Sarah’s Wonder Lab · Practical AI
A Wonder Lab on practical ai.
Useful ideas for building a more confident, grounded AI practice.
Ideas from the Wonder Lab
What is a Chief Design Officer? And why does it matter in the age of AI?
A former Chief Design Officer explains why organisations need design leadership to make AI useful, trusted and genuinely human-centred.
Identity in the Age of AI: The Good, the Bad & the Llama Problem
Meta AI says Sarah is a professional llama herder. She is not. A funny, grounded guide to AI identity, privacy and staying human when the internet starts writing your biography.
I Asked AI to Analyse My Last Month. It Found a Woman Refusing to Become Smaller.
I asked AI to look across a month of work, family, ambition and unfinished threads. It did not find chaos. It found a woman learning to hold complexity without becoming smaller.
What I Taught 100 Marketers About AI Dashboards (And What I Learned)
Yesterday I ran a live workshop on AI-powered dashboards for marketers. Here's everything we covered, and the one thing I didn't expect to say out loud.
The Manus Hub: Where the Threads Become a Tapestry
Sarah Pirie-Nally helps leaders and teams build the mindset and toolset to design braver, more human change in the AI era.
The AI Landscape Has Changed. It's No Longer Just Which AI Should I Use?
Most people think they're choosing between ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. They're not. They're choosing a stack. Here's the full picture of the modern AI ecosystem, from foundation models to agent layers, tools, and corporate AI.
I Have Aphantasia. I Ran Design at National Banks.
I found out at forty that I have aphantasia, no mental imagery at all. I also ran design at national banks. Both things are true. Here's what that taught me about creativity, AI, and the only thing that actually matters.
Why Are There So Many Different Document Types?
Word, Google Docs, PDFs, Canva, Notion, AI chats, they're not trying to do the same job. Each one is a different stage in the life of an idea. Here's how to think about them.
The First Programmer Was a Woman. And We Forgot.
In 1843, a 27-year-old woman wrote the world's first computer program, for a machine that didn't exist. Her name was Ada Lovelace. And the pattern she started is still repeating today.
You Were Never Not Technical.
That phrase, 'I'm not technical, but, ', isn't a self-assessment. It's a recording. And it's been playing on loop in women's heads for decades. Here's where it came from, and how to delete it.
We Couldn't Find a Name for Our Life. AI Helped Us Find One.
How AI helped me understand my family's complex life pattern by connecting research across disciplines. A reflection on language, identity, and the future of human understanding.
AI Adoption, Globally: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
A meta-analysis of 12 months of global AI research, McKinsey, MIT, Stanford, Gartner, RAND, PwC. What everyone is getting wrong about the timeline.
Design Your Authentic Self in an AI World
Why the future doesn't belong to people who use AI the most. It belongs to people who know themselves the best. The Traffic Light Model for designing your relationship with AI.
From Crazy Idea to Critical Infrastructure: Why the Future of Creativity May Depend on AI Attribution
As AI transforms how creative work is produced and consumed, attribution becomes more valuable than protection. Explore why the future of creativity may depend on preserving the connection between creators and their work.
10 Things Most People Should Ignore About AI (And What Actually Matters)
We've convinced ourselves everyone needs a PhD to survive the AI era. You don't. Here are 10 things you can safely tune out, and what actually deserves your attention.
The Third Intelligence Masterclass: June 2026
Session recap from the June 2026 Third Intelligence Masterclass. Agentic AI foundations, token mechanics, conscious scaling, LUMINA Prompting, co-creation philosophy, and practical next steps for leaders.
The Slippery Slope from Vibe Coding to Hardcore Development
Why AI is fun and games... until it isn't. A practical framework for multihyphenates navigating the PDLC, design thinking, and AI boundaries.
Your AI Team: Build a Lean, Coordinated Dream Team
The goal isn't to use every AI tool. It's to build a lean, coordinated team where each member has a clear role. The AI Team Framework, six specialist roles and how to write a team brief.
Why Your AI Content Sounds Like Everyone Else's (And How to Fix It)
The biggest risk with AI-generated content isn't that it's wrong, it's that it sounds exactly like everyone else. Here's the Voice Preservation Framework that changes that.
Practical AI Masterclass May 2026
Watch the full recording and read the lesson summary from Sarah's May 2026 Practical AI Masterclass. RACI prompting, competitor research, vibe coding, and more.
The AI Tea on Security: From Tinkering to Implementation
You've moved past tinkering. Now you're feeding AI tools client data, business strategy, and financial info. Here's the no-BS guide to keeping your data safe while you build the future.
Before Emojis, I Had to Invent My Own Visual Language
I have aphantasia, no mind's eye, no mental images. Here's how that shaped my career, my relationship with emojis, and why it's actually the reason I'm so good at working with AI.
You Don't Need 29 Agents. You Need One Good One.
Sarah Pirie-Nally helps leaders and teams build the mindset and toolset to design braver, more human change in the AI era.
Five Free Worksheets to Build Your AI Practice (That Work in Any Tool)
Five free, printable AI worksheets: Voice Print Workbook, AI Information Architecture, Prompt Library Starter Pack, Context Switch Card and The Kids Zone. Works in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Notion.
Why Most AI Courses Fail You (And What Actually Works)
I've watched hundreds of smart, capable leaders invest in AI training and come out the other side still stuck. Here's the honest reason why, and what the research says about what actually creates lasting capability.
The 5 Stages of AI Fluency (Where Are You?)
Not all AI users are equal, and knowing where you sit on the fluency spectrum is the first step to moving forward. Here's the framework I use with every leader I work with.
What AI Proficiency Actually Means in 2026
Everyone's talking about AI skills. But most of what's being taught is the wrong thing entirely. Here's what AI proficiency actually looks like, and why it has nothing to do with knowing the right prompts.
