I recently joined Cameron Sabet on his podcast, “Cutting to the Case” to talk about performing under pressure in high-risk environments: the preparation, mindset, and execution it takes to survive in the test pilot world — from my transition into the RCAF CF-18 through what it actually takes to test fly at the edge of an aircraft’s envelope. One thing we were clear on early: modern test piloting isn’t the Hollywood version. It’s technical rigor and disciplined risk management — and being what I call a ‘tactical athlete’, maintaining physical, mental, and physiological readiness before you ever push the edge of the envelope.
One theme was new territory for me — cognitive overload, and the discipline it takes to manage the extreme cognitive loads that make you both lethal and survivable in a 5th generation F-35. What surprised me is how directly that translates to modern medicine as well as the science of ‘Human Performance’.
5GCx.ai – or 5th Generation Cognitive Transformation, a start-up I launched in 2025 with Angela Mondou is founded on this new military domain. Developed on an AI/ML platform – the mission is designed to deliver cognitive transformation – to train brain skills & equip military operators in any high-pressure, high-stakes domain to maintain ‘optimal workload’ while avoiding what’s know as ‘attention tunneling’.
As always, I lean on Anders Ericsson’s work on Deliberate Practice + a concept Malcom Gladwell made famous into the “10,000-hour rule.” Both matter. Deliberate Practice is training in very specific domains. The 10,000-hour rule is about doing the sets and reps. As I often say: “Everyone wants to be great until they find out what greatness actually costs”.
I’m grateful for the chance to talk to Cameron about what it takes to achieve survivability in a high-risk vocation like 5th Generation combat and to think through how those same behaviors — preparation, training, experience, and these days, cognitive capacity — apply far beyond the cockpit.
Recent Comments