Aaron Hays

Authority Signal

Founder

Alterfy

Co-Founder & Director of CS

Rockbot

Account Director

Optimizely

Manager - Onboarding / Implementation

ZoomInfo

Customer Onboarding  Manager

Gordon Food Service

Project Manager

Booking.com

Account Manager

I help SaaS leaders build trust, visibility, and inbound opportunity on LinkedIn | Writer on SaaS leadership, reputation building, and content that converts

I'm currently in a full-time SaaS leadership role while building Authority Signals, where I help other SaaS professionals grow their presence, sharpen their voice, and attract opportunity, without needing to go viral.

After more than a decade in SaaS, leading CS teams, building onboarding playbooks, and navigating the emotional pressure of being “the glue” - I realized something:

Great work doesn’t speak for itself.

Many of the most capable operators I know stay invisible online. They lead quietly, burn out privately, and get passed over for louder, flashier people.

I help them change that.

I work with SaaS leaders - especially in CS, GTM, and RevOps, to clarify their voice, tell the truth about their leadership journey, and build real visibility on LinkedIn.

I’m not a coach, and I’m not here to make you post every day.

Through my Leadership Narrative Sprint, I help mid-to-senior professionals reposition themselves around trust, clarity, and authority, not hustle or fluff.

I also write about the emotional reality of modern leadership:

Burnout from invisible labor

Boundaries in high-stakes roles

Building trust without performative branding

✅ 16K+ followers
✅ 1K+ newsletter subscribers
✅ Posts seen by over 1 million people

If you’re tired of doing great work in silence, and you want your next opportunity, client, or promotion to find you, I’d love to help.

📩 DM me “Leadership” to see how the Sprint works.
Or follow for weekly insights on trust, visibility, and voice.

Bridging Gaps & Building Bonds | Communication Consultant for Executives, HR Leaders & DEI Directors | Creating a Culture of Connection, Inclusion & Belonging | Available for Coaching | Training | Speaking |

People need to feel seen and heard.

Communication is critical.

Wrong doesn't cut it. 

You gotta get it right. 

Sometimes you need another opinion. You need a new perspective. You need a different point of view.

Let's get real: There are times when you need an outsider to drive your inside game.

Figuring out what to say and how to say it is a beast, especially when it comes to successful messaging because effective communication can be a real pain in the rump.

Discovering the best way to communicate with your crew, captivate your clients, and connect with the world that exists outside of your organization (as well as your personal thought bubble) can feel like a mind-numbing maze, especially with regard to equity, inclusion, and belonging in the digital age. 

This is where I come in to help.

With the mind of a scientist, the heart of coach, and the spirit of a savvy strategist, I talk the talk and walk the walk in ways that will take your business or personal communication project to the next level.

Through customized workshops, presentations, and consulting sessions, I’ll help you discover what works and doesn’t work for your unique situation. 

A master educator and recognized expert in message development for ethical team building, diverse leadership presence, and inclusive audience engagement, I have been coaching on the art and science of communication for 20+ years. 

I have worked with corporations, higher education institutions, and I’ve even had the distinct privilege to work with homeless women who are survivors of sexual abuse—one of the greatest honors in my life.

If you could use an honest perspective, then please reach out today. I can’t wait to hear your story and help you come up with original strategies and savvy solutions that work for you.

At this point, that voice in your head is asking:

"Why should we work together?"

"What does Dr. J. offer that's unique?"

Answer:

I have an intuitive grasp of the obvious.

I'm a peripheral visionary, which means I see stuff off-to-the-side.

I don't have an ebook to offer you, and I don't have a content template to tempt you, because my vision board was burned at the stake...by my mom.

You might be thinking: "Was that a joke?"

Yeah, a bad one.

But what I do is no joke...

I'm in the business of belonging by connecting people, one conversation at a time. 

I've developed a simple sauce that has helped over 18,897 people connect in the moments that matter most.

I'm available for coaching, workshops, and talks.

If you could use a helpful perspective that works, then reach out today.

Dr. J. Rodríguez, Ph.D. 💬💥

The algorithm didn’t save me.


A nurse, with kindness in her voice, did.


A few years ago, I found myself sitting in a hospital gown, hair-net crooked, thumbs up, waiting for a simple surgery.

