AI is reshaping public services, from Medicaid eligibility to behavioral health treatment planning, but the biggest shift isn’t automation. It’s the rising importance of human judgment, governance, and critical thinking in a world flooded with machine-generated information.
In this episode of Human Work After AI, host Chris Fanchi sits down with Connor Norwood, Founder & CEO of Delineate LLC, to explore how government, healthcare systems, and consulting firms are navigating AI adoption while protecting public trust and human responsibility.
Connor brings a rare lens: academic researcher → state CDO → COVID-19 multi-agency data leader → founder. His perspective on AI governance, health workforce shortages, legal liability, and expert-human augmentation is one every tech leader needs to hear.
🔑 Key Themes
- Why critical thinking becomes the most important workforce skill in an AI-first world
- Why AI will replace some jobs, but will create entirely new ones that require reskilling
- How expert-human augmentation can ease the mental health provider shortage
- The hidden risk for companies that “ban AI” but don’t create policies
- Why public sector AI adoption is slowed by outdated statutes and risk-averse incentives
- How AI changes discovery, research, and consulting workflows
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 — Opening highlight
01:02 — Introduction to Connor Norwood & Delineate
01:58 — From pre-med → academia → state government → data leadership
04:28 — The origins of Delineate & the art of data storytelling
06:39 — Why executives need narrative clarity, not more dashboards
09:44 — What “tuning your message to the audience” really means
10:52 — What Delineate does today (government + sports + healthcare + AI)
12:55 — AI governance: why orgs can’t put their head in the sand
13:03 — Expert human augmentation in healthcare
15:26 — How clinicians perceive AI (and why definitions matter)
18:48 — The fragmented regulatory landscape
21:12 — Government constraints: legacy rules, risk tolerance, budget cycles
23:34 — Why efficiency in public services matters
26:23 — How Delineate uses AI to accelerate research & discovery
28:21 — Are jobs being replaced? Connor’s view on job creation & reskilling
30:38 — Why critical thinking still matters more than ever
31:24 — Legal liability: AI outputs, copyright, and the black box
34:03 — Why proactive guardrails matter
36:17 — Creating realistic AI policies in organizations
36:45 — Connor’s vision for improving public service with AI
38:17 — Where to find Connor
38:33 — Closing
🔗 Resources
Delineate LLC: https://delineateconsulting.com
Connect with Connor: http://www.linkedin.com/in/connorwnorwood
Chris Fanchi / Big North: https://bignorthnetwork.com
📘 Order Chris’s Book — Managing AI: Humans, Agents, and the Future of Work
Available Now!
👉 https://bignorthnetwork.com/managing-ai