AI and Leadership, Part 1: Five Ways to Lead Better (1–5)

I have spent a lot of time thinking about how we can dramatically improve leadership with the help of AI.

I went through the most recent research and pulled out a few striking numbers:

• 50% of CEOs believe their job depends on how well they succeed with AI (BCG 2026).
• Only 24% of leaders clearly see where AI’s benefits come from, even though 79% expect those benefits to be significant (IBM 2030).
• Organizations with a strong data-driven leadership culture are 2x more likely to exceed their targets (Deloitte).

I identified 20 interesting, solution-oriented themes in the material. In the video I walk through the first five, summarized below.

1. Strategic intelligence

You almost certainly have strong intuition. Now we have the chance to validate it with data in seconds, not weeks. You can make decisions faster and with more confidence.

2. People leadership

This is your biggest opportunity. When automation handles the everyday routines and frees up as much as a third of your time, leadership returns to its roots: meeting people.

3. Operational foresight

Instead of putting out fires on Friday, you see the anomalies already on Tuesday. You have time to correct course before damage is done.

4. Trust

The data shows the biggest obstacle is not technology, but culture. If the team does not trust AI or fears mistakes, nothing happens. Your most important task is to clear fear out of the way of experimentation.

5. Learning in the flow of work

Forget “once a year” courses. AI is like a mentor on the team’s shoulder, right when help is needed.

How does this list sound? Have you already tried any of these, or is one of the themes next on your list?

Aspenly · Thinking