{"id":313155,"date":"2025-06-16T07:10:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T14:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/?p=313155"},"modified":"2025-06-15T16:15:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T23:15:33","slug":"ai-is-already-increasing-our-cognitive-load-thats-only-going-to-increase-dramatically","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/ai-is-already-increasing-our-cognitive-load-thats-only-going-to-increase-dramatically\/","title":{"rendered":"AI is Already Increasing Our Cognitive Load.  That&#8217;s Only Going to Increase &#8212; Dramatically."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DrewMMeister\/status\/1929689874514563291\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-313793 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screen-Shot-2025-06-03-at-9.44.33-AM-scaled.png?resize=1000%2C285&#038;quality=70&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"285\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screen-Shot-2025-06-03-at-9.44.33-AM-scaled.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screen-Shot-2025-06-03-at-9.44.33-AM-980x279.png 980w, https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screen-Shot-2025-06-03-at-9.44.33-AM-480x137.png 480w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1000px, 100vw\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1000px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1000\/285;\" \/><noscript><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-313793\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screen-Shot-2025-06-03-at-9.44.33-AM-scaled.png?resize=1000%2C285&#038;quality=70&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"285\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screen-Shot-2025-06-03-at-9.44.33-AM-scaled.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screen-Shot-2025-06-03-at-9.44.33-AM-980x279.png 980w, https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screen-Shot-2025-06-03-at-9.44.33-AM-480x137.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1000px, 100vw\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p>So I love our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.delphi.ai\/saastr\">SaaStr AI<\/a>.\u00a0 It&#8217;s already enabled us to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dramatically improve our content<\/li>\n<li>Review 200+ pitches for SaaStr Fund<\/li>\n<li>Review 700+ content submissions for SaaStr Annual<\/li>\n<li>Review 150+ sessions for SaaStr Annual<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And so much more.\u00a0 It&#8217;s great.<\/p>\n<h3>But because we can now do so much more with AI &#8230; we also have to process all that output.\u00a0 It&#8217;s so, so much more to process than just 9 months ago.<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"NECK7c393U\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/our-saastr-ai-has-done\/\">Our SaaStr AI Has Done 139,156 Conversations On Its Own Already.  And They Are Really, Really Good.  Don&#8217;t Fall Behind.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content lazyload\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Our SaaStr AI Has Done 139,156 Conversations On Its Own Already.  And They Are Really, Really Good.  Don&#8217;t Fall Behind.&#8221; &#8212; SaaStr\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/our-saastr-ai-has-done\/embed\/#?secret=6MxjIsWbKN#?secret=NECK7c393U\" data-secret=\"NECK7c393U\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While AI and emerging agent technology are creating unprecedented efficiency gains, they&#8217;re simultaneously introducing a new class of cognitive burden that few are discussing.<\/p>\n<h2>The 3X Efficiency Paradox<\/h2>\n<p>I&#8217;m easily 3X more productive than 12 months ago, leveraging various AI tools across my workflow. Content creation, data analysis, customer communications, pitch deck review\u2014all truly transformed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>But there&#8217;s a shadow side to this productivity explosion.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Every AI-powered workflow creates additional decision points and outputs requiring human judgment. Each time Claude, GPT, or another system generates content or analysis for me, I need to:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Evaluate its accuracy<\/li>\n<li>Adjust the framing<\/li>\n<li>Integrate it with other workstreams<\/li>\n<li>Apply business context the AI doesn&#8217;t possess<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>This work\u2014what I call &#8220;AI output management&#8221;\u2014isn&#8217;t captured in our efficiency metrics. Yet it&#8217;s growing exponentially.<\/p>\n<h2>The Hidden Burden of Integrating Multiple AIs and So Many Outputs<\/h2>\n<p>When I generate five different strategic approaches using an AI, I still need to synthesize them, discard the impractical ones, and integrate the survivors with organizational realities. The AI doesn&#8217;t do this for me\u2014it multiplies the options I must process.<\/p>\n<p>This isn&#8217;t just about filtering content. It&#8217;s about:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Maintaining strategic coherence across AI-generated work<\/li>\n<li>Ensuring consistent voice and positioning<\/li>\n<li>Validating factual accuracy without becoming a full-time fact-checker<\/li>\n<li>Translating between AI outputs and human teammates<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The Coming Agent Revolution: Cognitive Load Multiplied<\/h2>\n<p>What we&#8217;re experiencing now is just the beginning. True AI agents\u2014systems that can independently take actions toward goals\u2014will dramatically amplify both productivity and management overhead.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Consider a CRO 12 months from now:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>She&#8217;ll likely be managing say 20 human team members and &#8230; say 5 AI agents. Those 5 agents might be handling work equivalent to another 20 humans\u2014prospecting, meeting scheduling, pipeline analysis, competitive intelligence, and deal coaching.<\/p>\n<p>But those agents will require direction, monitoring, and integration that looks nothing like managing humans. They&#8217;ll produce rivers of output, request clarification at machine speeds, and require guardrails that must be continuously adjusted as they learn.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-313156 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/croai-scaled.jpg?resize=1000%2C560&#038;quality=70&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"560\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/croai-scaled.