The Importance of Authentic Human Touch in the World of AI — What It Really Means to Stay Human as Machines Get Smarter | Get Authentic with Marques Ogden

What You'll Learn in This Episode

AI is not going anywhere — and if you're waiting for it to slow down, you're already behind. But here's what the hype cycle gets wrong: the rise of machines doesn't erase what makes you valuable. It exposes it.

In this episode, entrepreneur, investor, and author Jeff Burningham joins Marques to break down exactly why human wisdom is the one thing AI cannot replicate — and why authenticity isn't self-expression, it's the removal of resistance. Jeff spent decades building billion-dollar companies, investing in Utah's fastest-growing tech corridor, and running for governor. Then he wrote The Last Book Written by a Human: Becoming Wise in the Age of AI — a national bestseller that reframes the AI conversation entirely. If you're a leader trying to figure out where you fit in a world being reshaped by technology, this episode is the framework you've been looking for.

Episode Timestamps

[0:00] Welcome & sponsor shoutout — U.S. Wellness Meats

[1:45] Introducing Jeff Burningham: entrepreneur, investor, author, and former Utah gubernatorial candidate

[3:10] What does authenticity actually mean? Jeff's definition goes deeper than self-expression

[6:20] "We're human beings, not human doings" — why AI brings us back to what we were always best at

[9:00] Jeff's full backstory: from BYU tech startup to $10 billion in real estate, venture funds, and Silicon Slopes

[14:30] Running for governor in 2020, losing publicly during the pandemic, and what Jeff calls "an ego death"

[17:45] How The Last Book Written by a Human was born out of space, time, and a forced reset

[21:00] Why combining human touch with AI — in the right formula — is the actual competitive advantage

[24:15] How authenticity fuels performance: removing resistance versus forcing outcomes

[27:40] The role of social media algorithms in manufacturing division — and what Jeff saw traveling Utah as a candidate

[31:00] Leadership as awareness: knowing your triggers, your strengths, and when you're not showing up as your best self

[35:20] Why kindness is "the most underrated skill in leadership"

[38:45] What we have more in common than different — and why that's the core message of Jeff's life

[42:00] Deep dive into The Last Book Written by a Human: the book's core argument and why the timing matters

What Authenticity Really Means (And What Most People Get Wrong)

Marques opens with his signature first question — the one that sets the tone for every episode — and Jeff's answer is worth sitting with.

"Authenticity is when the person you really are inside matches up perfectly with the person that the world sees. There's no longer conflict in that."

Jeff breaks it into two parts. First: presence. Showing up fully engaged, not distracted, not performing. Second: living in non-resistance to what really is — the reality of your existence, the flow of your life, the person you were always meant to be.

Marques adds the frame he returns to throughout: "When you stop resisting and you start just being — that's when you're at your truest form."

This isn't abstract philosophy. For both men, it's a leadership principle. You can't lead others authentically if you're still at war with yourself.

"We're Human Beings, Not Human Doings" — What AI Actually Gives Back to Us

Jeff's book, The Last Book Written by a Human: Becoming Wise in the Age of AI, starts with a question most people are afraid to ask: as machines become better and better at doing everything we've been doing, what are we as humans left with?

His answer isn't pessimistic. It's a reframe.

"We're left with our being. We may have forgotten that that's what we excel at. But it is, in fact, what we're best at — being with each other, being in relationship. And so I think that AI will bring us kind of full circle back to that."

Marques echoes the message he brings to every conversation about technology: "AI is a tool. It's a machine. It's going to be run by people. This is not Skynet. Arnold's not going to fight the machines. There's still people that turn the machine on." The edge doesn't come from adopting AI faster than your competitor. It comes from combining AI with something a machine will never have — genuine human connection.

Jeff Burningham's Story: From BYU Dorm to $10 Billion in Real Estate to the Governor's Race

Jeff's career arc reads like a masterclass in entrepreneurial range. He started a tech company as an undergraduate at BYU and sold it to a NASDAQ-listed firm in his mid-20s. He built Peak Capital Partners, a real estate private equity firm that has owned approximately $10 billion of real estate over its lifetime. He launched a venture fund in Utah to address what he saw as "an undersupply of good capital and an oversupply of good entrepreneurs" along the Silicon Slopes — the fast-growing tech corridor running along I-15 between Salt Lake City and Lindon.

