Newsletter 309: The Thought Leadership Opportunity

Before We Begin: Join Our Dyslexia Awareness Month Research

This October, we're gathering critical data on how different minds use AI. Our AI Readiness Survey takes 8 minutes and gives you:

• Your personalized AI collaboration score

• Immediate access to resources matched to your level

• The chance to shape AI tools for education and the workforce

Your insights will directly inform how we build the Dyslexic AI Assistant and advocate for cognitive-inclusive technology in schools and workplaces.

[Take the Survey & Get Your Score →]

Now, let's talk about the opportunity nobody's discussing...

What You'll Learn Today

• Why there's a massive knowledge gap in AI collaboration that neurodivergent minds are uniquely positioned to fill

• The conversations I'm having with organizations desperately seeking cognitive partnership guidance

• How to position your neurodivergent experience as valuable consulting expertise

• Real opportunities emerging in education, corporate training, and product development

• Why this isn't about becoming an "AI expert"—it's about being a cognitive partnership guide

• The thought leadership paths opening up right now

Reading Time: 12-15 minutes | Listening Time: 10-12 minutes if read aloud

The Gap Nobody's Talking About

I've been having the same conversation repeatedly over the past few months with corporate trainers, education leaders, and product managers.

It goes something like this:

"We know our people need to learn AI collaboration, but all the training materials assume everyone thinks the same way. We're getting feedback that neurodivergent employees are struggling with standard AI training. Do you know anyone who understands both AI and cognitive diversity?"

This is the gap: Organizations recognize they need AI adoption, but they're discovering that one-size-fits-all AI training doesn't work for cognitively diverse teams.

And there's almost nobody who can bridge this gap professionally.

Why Neurodivergent Minds See What Others Miss

Here's what I've learned from my own experiments with AI collaboration: the challenges that neurodivergent minds face with traditional technology actually position us to understand AI partnership better than neurotypical thinkers.

We've spent our lives:

• Adapting to systems that don't match our cognitive patterns

• Finding creative workarounds when standard approaches fail

• Translating between different ways of processing information

• Managing cognitive load across varying energy levels

• Developing self-awareness about how our minds actually work

These aren't just survival skills. They're exactly the expertise needed to help others develop effective AI partnerships.

While neurotypical professionals are just beginning to think about "how do I adapt my workflow for AI," neurodivergent minds have been asking "how do I adapt this system to work with my brain" for decades.

That experience is valuable knowledge.

The Opportunities I'm Seeing Emerge

Through my work with Dyslexic AI and conversations across education and business sectors, I'm watching specific opportunities crystallize:

Corporate AI Adoption Consulting

Organizations are investing heavily in AI tools but seeing mixed adoption rates. They're discovering that standard implementation plans don't account for cognitive diversity.

There's growing demand for consultants who can:

• Assess how different thinking patterns engage with AI tools

• Design cognitive-inclusive AI training programs

• Help teams develop personalized AI collaboration strategies

• Identify where AI partnership breaks down for different minds

• Create frameworks for measuring AI partnership effectiveness

This isn't traditional change management. It's cognitive partnership architecture.

Educational AI Integration

Schools and universities are grappling with AI in education, but most approaches assume all students learn the same way.

Education leaders need guidance on:

• How AI can serve different learning styles and cognitive patterns

• Designing AI-enhanced curricula that work for neurodivergent students

• Training teachers to facilitate AI partnership rather than just tool usage

• Creating assessment methods that value AI collaboration over AI avoidance

• Building systems that enhance rather than replace human cognitive development

Product Development & User Experience

AI product teams are realizing their tools don't work well for significant portions of their user base. But they don't understand why.

There's opportunity in:

• Consulting on cognitive-inclusive AI interface design

• User research focused on neurodivergent AI interaction patterns

• Testing AI products for cognitive accessibility

• Advising on AI personality and communication style options

• Helping teams understand diverse cognitive partnership needs

Training & Workshop Facilitation

Organizations want workshops on AI collaboration, but generic "prompt engineering" training misses the mark for diverse teams.

The demand is for facilitators who can teach:

• Personalized AI partnership strategies based on thinking patterns

• How to identify your optimal AI collaboration style

• Cognitive load management when working with AI

• Building AI workflows that match individual processing preferences

• Maintaining human agency while leveraging AI capabilities

What This Actually Looks Like In Practice

I want to be honest about what these opportunities actually involve, because "thought leadership" can sound abstract.

Here's what I'm doing that qualifies as positioning neurodivergent experience as expertise:

Writing this newsletter: Documenting my experiments, observations, and frameworks for AI-neurodivergent collaboration creates content that establishes knowledge and perspective.