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/croai-980x549.jpg 980w, https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/croai-480x269.jpg 480w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1000px, 100vw\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1000px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1000\/560;\" \/><noscript><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-313156\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/croai-scaled.jpg?resize=1000%2C560&#038;quality=70&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/croai-scaled.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/croai-980x549.jpg 980w, https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/croai-480x269.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1000px, 100vw\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<h2>The New Executive Skill: AI + Human Management.\u00a0 And That&#8217;s a Lot &gt;More&lt; to Manage.<\/h2>\n<p>The winners in this new paradigm won&#8217;t just be those who adopt AI fastest\u2014they&#8217;ll be those who master the meta-layer of orchestration.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I don&#8217;t love this term &#8220;orchestration&#8221;, it&#8217;s a bit too nerdy and technical.\u00a0 But it&#8217;s a skill we are all going to have to learn, very very soon.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Successful executives will need to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Develop robust filtering systems for AI-generated outputs<\/li>\n<li>Master delegation patterns specific to AI agents&#8217; capabilities<\/li>\n<li>Create synthesis workflows that efficiently combine human and machine outputs<\/li>\n<li>Design organizational structures where humans and AIs complement rather than overwhelm each other<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This isn&#8217;t theoretical. I&#8217;m already seeing the early versions of this challenge in my own work and among founders I advise.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-314365 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_7504-scaled.jpeg?resize=891%2C1000&#038;quality=70&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"891\" height=\"1000\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_7504-scaled.jpeg 891w, https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_7504-480x539.jpeg 480w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 891px, 100vw\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 891px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 891\/1000;\" \/><noscript><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-314365\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_7504-scaled.jpeg?resize=891%2C1000&#038;quality=70&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"891\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_7504-scaled.jpeg 891w, https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_7504-480x539.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 891px, 100vw\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<h2>There&#8217;s No Going Back<\/h2>\n<p>Despite these challenges, there&#8217;s no reversing course. The productivity gains are too substantial, the competitive advantage too significant.<\/p>\n<p>The question isn&#8217;t whether to embrace these tools\u2014it&#8217;s how to evolve our own cognitive approaches to thrive alongside them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Companies that develop organizational designs and executive practices optimized for AI orchestration will outperform those treating AI as merely &#8220;faster humans.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-314363 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_7503.jpeg?resize=928%2C999&#038;quality=70&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"928\" height=\"999\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_7503.jpeg 928w, https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_7503-480x517.jpeg 480w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 928px, 100vw\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 928px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 928\/999;\" \/><noscript><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-314363\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_7503.jpeg?resize=928%2C999&#038;quality=70&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"928\" height=\"999\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_7503.jpeg 928w, https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_7503-480x517.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 928px, 100vw\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<h2>Where Do We Go From Here?<\/h2>\n<p>As I look ahead, I see several critical adaptations required:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Leadership teams need explicit discussion about AI output management as a distinct workstream<\/li>\n<li>We need new metrics for cognitive load, not just output volume<\/li>\n<li>Executive coaching needs to incorporate AI orchestration skills<\/li>\n<li>Team structures need reimagining around human-AI collaboration patterns<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The next generation of elite operators won&#8217;t just be technical\u2014they&#8217;ll be masters of their own attention and cognitive capacity in an environment of overwhelming AI-produced possibilities.<\/p>\n<p>Companies that recognize and address this hidden overhead now will have a substantial advantage when true agentic systems arrive in the marketplace.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The most valuable skill of 2026 might not be programming AI\u2014it might be effectively managing your attention while directing a team of both humans and machines.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So I love our SaaStr AI.\u00a0 It&#8217;s already enabled us to: Dramatically improve our content Review 200+ pitches for SaaStr Fund Review 700+ content submissions for SaaStr Annual Review 150+ sessions for SaaStr Annual And so much more.\u00a0 It&#8217;s great. But because we can now do so much more with AI &#8230; we also have&#8230; <br \/><a class=\"more-link fade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/ai-is-already-increasing-our-cognitive-load-thats-only-going-to-increase-dramatically\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":313156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[24898,31,24987],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-313155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai","category-blog-posts","category-saastr-ai"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/croai-scaled.jpg?fit=1000%2C560&quality=70&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5oib2-1jsT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screen-Shot-2025-06-03-at-9.44.33-AM-scaled.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313155"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":314366,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313155\/revisions\/314366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}