"I've been the first investor in most of the technology startups that you're going to drive past coming down I-15 from Salt Lake to Lindon."

Then, in 2020, he ran for governor. He lost. Publicly. During a pandemic.

"It was an ego death in a way. I went into the summer of 2020 at 43 years old with space and time for the first time in my adult life."

That forced stillness became the origin of his book. Jeff tells Marques: "Something I always say to my entrepreneurial students is that with space and time, anything can be created."

Leadership Defined: Awareness First, Kindness Always

When Marques asks Jeff how he thinks about leadership — across tech, politics, family, and investing — Jeff gives a two-part answer that cuts through the noise.

Part one: Awareness. Self-awareness of your strengths, your weaknesses, what triggers you, and what causes you to not show up as your best self.

"The more self-aware you are of who you are... the more that you can work with that and show up for your team in the right way."

Jeff was a quarterback and point guard in high school. He thinks in terms of teams, not solo performances. So does Marques.

Part two: Kindness. Jeff calls it the most underrated leadership skill — and he means it in the specific, grounded way that only someone who has traveled a state talking to strangers understands.

"Whenever we're sitting with another human being, we're on sacred ground. And it's because we share more in common than is ever different."

He saw this directly as a candidate: neighbors who shared almost everything, fed by social media algorithms serving them division until that's all they could see. His conclusion: "We're not enemies." The differences are real, but they don't have to be, as he puts it, "our collective undoing."

Marques adds his own frame: character over personality. "Truth, perseverance, honesty, loyalty — those are a lot more long-lasting" than the emotional volatility the algorithm rewards.

✅ 3 Key Takeaways

1. Authenticity is the removal of resistance, not the performance of self-expression. Jeff defines it as alignment between your inner self and your outer presence — built on full presence and "living in non-resistance to what really is."

2. AI doesn't replace your humanity — it forces you back to it. As Jeff puts it: "As machines become better and better at doing everything we've been doing, what are we as humans left with? We're left with our being." The human edge is not threatened by AI — it's clarified by it.

3. The most underrated skill in leadership is kindness. Backed by awareness — of yourself, your team, and the shared humanity underneath every difference — kindness isn't soft. It's the foundation of trust, and trust is the foundation of every team that actually performs.

Resources Mentioned

1. The Last Book Written by a Human: Becoming Wise in the Age of AI by Jeff Burningham — national bestseller; Jeff's core argument that human wisdom is the irreplaceable complement to artificial intelligence

2. Peak Capital Partners — Jeff's real estate private equity firm; approximately $10 billion in real estate owned over the firm's lifetime

3. Silicon Slopes — Utah's fast-growing tech corridor along I-15 between Salt Lake City and Lindon; context for Jeff's venture investing career

4. U.S. Wellness Meats — episode sponsor; all grass-fed beef, based in Missouri, over 25 years in business; CEO John Wood

5. Trucordia — Marques' client based in Utah; CEO Felix Morgan

6. Agency VA — virtual assistant company in the insurance space, founded by Wesley Anderson, based in Salt Lake City

7. Simon Sinek — "Leadership is about taking care of the people in your charge" — leadership philosophy quoted by Marques; explore Sinek's work at simonsinek.com

8. General Dwight D. Eisenhower — "Leadership is the art of getting people to do what you want done because they want to do it" — quoted by Marques as a core leadership principle

9. BYU (Brigham Young University) Entrepreneurship Program — where Jeff has been an adjunct professor for approximately five years, teaching entrepreneurial students

10. [Get Authentic with Marques Ogden — Full Podcast Library](https://marques ogden.com/podcast) — every episode in the archive, including more conversations on leadership, authenticity, and performance

About Your Host

Marques Ogden played five seasons in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, and Tennessee Titans. After football, he built a multi-million dollar construction company — and then lost it all. From eight figures to $8.25 an hour. Bankruptcy. Rock bottom.

He came back.

Today Marques is a five-time bestselling author, keynote speaker, and executive coach who has delivered his message to more than 750,000 people across 500-plus events for organizations including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and PNC Bank. He doesn't teach theory. He teaches what he learned the hard way — on the field, in the boardroom, and at rock bottom. His programs don't just motivate; they equip teams with the real frameworks, mindset shifts, and daily disciplines that turn effort into results.

Get Authentic with Marques Ogden is where elite guests and honest conversation meet — because the leaders who win are the ones willing to get real first.

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