The AI+ Library — byStraits Institute for Applied AI
AI+Libraryby Straits Institute for Applied AI
Catalogue/Tier 3 · Job Skills/Communication
AI+ Difficult Conversations cover
T3-53 · Tier 3 · Job Skills

AI+ Difficult Conversations

Navigate Conflict, Feedback and Hard Talks with Confidence

Walk in prepared. Walk out with the relationship intact.

You know what needs to be said — you just keep not saying it. This book gives you the GROUND Protocol: a six-step AI-assisted preparation framework that turns the conversations you've been avoiding into ones you walk into prepared. Performance conversations, conflict, sensitive check-ins, and apologies — 28 prompt templates covering the full range. You'll debrief every hard conversation and build a practice that compounds. Written by an AI engineering firm that builds commercial AI systems for a living.

Tier
Tier 3 · Job Skills
Category
Communication
Format
Guide
Updated
Q2 2026
Digital Edition
US$58
Read on iG PublishingSee in 1 reading path
Inside
  • 28 ready-made, market-tested prompts: opening statements, message frameworks, perspective-taking, follow-up communications, post-conversation debriefs
  • The GROUND Protocol — six-step AI-assisted preparation framework for any difficult conversation
  • A perspective-anticipation discipline that takes 20 minutes and transforms the conversation
  • A post-conversation debrief workflow that builds cumulative practice — so the same patterns stop repeating
  • A 30-day plan for managers, team leaders, HR business partners, project managers, coaches, and senior individual contributors
Who this is for

Any professional who manages people, works in teams, or holds a role where they must sometimes deliver difficult messages — managers, team leaders, HR business partners, project managers, senior individual contributors, coaches, and consultants. The skill, not the profession, is the unit: this book is for anyone who avoids or dreads the conversations that matter most.

Also for:L&D professionals and HR business partners who design or deliver training on interpersonal communication, conflict resolution, or performance conversations — they need to understand how AI is changing this domain and how to integrate it into their development programmes.

You’ll be able to
  • Apply the GROUND Protocol to prepare for any difficult conversation using AI as a structured thinking partner
  • Use AI to anticipate the other person's perspective, likely emotional response, and potential objections before a hard conversation
  • Draft opening statements, key messages, and follow-up communications for performance, conflict, and sensitive conversations using structured AI prompting
  • Identify the boundary between AI preparation and the human judgement required in the live conversation
  • Conduct an AI-assisted post-conversation debrief and build a cumulative practice that improves over time
What’s inside
Diagnostic
How AI-ready are your difficult conversations?
Chapter 1
AI in Difficult Conversations Right Now
Chapter 2
What AI Can (and Can't) Do When It's Hard
Chapter 3
Preparing for the Conversation
Chapter 4
Performance Conversations
Chapter 5
Conflict and Disagreement
Chapter 6
Sensitive Personal Situations
Chapter 7
Apologies and Repair
Chapter 8
In the Conversation
Chapter 9
Debrief and Build Your Practice
Chapter 10
Your 30-Day Difficult Conversations Starter
Back matter
Skill Summary · Recommended Next Reads · Glossary · Tool Reference

Built by an AI engineering firm — for professionals who know the hard conversations are the ones that matter, and want the preparation to match.

Appears in 1 reading path
SKL-07The AI People Skills Bundle
Reads well with

Often read alongside this title.

How this was made

AI+ Difficult Conversations is written by AI engineers who build production AI systems, then pressure-tested by professionals who apply the skill in their work. It is reviewed every six months and updated whenever the technology or regulation shifts.

Our editorial approach →