Keynote and panel discussions in Singapore on the future of work and AI was fulfilling and enjoyable, but my lasting memory is how few organisations have significantly progressed in recent years.
The urgency is greater than during past HR tech events, but most organisations still retain old hierarchies, ways of working, and decision flows, so whilst technology is accelerating, organisational systems haven't moved as required.
The risk is not stable competitors, but scaling AI-enabled startups that leapfrog legacy organisations by reimagining the status quo.
Urgent work is required. Work must be redesigned around decisions and workflows, not job titles. Trust needs to become something measured, not assumed. How transparent are AI decisions? How well are managers communicating change? We need to know these things just as we talk about performance or retention.
Middle managers are being squeezed and most organisations are cutting rather than developing them.
Leaders must decide where human oversight is non-negotiable, and to make deliberate choices about where automation serves customer value.
None of this is complicated in theory, but I accept it is hard to put in practice without top level buy in to change.
Do you need help preparing your leadership team to better navigate AI and evolve without eroding human value?
Despite investing in technology, many firms are struggling with the foundations and critical decisions that determine whether these investments create real value.
Take a look @
to see how I can support your journey.
You can:
- 'Ask the book' any leadership challenge
- Explore AI Leadership Labs, keynotes, and consulting services
- Understand principles to strengthen decision-making, trust, and shared ownership
If you want to create more value with your leaders, letโs have a conversation.
The hypocrisy I see in many organisationsโ approach to AI is shocking.
Leaders encourage employees to โunlock potential with AIโ, share knowledge openly, and actively contribute to transformation, yet almost simultaneously announce AI-related redundancies.
Trust breaks instantly when people are asked to build capability that later replaces them. Without transparency about how value will be shared, the psychological safety is lost.
Once safety and trust is damaged, all future change becomes harder, slower, and more expensive.
Listen to the full podcast - link in comments
For those joining HR Tech Asia in Singapore, I look forward to meeting you in 3 weeks.
My keynote is on the morning of the 6th May followed by book signing.
๐พ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐จ ๐๐ช๐๐ก๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ก๐๐๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ, ๐๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐๐จ, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐๐.
Join us between 17th and 19th June for the ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ, where learning is applied to your business challenges and context, where a group of leaders strengthen judgement, test ideas in practice, and develop confidence navigating complexity in a peer-to-peer environment.
"๐๐ฆ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ?"
It's the most honest thing leaders tell me. Pressure to decide and deliver has never been higher, but the skill is knowing when to slow down to ask whether you're solving the right problem.
That's what the ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ is for.
Join us between the 17โ19 June in the French Alps for our summer Lab, with peer to peer learning focused on your real challenges.
If this is the right moment to take the time and invest in yourself, get in touch.
Feel free to share this with someone else who could benefit from joining.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐?
For many years, my career followed a predictable path of increasing responsibility, larger teams, more complex challenges.
Then one Teams call changed everything. I was restructured together with many of other equity partners. '๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ - ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐บ๐ฆ!'
That experience was significant, and became the catalyst for writing Lead with AI. Stay Human. because I began to see the same underlying fragility in many organisations: value being defined too narrowly by tasks, expertise, or hierarchy.
In this week's podcast with GRAIL.works, we discussed this and other topics including:
โข why automation itself is not the risk, but how leaders respond to it
โข the โdoorman problemโ when unmeasured human value is overlooked because it's not on the balance sheet
โข the importance of synchronising three clocks of strategy, operations, and people
โข why trust erodes quickly when tech change is not matched with leadership behaviours
AI delivers on tasks, but leadership is not a task.
It is the ability to create the conditions where judgement, trust, and coordination allow people and technology to produce more together than either could alone.
Thank you Johan for a interesting and insightful conversation.
Link to the full podcast in the comments. ๐
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ-๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ?
Because of leadership capability gaps and lack of enterprise alignment.
The problem is each function is optimising in isolation, so as trust erodes, coordination breaks and people stop collaborating.
This is a leadership failure, but it's entirely solvable.
If you want to find out how, join us at the next AI Leadership Lab between ๐ญ๐ณโ๐ญ๐ต ๐๐๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ in the French Alps.
If you want to develop better answers that will help you lead yourself and others more effectively during AI disruption, this is for you.
More details and registration โ wอwอwอ.อaอiอLอeอaอdอeอrอsอhอiอpอLอaอbอsอ.อcอoอmอ
The Swiss launch of Lead with AI. Stay Human. was another amazing evening together with great friends, colleagues and past and present clients. A big thanks to all who joined and actively participated in the discussion and exploration of ideas.
For those who missed it, the book is available at all major bookshops, or at Amazon: https://lnkd.in/ekNa6im5
Please also feel free to 'Ask the Book' any questions you have relating to your own situation and business context at:
A big thanks to STUDIO GELLNER Sarl and Lemanik Home SA for hosting as, and to REVEAL Events for their incredible event management.
What a great evening at London Review Bookshop!
The UK launch of Lead with AI. Stay Human. was deeply impactful for many reasons. To be joined by so many family members, amazing friends as well as past and present clients was just incredible, and I also loved the discussions, questions and buzz in the room as we explored ideas together.
For those who missed it, you can get the book at all major bookshops, or at Amazon: https://lnkd.in/ekNa6im5
Please also feel free to 'Ask the Book' any questions you have relevant to your own situation and business context at:
