Nica’s client was already moving into AI when she signed up for Anne Lackey’s AI leadership class. 

The property management company had begun using AI in areas such as leasing and maintenance, and more automation was coming. Nica had been with HireSmart for about eight years, starting as a phone operator and eventually becoming a leasing manager. Today, she oversees a team of five for her client. 

She was already using ChatGPT regularly, but her knowledge of AI was fairly basic. With her client investing in the technology, she wanted to know more. 

“I said, what better time to learn from Anne,” Nica said. 

The class wasn’t primarily about prompting. Instead, Nica said Anne focused on how to use AI in a leadership role, including privacy, confidentiality, and how AI could affect their industry. 

Nica didn’t have to wait long to put that information to work. 

Bringing the Class Back to Work 

While she was taking the class, her client was implementing property management AI software and considering another product for a different department. Nica used what she was learning to help evaluate whether the new software would benefit the team and the company. 

The class also made her realize that the company needed an AI policy. They were already implementing AI software, but neither she nor her client had thought about establishing formal guidelines for its use. 

“I didn’t know that I needed an AI policy before,” she said. 

Nica raised the issue, and she and the CEO worked on one together. For a property management company, some of the concerns were immediate. Employees handle IDs, bank statements, and private information belonging to homeowners, owners, and tenants. The policy addressed sensitive information that should not be entered into AI systems. Nica said they were also considering provisions dealing with how long information should remain in an AI system after a homeowner or tenant moves out. 

Nica also began using Claude, which she had not used before the class, and worked on several automation projects for her client. For her final class project, she focused on automating some of the regular tasks performed by her team. 

Nica also understood that AI wouldn’t always be accurate, particularly when different people were providing the information. She told her team they needed to enter factual data to reduce the chances of inaccurate information making its way into the system. 

Her Team Was Worried About AI 

At the same time, Nica was hearing concerns from the five employees she manages. Her client was automating more work, and some members of the team worried that fewer tasks could eventually mean fewer jobs. 

“Before this class, my team is kind of scared that the client is automating a lot of things already,” Nica said. 

After the class, she felt better equipped to talk with them about it. AI still needed people to provide good information, operate the systems, and make sure the results were accurate before that information went to owners and others the company served. 

“You don’t have to be afraid,” she told them. “You just have to learn how to utilize it properly.” 

Nica said the conversations helped improve morale. 

Her message wasn’t that her employees could ignore what was happening around them. Quite the opposite. She wanted them to learn the technology and understand how to work with it. 

“AI is not the enemy,” she said. “It is a tool that we can use for the future, and we have to learn it.” 

Nica Wants to Keep Learning 

For Nica, the class came at a point when her role was already changing. She had spent years moving from answering phones to managing people and overseeing daily operations for her client. Now AI was becoming another part of the business she needed to understand. 

She has already started thinking about what comes next. 

Nica said Anne’s class inspired her to look into a 17-week AI program through Singapore Management University. She has discussed it with her client, who is open to her taking the course. 

“That’s where the trajectory is going,” Nica said. 

For someone who began with HireSmart about eight years ago answering phones, that trajectory now includes helping her client evaluate AI software, working with the CEO on AI policy and helping her team respond to concerns about what automation could mean for their jobs. 

And Nica plans to keep learning. 

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