In 2026, "Vibe Coding" and AI copilots can translate any instruction into code. Hard skills are officially a commodity. This has created a terrifying new reality in the workplace: The rise of the "Human Robot."

Jessia Hoffman (Stanford Instructor & Founder of On Deck Workshops) joins us to expose the "Cowardice Epidemic" killing tech teams. Jesse works with Google, Cisco, and Bloomberg to solve the one problem AI can't touch: The fact that your employees are too terrified to be human.

When your team fails, do they lean in, or do they "shield their faces" and hide behind ChatGPT? If your culture is built on "politeness" instead of "play," you aren't leading a team, you’re managing a room full of people waiting to be replaced by an algorithm.

In this episode, we break down:

The Hiding Problem: Why AI saturation is making your team more lonely and less creative.
The "Yes, And" Leverage: Why the only high-value skill left is the ability to improvise under uncertainty.
The Failure Ritual: How to stop your team from "shutting down" when things go wrong (and why it’s costing you millions).
Applied Improv: The "Secret Weapon" used by Stanford’s most successful founders to build fearless cultures.

Stop hiring robots. Start building humans.

To follow Jessia Hoffman,

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessiahoffman/

Website: https://ondeckworkshops.com/

RESOURCES!
- Want to talk to Jessia or ask her a question? Connect with her at: linkedin.com/in/jessiahoffman/
- Could your team benefit from improv at your next offsite? Check out On Deck Workshops: ondeckworkshops.com
- And for improv magic in your inbox, sign up for their (every-other-month) newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/598b8d6ac148/ondeckworkshops

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About the host :

I’m Aishwarya, a product builder obsessed with turning raw ideas into real, working tools, especially with AI in the mix. Over the last 9+ years in SaaS, I’ve shipped zero-to-one products, scaled product marketing & GTM motions, and built across MarTech automation, real-time collaboration tools, and live event tech.

Today, I work hands-on as an AI-first builder & forward-deployed PM/Engineer, working closely with AI models, agents, and orchestration systems to shape next-gen AI products.

You can follow me here,

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aishwarya-ashok/

Twitter: https://x.com/aishashok14

My product memos: https://aishashok.com/

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Timestamps:

00:00 - Trailer

01:09 - Intro

04:01 - What is improvisation, and how did you discover improv?

07:03 - From high school to starting On Deck: your journey

12:18 - Can improv be learned as a skill? The right mindset for beginners

21:34 - Is improv always a team activity? Can solo improv help personal growth?

29:17 - Tools & techniques used with teams at Google, Cisco, LinkedIn, etc.

37:25 - How improv naturally helps people loosen up and open up

41:25 - Do you use these tools in the first few minutes to make people feel at ease?

44:51 - Theatre & stand-up improv: practice vs reading the room

48:02 - Improv as a creative boundary to build on others’ ideas

01:02:05 - Parallels between improv and working with AI as a co-partner

01:06:10 - Tech is abundant, but creativity and execution still matter most

01:07:56 - Quick improv exercise: “Name three things” game

01:14:52 - Why human creativity is key to using AI effectively

01:17:08 - Outro

#64 Stop Paying Humans to Act Like Robots (Founder Survival Guide) ft. Jessia Hoffman (Improv Specialist & Founder)

The Founder's Foyer with Aishwarya Ashok

#64 Stop Paying Humans to Act Like Robots (Founder Survival Guide) ft. Jessia Hoffman (Improv Specialist & Founder)