In AI We Trust. Terms & Conditions May Apply.

Exploring how visionary leadership can calibrate the role of AI—before it recalibrates us.

How much AI is too much?

AI governance? Not exactly a headline topic. Let’s be real: dazzled by the latest AI model, we are quick to develop conjectures about sci-fi-like use cases. And yet: what are the rules of the AI game?

From what I observe, AI is facing little resistance in most corporate sectors. If they are all convinced by its benefits, what dosage should they inject in their operations? How to do so responsibly?

Adoption, yes. Caution, definitely. It’s a matter of proportion.

Leaders should bring to the fore strategies, techniques and attitudes that have stood the test of time. With new technologies, however scary they may be: envision them, explain them, embrace them.

As a leader, the first step is to share your vision for Artificial Intelligence. It may or may not be generic. It may or may not be realistic. It comes down to one obvious message: AI is here to stay.

A second step is to bring Artificial Intelligence into the context of the business. No point using AI-generated creative stories if you are a legal services company. No point installing IoT sensors on the handcrafted pottery equipment of your business.

At this stage, the objective of your message is to help reality set in. Cruelly and inexorably. Ways of working will be upended. Teams will be reshaped. Roles will evolve. The outcomes are unavoidable, whether your company is an innovator, a leader or a challenger. These outcomes will just happen at different times depending on the nature of the company. Using AI does not mean surrendering human agency—it means choosing where to place it more wisely. Many businesses proudly call people their greatest asset—time to prove it. You had thinkers and doers. You will need creators and builders—working in the AI loop, reopening and closing it indefinitely. I will discuss these exciting roles in greater detail in my next post.

Envision, explain and now embrace. As a leader, show the path forward. Use the technology shamelessly. This speech at a conference? Prepared with generative AI. That team briefing? Assembled with it. Focus on what matters: the empathy, the tone, the excitement. The human premium. The humane voice.

Making sure this voice stays loud and clear is the best antidote to the silence of oversight.

What about your voice? What’s your leadership stance on AI? Are you shaping it—or letting it shape you?