Speaking about cognitive partnership: When I present at conferences or corporate meetings about AI and neurodiversity, I'm not claiming to be an AI technical expert. I'm sharing insights from lived experience with cognitive adaptation.

Consulting conversations: When organizations reach out asking about AI training for diverse teams, I'm translating my personal experience into frameworks they can apply.

Product feedback: When AI companies ask how their tools work for dyslexic users, my perspective as someone who's extensively tested AI collaboration becomes valuable input.

Community building: Creating spaces where neurodivergent professionals share AI strategies generates collective knowledge that informs broader conversations.

None of this required me to become an AI engineer or get certified in anything. It required me to recognize that my experience adapting to technology has value in helping others do the same with AI.

The Skills You Already Have

If you're neurodivergent and you've been experimenting with AI as a cognitive partner, you already have valuable expertise:

Self-Awareness About Cognitive Patterns: You understand how your mind processes information differently. Most people have never thought deeply about their cognitive preferences.

Experience With Adaptation: You've spent your life finding what works when standard approaches don't. That's exactly what AI partnership requires.

Pattern Recognition: You notice when systems work with your thinking versus against it. This translates directly to evaluating AI tool effectiveness.

Communication Translation: You're skilled at explaining concepts in multiple ways because you've had to translate your thinking for neurotypical systems. This helps others understand AI collaboration frameworks.

Experimentation Mindset: Neurodivergent minds are often comfortable with trial-and-error because we've had to figure out our own solutions. AI partnership requires exactly this experimental approach.

How to Start Positioning Your Experience

This doesn't require you to quit your job and become a consultant tomorrow. It starts with recognizing and articulating what you already know.

Document Your Experiments: Write about what AI strategies work for your thinking pattern. Share on LinkedIn, start a blog, contribute to communities. Your observations have value.

Share Frameworks: When you discover an AI workflow that helps with executive function or organization or creative work, document the pattern so others can adapt it.

Offer Perspective: When organizations ask about AI training or tools, offer your viewpoint on what works for different minds. Your input shapes better solutions.

Connect Dots: Help others see the relationship between cognitive diversity and AI partnership. This is knowledge most people haven't developed yet.

Test and Provide Feedback: AI product teams need users who can articulate what works and doesn't work for different cognitive patterns. Your detailed feedback is valuable.

The Business Case for This Expertise

Organizations are starting to recognize that cognitive partnership isn't optional for AI adoption—it's essential for ROI on AI investments.

When companies spend millions on AI tools but half their employees can't use them effectively, that's a business problem. When schools implement AI learning platforms but neurodivergent students fall through the cracks, that's an equity issue. When products assume uniform cognitive patterns, that's leaving market opportunity on the table.

The professionals who can help solve these problems—who understand both the potential of AI and the reality of cognitive diversity—will be in demand.

This isn't charity work or diversity initiatives. It's strategic value.

What Our Survey Data Is Revealing

The AI Readiness Survey we're running this October is already showing patterns that confirm this opportunity:

Cognitive self-awareness correlates with AI partnership success: People who understand their thinking patterns score higher on strategic AI application.

Neurodivergent respondents identify different value propositions: What dyslexic minds want from AI differs significantly from what ADHD minds prioritize, which differs from autistic cognitive needs.

Current AI training misses the mark: The frustrations people report with existing AI tools center on cognitive mismatch, not capability limitations.

Organizations need frameworks: The open-ended responses reveal hunger for structured approaches to personalized AI partnership.

This data will inform how we build the Dyslexic AI Assistant, but it also validates that there's a knowledge gap worth filling professionally.

If you haven't taken the survey yet, your input adds to this critical research that shapes both product development and workforce training approaches.

[Contribute Your Insights to Our Research →]

The Thought Leadership Paths Available

Based on what I'm seeing, here are realistic paths for positioning neurodivergent AI collaboration experience as professional expertise:

Internal Champion Path

Start within your current organization:

• Become the person colleagues ask about AI collaboration strategies

• Offer to share what's working for your cognitive pattern in team meetings

• Volunteer to help shape your company's AI training programs

• Document and share your AI workflows internally

This builds credibility and opens doors without requiring a career change.

Content Creator Path

Build audience and authority through sharing:

• Write about your AI experiments on LinkedIn or Medium

• Create video tutorials showing your AI partnership strategies

• Start a newsletter documenting your learning journey

• Contribute to communities discussing AI and neurodiversity

This establishes you as a knowledgeable voice without requiring technical expertise.

Consultant/Advisor Path

Translate experience into client work:

• Offer AI adoption consulting focused on cognitive diversity

• Provide user testing and feedback for AI product companies

• Facilitate workshops on personalized AI collaboration

• Advise education institutions on AI integration for diverse learners

This turns expertise into income, though it requires more significant positioning.

