The pace of change is accelerating – are you keeping up?
AI is fuelling radical change, and this is only the tip of a melting iceberg.
Recruitment, sales, customer service, marketing – on and on it grows its influencing.
This isn’t just about leap in technology – it’s about obsolescence. Leadership obsolescence.
Leaders cannot stand still while everything around them is change is changing into a very different
world.
What This Means for Senior Leaders
- The pace of change indicates that if your organisation is currently slow to adopt or integrate AI, your personal leadership relevance will increasingly depend on your own fluency and ability to lead change – not just waiting for your organisation to move.
- The shift from pilot to practical use is happening. The modelling shows that the era of “we’ll try AI later” is narrowing. You’ll want to be among those designing, guiding, and integrating AI strategy, not just reacting to it.
- The investment growth (32% planned by 2026) suggests that AI will continue to be a business priority. This means leaders who understand how AI affects value creation, talent, culture, decisionmaking and risk will be much better positioned.
- In a contracting UK job market – particularly at senior levels – leaders who want to ensure they remain employable will be those who can demonstrate relevance, and capability in navigating AIdriven transformation. Waiting passively could erode your future career opportunities.
To remain future-fit, leaders need to relearn at a pace fast enough to at the very least keep up – and slow enough to use their years of experience and wisdom to guide the business safely through the risks towards a new world of opportunity.
It’s a shift from doing more to thinking differently. AI Agents, Bots, and AI-powered apps are already handling many activities faster, cheaper, and in some cases, better.
The Changing Role of Leadership in an AI World
There’s a lot that AI still can’t do as well as a human – never say never!
- Wisdom rooted in lived experience.
- Spotting nuance that AI and others miss.
- Asking the brave questions.
- Interpreting signals and shifting priorities.
- Holding steady when others are spinning.
- Seeing the bigger picture – knowing what matters.
AI doesn’t sense what’s right or wrong in the moment, it doesn’t know which ideas are the best or matter most.
Your judgement, wisdom, resilience, and leadership presence have never been needed more.And if you’re worrying “Am I tech savvy enough?” – you’re asking the wrong question. Instead ask “What role can only I play. What value can only I bring? Because of who I am, not just what I know?”
What The Smart Leaders Are Doing Now
Tomorrow’s leaders aren’t waiting to be trained – they’re training themselves. If you want to stay relevant (and employable) in a rapidly changing landscape, this is what you need to start doing now:
1.Start an AI Learning Sprint
Commit to just 15 minutes a day for 30 days. It compounds quickly and builds fluency.
Use tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or Gemini to solve real business problems:
- Draft a board report or executive summary.
- Analyse data to extract trends.
- Create something genuinely useful for your business, team, or clients.
You can’t lead what you don’t understand, and you won’t understand it until you use it.
2. Bring AI Into Leadership Meetings
Don’t wait for IT to lead the conversation. Start asking the questions:
- Where could AI improve our (client) experience?
- How can it streamline operations, reduce costs, or enhance decision-making?
- What low-value tasks can we automate to free up valuable time?
Leaders who initiate the AI conversation will shape direction and culture – not just respond to it.
3. Strengthen Your Network
- Join at least one AI-forward thinking group on LinkedIn
- Attend at least one webinar, conference or network event exploring AI in business leadership.
Staying employable needs visibility in a changing job market. Stay connected to where the conversations are happening and heading.
4. Think Position and Portfolio
Ask yourself: If I lost my role tomorrow, what are three ways I could still earn or create value?
Start exploring areas of interest which align with what you genuinely care about.
- Fractional leadership roles?
- Interim roles?
- Start your own business?
In an AI-driven economy, relying on one single employer or income source is one of the highest risks for high-earning leaders.
If you want my help positioning yourself for the future in a changing world, I work with senior leaders and career professional navigating this exact crossroads. Through one-to-one coaching and Sprint programmes.
Book a free, no-pressure discovery call via the contact page on my website.
