behaviors, and connection points so the value and return are fully realized. 

Worse, these reactive cuts trigger ripple effects across the ecosystem, disrupting quality, culture, and customer trust. Short-term savings are quickly overshadowed by long-term costs: burnout, rework, disengagement, and declining innovation.

The result: a negative energy loop, that drains the very energy needed to make AI’s great promise achievable.

AI without focused human energy = exhaustion

Every new tool promises to save time — but each one also adds context switching, decision fatigue, and cognitive overload. Multiply that by the speed of AI adoption, and suddenly the thing that was meant to energize us is draining us. 

Yes, AI, when used mindfully, can free up hours, act as a learning partner, and spark creativity. But it also creates AI fatigue and even AI anxiety — the endless scramble to keep up, the mental toll of constant pivots, the fear of job loss to AI, and even the weariness of hearing the word “AI” yet again. 

Every switch, every choice, every interaction carries an energy cost. So without understanding, measuring, and managing human energy, AI can accelerate exhaustion instead of bringing performance gains.

The truth about human capacity

You see, AI’s real potential doesn’t lie in the algorithms, datasets, and generative capabilities alone. 

It lies in us. 

AI is not here to replace our humanity, but to create more space for it to shine.

The most advanced AI still can’t truly do what humans can: genuinely feel and have its own values-based judgment, connection, or ecosystem thinking. But these high-functioning capacities aren’t free. They run on one finite resource: energy.

Think about it this way: We often view listening as a single behavior, but beneath the surface, it’s a complex sequence of mental transactions, each carrying its own energy cost. Everything we do, from making a choice to maintaining perspective to fighting off a common cold, draws from our energy pool. Now, multiply that across every interaction, every decision, every moment in an organization, and you start to see why human energy is the foundational element to individual and business success. 

Case in point: burnout, which is a state of energy deficit. Leaders spend millions training people in “behaviors,but if employees don’t have the energy reserves to fund those behaviors, nothing sticks. 

This is why I know Human Energy must become the next critical KPI.

Energy: The new metric for success 

Seven years ago, my team and I set out to understand what it truly takes to thrive with sustainable performance.  What we discovered was that those who thrive have energy reserves (i.e., they operate in an energy-rich state, mentally “cash flow positive”). 

It is energy that determines whether employees actually have the capacity to absorb and apply transformation initiatives. 

It is energy that predicts the quality of uniquely human contributions that AI alone cannot provide. 

It is energy that connects individual capacity to organizational performance and engagement, bridging the gap between personal resilience and enterprise outcomes. 

And ever since our big discovery, we’ve been hyperfocused on how to set out to measure, and master, human energy.  Here’s what we’ve learned on this journey:

• No one is measuring Human Energy right now, which means leaders are often flying “blind” and setting strategies and goals without a clear sense of whether their people had the capacity to achieve them. The result? Employees either burn out trying to meet the expectations — or goals go unmet. This led us to create the Energy Management Quotient (EMQ) evaluation, which maps an individual’s mind to reveal the state of their “human energy bank” and identifies opportunities to increase and optimize it. We included more than 1,200 points of analysis, so it delivers the depth of insight equivalent to multiple expert sessions — in just one assessment.
• Often, assessments alone aren’t enough — people don’t know what to do with the insights. That’s why we built personalized roadmaps that guide individuals through their own “brain libraries” and layered toolkits that let them engage at the right level, supporting the journey from awareness to mastery.
• Even a single 90-minute energy awareness session creates measurable impact 30 days later — 75% report reduced burnout risk, 94% feel more hopeful and positive, 75% feel better able to manage life and work, and 81% actively apply at least one technique learned.
• Gaining this level of insight and development has traditionally required high-touch, high-cost programs, forcing organizations into the difficult dilemma of who gets access — and leaving much potential untapped. We solved this by combining algorithms with human oversight to deliver insights that truly resonate with each person at scale. Even without a human facilitator, the analysis can land in a way employees can understand, connect with, and act on.
• Many investments deliver only temporary gains. Look at the last decade: stress has risen, engagement hit a 10-year low in 2024, and thriving is in decline. Energy management offers a strategy for lasting impact. Longitudinal studies show that even a three-month program can deliver lasting results, such as measurable improvements in focus, resilience, and performance that persist two years, and even six years, later.

Because AI only reaches its potential when the right humans build, use, and guide it. It has extraordinary possibilities. But let’s be clear: AI will only ever be as powerful as the humans behind it. And humans will only ever be as powerful as their energy reserves.