AI and the Future of Leadership

This week I joined the “𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗕𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝗜” event at EY’s Amsterdam office, hosted by Maarten Lintsen, with sharp insights from Anna van den Breemer- Kleene, Isabel Moll – Kranenburg, and Rina Joosten-Rabou.

I went because I’m fascinated, sometimes a bit scared even, by how fast this field is moving and what it means for leadership, work, and meaning. Here’s what I picked up.

𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗮-𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄

A theme that surfaced in the panel and in a side conversation with Marielle Willemse: leaders need the capacity to zoom out. To look at their strategic goals, and find creative ways of making AI work for them. To avoid AI tunnel vision.
Take recruitment. If efficiency is the only aim, we automate CV screening. Yet CVs predict about 3 percent of job success. Faster, not smarter. The better question is how AI helps us hire people with those skills that can transform and innovate an organisation. Use AI to assess skills and potential, not to count CV buzzwords.

𝟮. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽

Only those leaders that adapt fast enough to AI will remain. Relevance requires AI literacy. Which isn’t coding, but understanding how you can make it work for you. Leaders must make it safe to experiment. If teams are scared to try, adoption among employees slows.

𝟯. 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆

Knowledge will lose most of its value, for individuals. AI gives us access to collective intelligence, so value shifts from knowing to interpreting and asking the right questions. Meanwhile, Europe’s productivity growth is slowing. How can we use AI and agents to turn this around?

𝟰. 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲

Culture is how we create meaning together, yet it is slippery. AI can help define it. It can show what your culture is today, which behaviors match your future state, and how to monitor and steer progress. Less guessing, more knowing.

𝟱. 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆

AI can do a lot, but it can’t show empathy… right?
In one study, patients rated AI doctors as more empathetic than human ones. To be fair, doctors have limited time, AI doesn’t. But still..

𝟲. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

In the next few years most of us will have personal AI agents that book meetings, analyze data, and complete tasks. My personal view: They will talk, write, and appear on video indistinguishably from humans.
Isn’t there anything they can’t do? I think only face-to-face human connection will remain uniquely human. Having a conversation, sharing a coffee.

𝟳. 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴

AI and robots will be able to do almost everything humans do faster and cheaper. We will need new sources of meaning beyond productivity. Keep developing the parts that make us human: creativity, curiosity, empathy, connection.

𝟴. 𝟮𝟬𝟯𝟬 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱..

AI’s impact in the next decade will be faster and bigger than most of us realize, I think. The question is not whether AI replaces us, but whether we evolve quickly enough to stay meaningfully human alongside it.

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Want your managers to be ready for the coming years? AI adoption is a part of the leadership programs I create and deliver, and comes up in 1-on-1 leadership coaching I offer to ambitious early-career managers. Schedule a free introduction call here. I’d love to tell you more.