Product Development Path

Work directly on building solutions:

• Join AI companies focused on accessibility or education

• Contribute to open-source AI tools for neurodivergent users

• Start building your own AI-enhanced tools for specific cognitive patterns

• Partner with developers who need cognitive diversity expertise

This combines technical work with lived experience insight.

What This Means for Education and Workforce Development

The implications of this thought leadership opportunity extend beyond individual careers.

As more neurodivergent professionals position themselves as AI collaboration experts, we're influencing how:

Schools approach AI in education: Moving from generic implementation to cognitive-inclusive design that serves all learning styles.

Companies train their workforce: Shifting from one-size-fits-all AI training to personalized partnership strategies.

Products get developed: Creating AI tools that work with cognitive diversity rather than assuming uniform thinking patterns.

Society understands neurodiversity: Reframing from accommodation to recognizing valuable expertise in cognitive adaptation.

This is how systemic change happens—not through policy alone, but through individuals demonstrating expertise that organizations need and will pay for.

The Responsibility That Comes With This

I want to be honest about something: positioning yourself as having expertise comes with responsibility.

You can't just claim authority without backing it up with knowledge, experimentation, and honest assessment of what works and doesn't work.

This means:

• Continuing to learn and experiment rather than assuming you know everything

• Being transparent about what's personal experience versus verified research

• Acknowledging when you don't know something rather than making up answers

• Staying current with AI developments and how they impact different cognitive patterns

• Seeking feedback and being willing to update your frameworks

Thought leadership isn't about pretending to be an expert. It's about contributing genuine insight from your perspective while remaining open to learning.

Where I'm Going With This

My own path with Dyslexic AI is an experiment in this thought leadership positioning.

I'm not an AI engineer. I'm not a neuroscientist. I'm a dyslexic entrepreneur who's spent two years intensively experimenting with AI as a cognitive partner and documenting what I'm learning.

That experience—combined with building community around these insights—is turning into something that organizations find valuable enough to engage with professionally.

I'm still figuring this out. But I'm sharing the journey because I believe there's room for many more voices contributing to how we understand AI collaboration across cognitive diversity.

Your experience matters. Your insights add value. Your perspective helps shape better solutions.

The Invitation

If you're neurodivergent and you've been experimenting with AI collaboration, you're developing expertise that organizations need right now.

The question is whether you'll recognize and position that expertise as valuable knowledge worth sharing professionally.

This doesn't mean you have to quit your job or start a consulting practice tomorrow. It means recognizing that your experience adapting to technology—combined with your understanding of AI partnership—is knowledge that can inform better education, workforce development, and product design.

Start somewhere:

• Document one AI workflow that works for your cognitive pattern

• Share an observation about what makes AI collaboration effective or ineffective

• Offer perspective when organizations ask about AI training or tools

• Connect with others exploring these questions

The thought leadership opportunity exists because there's a genuine knowledge gap that neurodivergent minds are positioned to fill.

Not by pretending to be something we're not, but by recognizing what we already know has value.

Have a Great Week!

I'm still experimenting with how to position my neurodivergent AI collaboration experience as professional expertise. Some weeks I feel like I'm onto something valuable. Other weeks I wonder if I'm overstating what I actually know.

That tension is probably healthy. It keeps me honest about what's genuine insight versus what's wishful thinking.

But here's what I'm confident about: There's a real knowledge gap around how different minds can effectively partner with AI, and neurodivergent professionals who've been experimenting with this are developing expertise that organizations need.

Whether you choose to position that expertise professionally is up to you. But recognizing that what you're learning has value is the first step.

If you're experimenting with AI collaboration and discovering what works for your cognitive pattern, you're contributing to knowledge that will shape education and workforce development.

That matters more than you might realize.

— Matt Ivey, Founder · LM Lab AI

Join Our Dyslexia Awareness Month Research

Help us understand how different minds use AI so we can build better tools for education and the workforce.

[Take the 8-Minute Survey →]

Your personalized results and resources are waiting.

TL;DR - Too Long; Didn't Read For Fellow Skimmers: The Essential Points

🎯 The Gap: Organizations need AI adoption but don't know how to train cognitively diverse teams—creating opportunity for neurodivergent expertise

🧠 The Advantage: Neurodivergent experience with cognitive adaptation positions us as natural guides for AI collaboration strategies

💼 The Opportunities: Corporate consulting, education integration, product development, training facilitation—all need cognitive diversity perspective

📊 The Evidence: Our survey data confirms organizations need frameworks for personalized AI partnership across different thinking patterns

🚀 The Path: Start by documenting your AI experiments, sharing frameworks, offering perspective, and positioning experience as expertise

⚠️ The Responsibility: Thought leadership requires genuine experimentation, honest assessment, transparency about limitations, and continuous learning