Artificial intelligence continues to dominate many conversations, from its influence on industries to its role in our personal lives. But one area we need to start scrutinizing more closely is the potential that AI holds for leadership.
Think about how much leadership has evolved in just the past three years, as sweeping digital transformation led companies to rethink how they approached guiding both their teams and their businesses through pandemic-induced new ways of working. With how profound this AI moment appears to be, leaders should be anticipating how their roles could shift, and the ways AI can elevate their impact.
Here are three key areas to spotlight when thinking about how generative AI could reshape leadership.
Engage employees
The dynamics of employee engagement are already changing amid various working modes, improved connectivity tools, and a clear need for human connection. AI systems could provide insights about employees that may have previously been unreachable, such as understanding their strengths/weaknesses, areas of their work they are most passionate about, and even predicting their needs.
This could occur through behavioral science, in areas like versioning, simulating dialogues, and crafting relevant analogies. As leaders, we could use these insights to better connect with our team members on an individual level, constructing an environment where every employee feels valued and motivated.
For example, generative AI can help employees take a more active role in their own growth by jumpstarting creativity, innovation, and opening endless possibilities in learning and development. Leaders and employees can tailor personal growth plans with specific recommendations, skills to develop, classes to take, and people to meet.
When paired with more traditional, rules-based AI, it can match leaders and talent to the right opportunities based on both available skills and organizational needs, creating the potential for more meaningful work, and motivating teams in the process.
Revolutionize team communication
Our digital connectivity capabilities make team communication both more flexible and more challenging. On the foundation of sentiment analysis and natural language processing used to interpret consumer sentiment and feelings, generative AI could also address this issue in the workplace at scale, analyzing team members’ communication preferences, and providing personalized recommendations to leaders to help them more effectively reach these employees, whether in person or through collaboration tools.
An example of AI’s ability to revolutionize team communication is in fostering a more inclusive workplace. We know that AI will never replace human empathy and reasoning, but it could enable greater efficiency in how we facilitate conversations at scale and manage open, diverse communication forums.
AI must be used and operated by a leader who has a keen understanding and system in place for how to mitigate inherent AI biases and blind spots. Similar to how chatbots are used to facilitate conversations with consumers of a company’s products and services based on responses (with the right parameters in place), leaders could also use AI to help moderate free-flowing group discussions in ways that ensure all voices are heard.
When leveraged to prioritize inclusivity, it can bring more balanced and healthy dialogue, empathy, and mutual understanding. AI isn’t replacing humans, but it becomes an invaluable tool to amplify a leader’s management of open communication forums, and, more important, can enable them to unearth necessary insights and sentiment for how to ensure their inclusivity efforts resonate.
Enhance organizational decision-making
Generative AI’s influence extends beyond team dynamics to strategic business decisions. By detecting common themes in large datasets, AI can support leaders in making more informed, and perhaps even predictive, data-driven decisions.
Customer behavior, competitive analysis, and market trends are all areas where AI can provide intel, enabling leaders to be more proactive and strategic in their decision-making. As AI complements the human intuition and judgment that form the backbone of leadership, it can also deliver data-backed points that guide organizations toward success.
We’re already seeing examples of this across a variety of use cases and industries. One area to spotlight is retail, where AI can help companies quickly digest inventory, the supply chain, purchasing patterns, and overall customer feedback. Based on the findings, it can not only generate recommendations, but also act in response to either capitalize on opportunities like moving a popular product to a particular market or store, or course correct by adjusting the targeting strategy of a marketing campaign that’s falling flat. Leaders with this level of real-time information are much better equipped to steer their businesses in the right direction.
As we acknowledge these benefits that AI can bring in transforming leadership, it’s equally important to understand the risks. Ethical considerations and privacy concerns are valid areas that leaders must navigate carefully, and transparency and a steadfast commitment to ethical AI use will be crucial when transitioning into this new leadership paradigm.
To prepare, leaders should focus on fostering an open culture of knowledge-sharing with their teams, while keeping a critical eye on ethics and privacy. Training programs that familiarize employees with AI and its potential in safe, responsible environments can help ease these concerns, and discussions on responsible AI use should be a staple of each meeting or session.
Generative AI offers a unique opportunity to empower leaders to sharpen their skills and the overall effectiveness they bring to their roles. By embracing its potential and responsibly navigating its challenges, leaders can guide their teams into a future where AI helps them unlock unprecedented growth and innovation. The future of leadership in the AI era is not just about leading people, but also about leading through constant change.
Josh Campo is the CEO at Razorfish.