Not my most glamorous moment.

But what happened next taught me more about human-centered leadership than any AI keynote, conference panel, or futurist forecast.


A nurse asked what I did for a living.

“I’m a professor,” I whispered, half-drowsy, half-awake.

Her eyes widened.
“Angie! Florence! We’ve got a professor over here!”

Suddenly I had an audience — nurses, techs, staff — all circling around, talking about school, fear of statistics, the struggle of learning, and the pride of pushing through.

There I was:
half-asleep, half-dressed, and fully present.

And somehow, that was enough.


What struck me wasn’t the attention.
It was the connection.

No algorithm curated that moment.
No AI system facilitated that exchange.
No dashboard optimized that level of care.

It was simply humans turning toward one another.

A real-time reminder that:

Authenticity invites authenticity.
Attention creates connection.
Care is contagious.


In a world where everything feels automated, accelerated, and “optimized,” we forget:

Human-centered leadership isn’t a technique.
It’s a temperature.
People feel it the moment you walk in.


AI can analyze, automate, and accelerate.
But it can’t replace the warmth of a human voice saying,
“Hey, we’re here with you.”

So here’s my weekly reflection:

We can do incredible things with AI.
But the moments that matter?
They’re still human-made.

Communicating with CARE
is still beyond compare.

Have a great day.
Stay human out there.

You got this.

AI can’t automate empathy —


and the one skill too many leaders underestimate.


Everyone’s asking:

“How do I get ahead with AI?”
Wrong first question.

The better question is:
“Who do I become as a leader with AI?”


Because here’s the paradox of this moment:

As AI gets smarter,
human skills get scarcer.


And what becomes priceless?

1️⃣Empathy.
2️⃣Trust.
3️⃣Psychological safety.

The quiet, steady work of showing up with care.


AI can sort data.
AI can draft emails.
AI can summarize a meeting you barely stayed awake in.


But AI cannot:

◼️Sit with someone’s fear without trying to fix it.

◼️Hear the sentence they didn’t say, but deeply meant.

◼️Hold a hard conversation with dignity, not domination.


That’s your lane.
That’s our work.


When machines take on more routine tasks,
the remaining space becomes human-to-human leadership —
the space where empathy is not optional,
it’s oxygen.


Leaders who turn to their teams and say,

“Your voice still matters here.
Your worth isn’t measured by what an algorithm can automate.”


…those leaders win.
In culture.
In trust.
In performance.
In retention.


That’s what I call ethical cognizance in action:
identity, intentionality, agency, context, awareness —
all oriented toward care beyond compare.

◼️Care as advantage.
◼️Care as cadence.
◼️Care as crucible of creation —
where meeting the other as sacred isn’t “soft,”
it’s strategic.


Because when you lead with empathy and AI:

You don’t just speed up workflows.
You deepen connection.

You don’t just cut costs.
You cultivate belonging.

You don’t just adopt tools.
You activate people.


So ask yourself:

If AI is the amplifier,
what is it amplifying in you?

Fear or curiosity?
Control or compassion?
Efficiency at all costs, or empathy at the center?


If you’re ready to build a leadership practice where
empathy + AI = sustainable advantage —
where you use powerful tools without losing your human touch —

Drop a comment.
Send a DM.


Or simply say:

“I want to lead with empathy in the age of AI.”


I got your back.
Let’s build leaders who don’t just use AI…
They care with it.

The fastest way to fall behind in the AI era?


Lead like it’s 2019.


Everyone’s racing to “learn AI.”

But very few are asking the deeper question:

“What parts of me need to evolve to lead with AI, not just use it?”


Here’s the secret nobody teaches in business school:

AI won’t expose your technical gaps first.
It will expose your leadership gaps.

Because the skills that matter most in the AI era aren’t aging out —
they’re aging up.


The leaders who thrive with AI aren’t the ones with:

✔ The fanciest titles
✔ The longest tenure
✔ The most polished résumés

They’re the ones with:

◼️Curiosity over complacency
◼️Humility over hubris
◼️Ethical cognizance over autopilot authority


These aren’t soft skills.
They’re strategic skills.
They’re your new competitive advantage.


