Women Leaders AI Career Growth: Traits, Tools, Confidence | WLS 164 Sabrina Braham & Barry O’Reilly

Executive Summary: Most women leaders know AI could accelerate their careers—but don’t know where to start. Executive coach Sabrina Braham and author Barry O’Reilly reveal the Traits, Tasks, and Tools framework that eliminates AI paralysis, builds confidence in unfamiliar leadership roles, and helps women leaders AI career growth into bigger opportunities—starting this week.

Quick Takeaways:

• 69% of women say AI has opened new career pathways—but only for those who start using it now (ANSR Women in Tech Report, 2026).
• The Traits, Tasks, Tools framework reveals how to match AI to the way you personally do your best work.
• Use AI to pressure-test your thinking—never to hand over your judgment. That distinction changes everything.
• Asking AI “What questions should I be asking as a VP?” instantly elevates your perspective without years of experience.
• The worst thing you can do in a time of AI uncertainty is nothing. You must be in it to learn it.

You know you should be using AI. You’ve heard the urgency, seen the headlines, maybe even opened ChatGPT, stared at that blinking cursor—and quietly closed the tab.

Here’s what I want you to know: that moment of hesitation doesn’t mean you’re behind. It means you haven’t yet found your entry point.

I’m Sabrina Braham, executive leadership coach (MA, MFT, PCC) with 30+ years of experience, and host of the Women’s Leadership Success Podcast—top 1.5% globally with over 950,000 downloads. I coach senior women leaders at Stanford, Ernst & Young, Autodesk, and across the tech industry. And one of the most common things I hear from directors, VPs, and C-suite executives right now is: “I don’t know where to start with AI.”

New research backs this up: Chief and The Harris Poll surveyed 1,000+ senior women leaders in 2026 and found that while 85% are active players in their organization’s AI strategy, the approach matters enormously. The leaders who get ahead aren’t the ones who automate the most—they’re the ones who build human capability alongside AI. And according to the ANSR Women in Tech Report 2026, 69% of women who do engage with AI report it opens entirely new career pathways in product strategy, transformation leadership, and AI governance.

In this episode of the Women’s Leadership Success Podcast, I welcome back Barry O’Reilly—au