Kelly O’Brien leads the Business Collaborative for Brain Health at UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, advancing brain health in workplaces and policy.
As AI, automation and hybrid work reshape the workplace, the premium on brain skills—focus, creativity, critical thinking—has never been higher. Yet just as cognitive demands intensify, brain-based conditions like depression, anxiety, migraines, ADHD and early cognitive decline are driving up costs and eroding productivity and innovation. I believe leaders that pay attention to the operating system that inspires AI—the human brain—will have a competitive edge. Here’s how:
Take a systems-level approach to wellness.
The good news is that employers are no longer limited to check-the-box wellness programs. Today’s leaders have access to data, neuroscience and AI-powered tools that can make brain health and brain skills both measurable and actionable. CEOs who embrace a systems-level approach to build brain capital—linking health, learning, work design and purpose—won’t just help mitigate risk; they can build more resilient, adaptive and high-performing organizations.
Over the decades, “wellbeing” programs have expanded—from a focus on safety to wellness to mental health and now to whole health. Today, it’s time for these efforts to evolve beyond human resources programs and become a strategic, organization-wide priority. Initiatives that lack strategic alignment, clinical integration or meaningful measurement rarely move the needle. Instead, let’s seek to reshape employer-sponsored care by putting brain health at the center of our strategy.
Use data to promote resilience and early intervention.
Emerging value-based primary care platforms are increasingly equipped to embed cognitive and emotional screening into routine workflows, enabling earlier identification of risk during voluntary, patient-driven encounters. Digital assessment tools like Neurotrack and Linus Health are making cognitive health more visible and actionable—when individuals opt in—while protecting privacy. Analytics platforms such as Merative can unify de-identified claims, well-being and productivity data to detect system-level trends and inform population health strategies. Diagnostic and treatment innovations—including emerging blood-based biomarkers, neurotech solutions and AI driven risk scores—may also bring prevention within reach.
Meanwhile, pilot programs involving Blue Ash Ventures’ Brain Health Matrix and the Center for Brain Health’s Brain Health Index are actively working to build the business case for brain resilience and skill-building strategies. Tools like the HERO Health and Well-being Best Practices Scorecard, developed in collaboration with Mercer, also provide strategic guidance for employers aiming to drive measurable impact.
Integrate your findings to maximize impact.
What once lived in a silo can now live in a system. Employers can embed brain health into benefits design, offer targeted support to high-risk populations like caregivers and employees with comorbidities and create cognitively supportive environments—think protected focus time, reduced meeting overload and better collaboration. They can build “brain capital dashboards” that map cognitive strengths across roles and use adaptive learning platforms to develop brain-based skills like attention, creativity and agility. This is not about perks—it’s about performance.
Data backs this up. Targeted programs for at-risk groups can often yield two to three times the initial investment in savings. Culture-driven initiatives, like psychological safety and leadership modeling, often outperform transactional efforts. Employers embedding collaborative care‑style services that combine fast access, measurement-based care, referrals, coaching and outreach consistently lead to better clinical outcomes, reduced medical costs and improved employee engagement.
The shift toward Wellbeing 5.0 is already underway. It puts brain health at the core, leverages AI for personalized precision, integrates support into the rhythm of work and uses data for prevention. It aligns human performance with purpose, belonging and inclusion, which is especially critical as we navigate the hybrid era and workforce transformation. In this model, wellbeing isn’t a sideline—it’s a strategy.
Investing in brain health isn’t just about doing the right thing, or simply a recruitment and retention strategy. It’s about protecting and unlocking your most valuable competitive advantage: human intelligence. In a world increasingly defined by machines, it’s the quality of human cognition—our capacity to learn, adapt, create and lead—that will determine which organizations thrive. CEOs who understand this, and act on it, won’t just build brain-smart companies. They’ll build future-ready ones.
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