AI is changing the world at extraordinary speed. But in our rush to embrace artificial intelligence, are we paying enough attention to the intelligence that makes us human?


1. We are already more connected than we realise

We like to think of ourselves as independent, rational decision-makers. But none of us operates in isolation. Our thinking and performance are shaped by relationships, environments, systems, information and technology.

Consider a leader frustrated by poor team performance. The instinctive response might be to challenge individual accountability. Yet the real issue may lie in disconnected processes, competing priorities, poor handovers or information that never reaches the right people.

Leadership insight: Before trying to fix the individual, understand the system influencing their performance.

Question for leaders: Are we holding people accountable for outcomes without understanding the conditions affecting their ability to deliver?

2. Intelligence doesn’t reside in one place

Some of our best thinking emerges through interaction. Different perspectives, experiences and sources of knowledge help us see what we would otherwise miss.

AI adds another powerful source of information and analysis. But information is not the same as judgement.

Imagine a board using AI-assisted assessments to identify its next CEO. The technology might reveal patterns, compare capabilities and highlight potential candidates. But can it fully understand the relationships, organisational culture, emerging strategic challenges and human dynamics that will determine whether that CEO succeeds?

These considerations still require thoughtful human judgement.

Leadership insight: Great decisions don’t come from having the most information. They come from bringing the right perspectives together, challenging assumptions and taking responsibility for the outcome.
Question for leaders: Whose perspective is missing from our most important decisions? And what don’t we know?

3. The body matters. Leadership is more than words.

AI can write an impressive speech, develop a performance review or generate a beautifully structured feedback conversation. But it cannot experience the conversation as a human participant does.

It doesn’t feel the tension in the room, experience the discomfort of delivering difficult feedback or share the lived experience of the people involved.

Consider a manager who has used AI to prepare for a difficult conversation. The script is excellent. Then the employee falls silent. What happens next?

An effective leader notices the shift. They become curious. They adjust their approach, ask a better question and seek to understand what’s really happening. That requires awareness, empathy, presence and judgement.

Leadership insight: Leadership effectiveness is not simply knowing what to say. It’s being sufficiently aware and adaptable to respond to what’s happening in the moment.

Question for leaders: Are we developing leaders who can genuinely connect with people, or simply helping them sound more convincing?

4. Nature may have something to teach technology and leaders

Biological intelligence has evolved over billions of years. Living systems continually respond to their environments, process feedback and adapt.

Hayles raises fascinating questions about what computing might learn from these biological processes. For leaders, there’s an equally important lesson.

Organisations often attempt to manage uncertainty through increasingly sophisticated plans, systems and controls. Yet real progress frequently emerges through experimentation, feedback and adjustment.

Rather than waiting for the perfect solution, effective leaders create opportunities to test, learn and adapt.

Leadership insight: Set a clear direction, but create the conditions for continuous learning. Small experiments, honest feedback and after-action reviews can be more valuable than rigid adherence to a plan.

Question for leaders: Are we creating a culture that learns and adapts, or one that simply follows instructions?

5. Our relationship with AI is changing us

This is perhaps the most important idea of all. Technology doesn’t just change what we do.

It changes how we think, what we practise and, potentially, what we become capable of doing.

Consider a young manager who routinely uses AI to prepare performance conversations, solve interpersonal problems and make leadership decisions. Initially, this may improve their confidence and effectiveness. But what happens if they become dependent on the technology rather than developing their own judgement?

What happens to their ability to think critically, navigate ambiguity, manage emotion or have an authentic conversation without assistance?

Equally, imagine the potential when AI is used to challenge their thinking, expose blind spots, explore alternatives and accelerate learning. The difference lies in how we choose to use it.

Leadership insight: Use AI to strengthen human capability, not quietly replace the experiences through which that capability develops.

Question for leaders: Is our use of AI making our people more capable, or simply more efficient at avoiding the difficult work of thinking?

The real leadership challenge

I don’t believe the future is a contest between human intelligence and artificial intelligence. The opportunity is to harness both. AI can process extraordinary amounts of information, recognise patterns and help us explore possibilities at a speed previously unimaginable.

Human leaders bring lived experience, relationships, emotional awareness, values, purpose and responsibility for their decisions. Neither should be confused with the other. And while AI will undoubtedly transform how organisations operate, leadership remains fundamentally human.

Our challenge is to ensure that the adoption of increasingly powerful technology is accompanied by an equally deliberate investment in human capability. Not just technical skills, but the qualities that enable people to lead through uncertainty, connect with others, exercise judgement and unlock collective potential.

A challenge for your next leadership meeting

Before your team rushes to the next AI initiative, consider three questions:

1. What are we using AI to improve?

Is it simply speed and efficiency, or better thinking, learning and decision-making?

2. What human capabilities must we protect and strengthen?

Think critical thinking, self-awareness, empathy, creativity, courage and judgement.

3. How will we know whether AI is making our leaders more capable?

What behaviours, decisions and outcomes would provide the evidence?

The answers may be more important than your next technology investment.

A final thought

We are entering an extraordinary period in human history. AI will continue to develop. Some of its possibilities will be remarkable. Others will challenge our assumptions about work, intelligence and what it means to be human. But amidst all the excitement and uncertainty, perhaps we should remember something fundamental.

The future of leadership isn’t about becoming more like machines. It’s about becoming more fully human, while learning to harness the extraordinary power of machines.

Now that’s a future worth investing in!

The leadership examples and interpretations are Leadership Horsepower applications of the themes, rather than direct claims made by Hayles. Further thinking: This article draws inspiration from N. Katherine Hayles’s discussion with Claire Webb on Futurology (17 September 2026), Nathan Gardels’s We Are Already Post-Humanin Noema (9 October 2026), and Hayles’s Bacteria to AI: Human Futures with Our Nonhuman Symbionts (2025).