Julie Bedard

Managing Director & Partner, Boston Consulting Group, Inc.

Search every verified Julie Bedard interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Julie Bedard, a managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group, appeared on a New York Times podcast episode about artificial intelligence and its effects on workers. During the episode, she discussed research she conducted on what she described as "A.I. brain fry," which she defined as a type of cognitive strain involving mental fatigue related to excessive use, interaction with, or oversight of AI tools. Bedard stated that 14% of AI users in her study reported experiencing this condition, and she noted that it was distinct from burnout, as the study did not find a correlation between the two. She also suggested that using AI for repetitive tasks could allow workers to reinvest time in activities that give them energy, potentially reducing burnout. Bedard also addressed the "three tool cliff," a finding from her study indicating that productivity or feelings of productivity change when workers switch from using three to four AI tools at work. She described observing this phenomenon in companies where she conducts AI enablement workshops, noting that workers often express interest in using AI for tasks they procrastinate on, which she hypothesized are typically repetitive in nature.