Sarah Stone McDevitt says human connection will be a business advantage in the AI age

Senior SaaS leader Sarah Stone McDevitt argues that AI should augment, not replace, human capability as companies automate more work. Her new book says relational intelligence, empathy and judgment will become more valuable as AI handles information and humans focus on meaning.

Why it matters: - McDevitt says the AI shift will not only change how work gets done. It will change which human skills create competitive advantage. - Her argument lands as companies use AI to speed up content creation, automation and decision-making. - The core risk, she says, is that an efficiency-first approach could weaken loyalty, motivation, confidence and connection inside organisations.

What happened: - Sarah Stone McDevitt, a senior SaaS leader and Senior Director of Partner Strategy at HubSpot, outlined her case for human-AI collaboration in a new book. - Her book, The Round Table: How Relational Intelligence Will Become Your Human Advantage in the AI Age, is published by The Book Shelf Press and is now available to order on Amazon. - McDevitt is based in Dublin, Ireland, and her work focuses on AI, relational intelligence, emotional intelligence and leadership.

The details: - McDevitt says AI should be treated as a tool, not a replacement for human capability. - She says humans are better positioned to provide empathy, judgment, relationship-building and what she calls “relational intelligence.” - McDevitt’s view is that “AI will increasingly handle information. Humans will increasingly handle meaning.” - She argues that the most successful organisations will not be the ones that automate the most, but the ones that use technology while strengthening human skills that make work meaningful. - McDevitt said, “The future belongs to humans who become more human, not less.”

Between the lines: - The book frames AI as a productivity tool with limits, not a full substitute for human judgment. - That distinction matters for leaders deciding what to automate and what to keep human-led. - The message is also a positioning bet: as AI gets more capable, skills tied to trust and connection may become more valuable, not less. - McDevitt says, “If there is one idea at the heart of The Round Table, it is this: as technology becomes more capable, our humanity becomes more important. The future is not humans versus AI. It’s humans working alongside AI while developing the uniquely human qualities that machines struggle to replicate.”

What’s next: - The book is already available to order, giving McDevitt a platform to expand the argument beyond the workplace. - She is likely to continue linking AI adoption with leadership, emotional intelligence and relationship-building. - Her central test for organisations is whether they use AI to free people for higher-value human work, rather than narrowing work to speed and output alone.

The bottom line: - McDevitt’s case is simple: as AI handles more information, human advantage will come from meaning, judgment and connection.