Companies across many industries are racing to adopt artificial intelligence (AI). Leaders see the promise of AI to streamline workflows, analyse data, and optimise decision-making – and in many cases, that promise is real.
But a critical, unspoken assumption has taken hold amid this rush toward a new technology: AI might not only improve operations but also address organisational culture.
While there is no denying AI’s strong potential to support these goals, it won’t achieve them without human leadership at the centre. The technology can’t lead with integrity, build trust, show courage in the face of conflict, or show compassion when someone is struggling. These are the qualities that define healthy workplace cultures, and they still belong entirely to us.
As I explore in my new book ‘More Human: How the Power of AI Can Transform the Way You Lead’, the future of leadership is not about resisting AI – it’s about embracing it and deepening our humanity. The real opportunity is how we choose to respond – by staying human in how we lead.
The promise and risks of AI in leadership
AI can be a powerful ally for leaders if used wisely. It can help us gather feedback from teams, surface trends in employee sentiment, or even tailor unique development paths for different individuals. It can also synthesise information and suggest how to thoughtfully phrase sensitive messages. All of these use cases can save us time.
But what we do with that time is the real question. Do we spend it on more tasks, or more connection?
In one case I encountered, a leader received feedback that he wasn’t very empathetic, so he turned to AI to help craft his emails. They became beautifully written – full of warmth and care. But no one believed they were really from him. Instead of building connection, the attempt to simulate empathy broke trust.
That story illustrates something important. You can’t automate compassion. You must feel it. And while AI might help you express it more effectively; it can’t generate the genuine human touch that strong leadership requires. Don’t use AI to make you look more compassionate. Use it to help your real compassion come through.
Culture is built, not automated
At Potential Project, we research what creates healthy, high-performing organisational cultures. The answer often comes back to how leaders show up every day with awareness, wisdom, and compassion.
- Awareness is important for being attuned to yourself, your team, and the broader context around you.
- Wisdom helps leaders see the big picture and make decisions that balance competing needs.
- Compassion means leaders can offer support and approach tough conversations with care.
When leaders bring these qualities to the table, cultures become more trusting and resilient. And no AI can do that for you.
If leaders rely too much on AI, those capabilities start to erode. AI becomes a kind of exoskeleton – supporting your decisions, your communication, your workflow. But without care, the muscles of your own leadership begin to atrophy. Over time, you may lose the very skills you need most.
What HR gets right – and what it misses
Many HR teams are embracing AI in useful ways. But we are also seeing a new problem emerge.
At one organisation we work with, AI was used to generate job descriptions, screen candidates, and assess applications. Meanwhile, applicants were using the same tools on their end. The result was a flood of similar applications that checked the right boxes but missed the people who might truly stand out. In response, the company chose to bring more human judgment back into the hiring and interview process.
This is the paradox of AI: it can make everything more efficient – but also more uniform. It can flatten the nuances that makes someone a great culture fit. That’s why we believe in always keeping a human in the loop, especially when decisions impact people’s lives and careers.
The real leadership opportunity
The best leaders of the future won’t reject AI, but they also won’t delegate their leadership to it. They’ll use it to take care of the busy work, create time and space for real connection, and lead more thoughtfully. And then, they will reinvest that time in the work only they can do – building trust, guiding teams through tough conversations, and leading with care. They will protect workplace relationships in this AI era.
This will require a new kind of leadership development. AI literacy will be a component of that, but we also urgently need to strengthen our human literacy – the ability to lead with awareness, compassion, and wisdom. HR professionals are in a unique position to help make this shift happen. Their job isn’t just to manage new tech adoption, but to ensure human culture isn’t lost in the process.
AI may be a powerful driver of performance, but it is not a shortcut to culture. We can and should embrace the tools of tomorrow. But if we want more human organisations, we need more human leaders – not fewer.
The real challenge for HR, and for all of us, isn’t whether we will adopt AI. It’s whether we’ll keep growing in the ways AI never will.