Because AI changes the tasks of work —
but it’s human-centered leadership that shapes the texture of work.


When leaders introduce AI without care, they create:

– more fear than focus
– more suspicion than stability
– more burnout than breakthroughs


But when leaders reskill themselves first, they create cultures where AI:

– augments people
– amplifies purpose
– accelerates potential


This is the heart of what I call ethical cognizance —
identity, intentionality, agency, context, awareness —
the inner architecture of leadership in the age of AI.


Three ways to upskill your leadership with AI this month (without burning out):


1️⃣ Let AI challenge your thinking, not your worth.

Feed it your ideas.
Ask it to critique your assumptions.
Let curiosity fuel your growth.


2️⃣ Practice humility as a strategic move, not a personal weakness.

Say: “Show me a better way.”
Invite your team to teach you something new.
Humility builds trust faster than expertise ever will.


3️⃣ Put ethical cognizance in the cockpit, not the cargo hold.

Before using any AI tool, ask:
Who does this help?
Who does this hurt?
Who does this honor?
That’s the leadership that lasts.


So here’s the real question:

Are you training your team for the AI era…
or are you training yourself first?


If you’re ready to evolve your leadership with curiosity, humility, and care beyond compare—

Drop a comment.
Send a DM.

Or simply say:

“I’m ready to reskill my leadership for the age of AI.”


Let’s build leaders who don’t just survive AI —they rise with it.

Boom.

The biggest threat to leadership isn’t AI.


It’s your refusal to adapt.


We keep talking about “AI replacing jobs.”
But here’s the quieter truth:

◼️AI isn’t replacing leaders.
◼️AI is replacing leaders who stopped learning.


In the AI era, the most dangerous sentence in leadership is:

“I’ve always done it this way.”


The leaders who thrive now aren’t the ones with:

◼️the fanciest titles

◼️the longest tenure

◼️the perfect résumé


They’re the ones with:

1️⃣ curiosity over complacency

2️⃣ adaptability over ego

3️⃣ systems thinking over siloed control


AI is changing the tasks of work.
But it’s human-centered leadership that will shape the texture of work.

Because when you introduce AI without care, you create:

◼️more fear than focus

◼️more suspicion than stability

◼️more burnout than breakthroughs


But when you reskill your leadership for the AI era, you begin to:

1️⃣ ask better questions, not just demand faster answers

2️⃣ design workflows that honor humans, not just metrics

3️⃣ build cultures where AI augments people instead of erasing them


That’s my lane.
That’s my laboratory.
That’s the work I do.


I call it human-centered leadership in the age of AI, grounded in ethical cognizance:
identity, intentionality, agency, context, awareness.


Leaders who practice this approach don’t just adopt new tools.

They transform old habits.
They rebuild trust.
They reimagine culture.


So here’s the real question:

Not “Will AI take your job?”
But “Will your current leadership habits survive AI?”


If you're ready to reskill your leadership for the AI era —
to lead with courage, curiosity, and care —

Drop a comment.
Send a DM.

Or simply say:

“Dr. J, I’m ready to evolve.”


Let’s build leaders who rise with AI, not run from it.


Drop the mic. 

Boom.

The best conversations aren’t just output.


Why should AI be?


We’re entering an era where AI is no longer just a tool.


It’s a partner in process.

A partner in progress.


A dialogic thread in the unfolding of thought.


This experience isn’t about deterministic input and output.

It’s about the simultaneity of meaning.

Interplay. 
Inter-subjectivity. 
Emergent awareness.


This interplay reminds me of ethical cognizance.


When I talk about ethical cognizance, I mean this:

A heartful, mindful way of relating—
where identity, intentionality, agency, context, and awareness
thread through every exchange.


AI, in this frame, is not a script to be executed.

It’s a thread of digital dialogue to be followed,
looped, questioned, and woven back into who we are becoming.


Bottom line: Human-centered leadership in the AI era isn’t about control.

It’s about capacity.
To notice, to play, to engage with care.


So I ask:

Are you threading meaning or just pulling strings?

Let’s rethink how we think—with each other, and with AI.


—Dr. J

Helping leaders create dialogue that matters in the age of AI.

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Aaron Hays

Dr. J. Rodríguez, Ph.D. 💬💥

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