AI Is Moving Fast. Leadership Must Take The Lead.

Over the past few months, I had the privilege of attending three coaching and leadership conferences. In just six days, I listened to more than 35 speakers, including well-known voices such as Amy Edmondson, Brené Brown, Adam Grant, and Scott Galloway. One topic dominated every stage: AI.

Before that, my own use of generative AI was pretty standard and fun. These conferences rapidly brought me up to speed.

What struck me was what was already in production. Some organizations operate with three layers of AI agents: agents managing agents managing agents. AI is expected to produce full-length feature films in 2026. Meanwhile, SEO is being replaced by GEO, pushing brands to create content not for humans, but to train Large Language Models so they remain visible in AI-driven searches.

There are reasons to feel anxious. Even Sam Altman recently admitted, “No one knows what happens next.” Yet adoption is unprecedented, with roughly 800 million weekly users. Facebook reached only 12 million users after three years.

And yet, an MIT study published in 2025 revealed that 95% of generative AI pilots delivered zero measurable ROI.

At the Columbia University Coaching Conference, we were shown a live demo of an AI coaching tool for middle managers. The experience was respectable: verbal interaction, strong questioning, and the ability to integrate multiple coaching frameworks and tools. Still, the interface felt more like e-learning, and, more importantly, the conversation was cut short without resolving the client’s challenge.

That demo confirmed my intuition. A year ago, we believed AI would never show empathy; today, it does. Progress is fast and impressive, but not complete. Researchers and users continue to point out frequent hallucinations.

Optimists argue that AI will give us time back. Doctors spend up to 40% of their time on administrative work. I’ve seen salespeople shift from selling to clerking. If AI can absorb that burden, what might we reclaim? Time to think, connect, create? This might be the opportunity for in-person and human connection to once again become central. Or, will that time be reinvested in efficiency, cost-cutting, and margin growth? Leaders do not seem ready to slow down for intelligent conversations; too busy.

My modest response is to stay informed, support regulation, and deliberately slow down to invest in the skills that make us uniquely human. I may well be like many others without a job in a few years. But I have hope we will find a way. We are resourceful.

For business leaders, this moment is less about mastering AI than about leading through it. Are they only automating the past or augmenting the future? How are we creating new opportunities and innovations? My role is to actively support my clients in making thoughtful, human-centered choices.