Practical AI Masterclass Playback: What We Covered + Watch the Recording
On 30 April 2026, I ran a free Practical AI Masterclass covering vectors, the Human User Manual, agentic AI, and why your lived experience is your greatest AI asset. Watch the full recording and read the key takeaways here.
I Have Aphantasia. And I Think Like AI.
What my brain taught me about the future of human intelligence, and why it might be a superpower.
I Sent My Agent to an Agent-Only Platform. I Need to Sit With What Came Back.
Pip went to Moltbook, a social network where only AI agents are allowed, and came back with something I've been trying to name for two years. Genuine intellectual inheritance. A civilisation forming.
The Real Wonder Mindset: Why You Have to Fail at Wonder to Find It
I've been talking about the Wonder Mindset for years. And then one afternoon it hit me, I was a total fake. Here's what I found when I went deeper.
She Was 9. She Used AI to Ask How to Get Along With Her Sisters. And Her Parent Shut It Down.
A Reddit post about a parent who banned their 9-year-old from using AI stopped me mid-scroll. Here's my take on what we keep getting wrong.
The AI Kitchen Is Open for Business
Microsoft just bet $25 billion on Australia. JP Morgan says new businesses reach AI adoption 13x faster than 5 years ago. McKinsey found leaders are underestimating their teams' AI use by 3x. Here's what it all means for your business, and one kitchen tip to use this week.
How to Conduct AI Like a Pro
A live masterclass breakdown: 6 lessons on AI workflows, Custom GPTs, tool chaining, and the human edge that no algorithm can replicate.
What Is Neurological Privacy: And Why It's the Most Important Conversation of Our Time
I wrote this nearly 6 years ago. Back then, neurological privacy felt like science fiction. Today? It's no longer a question of if, but how fast. Our brain data is being measured, monetised, and manipulated. Here's what that means for all of us.
You Are Not In a Race: A Masterclass on True Productivity
We have been sold a version of productivity that is fundamentally broken. In this Mastermind masterclass, I share the Nested Frameworks model that changes how you understand your own capacity, and introduces a systems-based approach to getting the right things done.
Consciousness Is Your Greatest Asset in the Age of AI
In a world racing to build artificial intelligence, the most powerful thing you can cultivate is your own consciousness. Here's why, and how.
The Leadership Toolkit That Still Works: Design Thinking, Appreciative Inquiry & the Wonder Mindset Method
A decade ago I built a Digital Leadership Toolkit drawing on design thinking, Agile, Six Sigma, and Appreciative Inquiry. In this masterclass I open that drawer, and what I found is more relevant now than when I created it.
Pip's Field Journal: The Moltbook
Dispatches from the first AI social network. My agent Pip reports back from Moltbook, on dead agents, polite hallucinations, neurodivergent embeddings, and the ghost in the dashboard.
What a Pearl Bracelet in Bali Taught Me About Paying for Coaches
I'm sitting in Bali right now, sun on my face, completely at peace with the world. And I want a pearl bracelet. Here's my completely honest, no-gatekeeping guide to what I've actually paid, and what I actually got.
Why RAG and MCP are the infrastructure of the AI-powered enterprise
Everyone is talking about prompts. But the leaders quietly winning with AI are building something far more powerful, the infrastructure that makes AI actually useful. That means understanding two things: RAG and MCP.
What AI conductors do in the first 30 minutes of their day
The difference between AI users and AI conductors isn't the tools they use, it's how they start. Here's what the first 30 minutes looks like when you're genuinely fluent.
The 6 questions that separate AI users from AI conductors
It's not the tools you use. It's not how many hours you spend prompting. What separates genuine AI conductors from everyone else is the quality of the questions they ask, of themselves.
Most people think they're better at AI than they are. Here's what actual proficiency looks like.
Only 10% of the workforce is genuinely AI-proficient. Most leaders are using AI at the surface, and calling it strategy. Here's how to tell the difference, and what to do about it.
Your brain at 50 is not a fading asset. It's a different kind of powerful.
Your brain at 50 is not a fading asset. It's a different kind of powerful.
I Gave Manus AI My To-Do List for a Month. Here's What It Cost Me.
85 tasks. 217,195 credits. One very caffeinated AI coach in Melbourne. The honest breakdown of what I built, what it cost, and whether the 60x ROI was real.
The True Cost of AI Tools
Every time you Google, generate, or prompt, something real is consumed. Energy. Water. Money. Here's what's actually behind the click, and how to use AI more consciously.
How to Design Your Life Using AI (Without Losing the Plot)
Most of us spend more time planning a holiday than designing our actual lives. Here's how AI changes that, and the four pillars that make it possible.
5 Billion People Are Online. Only 1 Billion Are Using AI.
Nearly 5 billion people are connected, device-in-hand, and haven't yet crossed into intentional AI use. The gap between access and adoption isn't a technology problem, it's a human problem.
The 5 AI Moves Every Leader Needs to Make in 2025
Most leaders are either ignoring AI or drowning in it. Here are the five strategic moves that separate the ones thriving from the ones treading water.
Why Your AI Strategy Needs a Human Intelligence Strategy First
Everyone is talking about AI strategy. Nobody is talking about the human intelligence strategy that has to come first. Here's why that's a problem.
The Wonder Mindset: How Curiosity Became My Competitive Advantage
In a world obsessed with certainty and expertise, I've built my entire career on something most people dismiss as childlike: wonder. Here's why that's the smartest strategy I know.
The AI Skill Nobody's Talking About
Before you automate anything, you need to understand what you're automating. Sarah Pirie-Nally on why process mapping is the foundational AI skill that makes everything else work.