Women WithAI: Are you a Cyborg or a Centaur? Strategy, Creativity & Radical Clarity with Joy Dean
In this latest episode of Women WithAI, host Joanna Shilton welcomes back the always dynamic Joy Dean, EMEA VP of Publisher Partnerships at Optima, founder of The Digital Dean, and a creative entrepreneur who’s helping individuals and companies reimagine their approach to AI, strategy, and scale.
Joy brings radical clarity to a rapidly evolving space, cutting through the noise to offer practical insight into how AI can become a true partner in business, creative practice, and personal productivity. From her background in global ad tech to her wellness retreats and bespoke consultancy, Joy is the definition of a multidimensional leader for the AI age.
In this thoughtful and energising conversation, Joy explains the difference between being a cyborg (toggling between human and machine) and a centaur (seamlessly collaborating with AI), and why this distinction matters if you want to work smarter, not harder.
Whether you’re running a solo business, managing a team, or just trying to stay afloat in the digital noise, this episode is packed with practical inspiration and tools to help you thrive.
Key Takeaways
- The Cyborg vs Centaur mindset: Why your approach to collaborating with AI matters and how to build trust with it as a creative partner.
- Using AI to scale solo ventures: How creative entrepreneurs can harness AI to replace repetitive tasks, sense-check decisions, and organise their workflows.
- AI literacy for all: Why it's not just about tools—it's about understanding how data, tone, prompts, and personal context shape AI responses.
- Custom GPTs and creative automation: How Joy builds personal GPTs and agents that work with her tone, goals, and workflows, plus the tools she recommends.
- Ethical engagement and data hygiene: Joy shares her golden rules for protecting privacy, respecting copyright, and using AI responsibly.
- Wellness, identity and AI integration: From yoga and retreat planning to ad tech strategy, Joy’s holistic use of AI brings creativity and clarity to every corner of her life.
- Start before you’re ready: You don’t need to be an expert to begin. Joy’s approach is hands-on, humble, and deeply human, perfect for anyone learning as they go.
Digital Contacts for Joy Dean (The Digital Dean):
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedigitaldean/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedigitaldean/
Links Relevant to this episode:
- Emma Wharton – Founder of Spark AI - https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmawhartonlove/
- Maninder Paul – https://www.linkedin.com/in/maninderpaul/
- Jon Walsh – https://www.linkedin.com/in/walshjon/
- AdTech Chat - https://www.linkedin.com/company/adtech-chat-community/
- Optima – https://optima.tech/
- The Women in Programmatic Network (TWIN) - https://www.thewomeninprogrammaticnetwork.com/
- Digital Leading Ladies – https://www.instagram.com/digitalleadingl/
- Gamma – AI presentation & content tool - https://gamma.app
- Canva – Visual design platform with AI features - https://www.canva.com
- ChatGPT / OpenAI - https://chat.openai.com
- Claude - https://claude.ai
- Midjourney – AI image generation tool - https://www.midjourney.com
- DALL·E (OpenAI) – AI image generation tool - https://openai.com/dall-e
- Runway – AI video editing platform - https://runwayml.com
- Yoodli – AI-powered speech coach and content assistant - https://www.yoodli.ai
- Corsiv – Online AI learning platform mentioned - https://corsiv.ai
Thanks for listening
//Women WithAI Host// Joanna Shilton
