Our team is ready
Contact us now

The AI-Augmented Human Leader

Artificial intelligence will dramatically change how we work. But it won’t change how we lead. As the AI revolution progresses, and employees experience a mix of acceptance, fear, excitement, and distrust, the best leaders will embrace the technology and master the core qualities of human leadership.

Read Our Latest in HBR

The AI-Enabled Human Leader

Embrace AI and
double down on human

AI can be like an exoskeleton for the mind and heart of a human leader. It can strengthen our cognitive powers, allowing us to process vast amounts of information swiftly and make good decisions. AI can help deepen our understanding of employees and team dynamics, encouraging diverse thinking and psychologically safe environments.

However, as great as AI can be, alone it cannot make us better leaders. Relying only on AI, without doing the inner work of human development would be like buying a top-of-the-line Ferrari while ignoring our driving skills.

To get the best from AI, we need to equally invest in the development of our human potential. Alone, neither is sufficient. Both are necessary. 

Embrace AI—But Develop Human Qualities

The field of AI vs. human activities: On the one hand you can consider the extent to which you can leverage AI. On the other hand, you can consider the extent to which you should leverage your humanness.

AI-Augmented Leader Model

The AI Augmented Leader is a both/and leader who brings the best of both human and machine to their leadership practice. This work begins with the three core human qualities of awareness, wisdom, and compassion.

AI-augmented leaders are superior at both providing context and identifying AI content that is relevant to their goals. They are excellent at both asking insightful questions and wisely discerning the answers provided by AI. And they are masters at both leading with heart and leveraging people insights from AI algorithms.
Awareness is the perceptual capacity of the mind to observe internal and external experiences. Awareness helps us to know who we are, what we are doing, and what we are experiencing, and to interact with our environment in effective ways.
Wisdom is the discerning capacity of the mind to form sound judgment by understanding reality as it is, free of the limitations of ego. Wisdom is not about being smart or having knowledge. It is the ability to make good decisions about situations and people—including ourselves.
Compassion is the responsive capacity of the mind to provide genuine care, with the intention of being of benefit to others and contributing to the greater good. With compassion, we understand and empathize with the emotional states of others and takes an active interest in alleviating or reducing their struggles.
Awareness and AI:
Context + Content


Leaders can leverage AI for content they would never be able to access easily without AI. Then through awareness, they put that content into the broader context of the world in which that information exists. AI brings vast amounts of information, and leaders with awareness bring interpretation, values, and ethical considerations for a powerful combination of insight and vision.
Wisdom and AI:
Questions + Answers


AI excels at providing answers based on amounts of information far surpassing human reach. In doing so, it can challenge our thinking and spur our creativity. But it’s up to leaders to apply wisdom to the answers – to question where they came from and where they lead to. Only leaders have the cognitive, social, and emotional intelligence to move from answers to wise choices.
Compassion and AI:
Heart + Algorithm


AI can greatly contribute to a leaders’ understanding of the interplay of human dynamics in the workplace. But that’s only an input into compassion. Compassion is felt and experienced by employees when leaders demonstrate the uniquely human ability to lead with heart – to bring a genuine desire to support and guide and to contribute positively to the lives of employees, customers, and the broader community.

Potential Project
Latest Research

We surveyed over 600 employees across multiple industries to understand their views on artificial intelligence and leadership. Comfort levels are on the rise with AI, but employees still want and value human-centered leaders.

We found high levels of confidence in AI when it comes to strategy and decision-making. 65% of respondents were “somewhat” to “completely confident” in AI’s ability to develop a strategy.  

And, respondents reported being comfortable with AI playing a role in analyzing their performance and optimizing actions and decisions. 43% “agree” or “strongly agree”, and 23% are “neutral” on this topic.

Somewhat surprisingly, 45% of respondents indicated that they are “somewhat" to "extremely" comfortable getting AI-driven performance feedback, as long as it is positive feedback.

But, when it comes to receiving negative performance feedback, only 25% of respondents would be “somewhat" to "extremely" comfortable receiving negative feedback on job performance if it was generated by AI. 55% would be “somewhat" to "extremely" uncomfortable.  

AI is becoming more human.
So, why aren’t we?

Leadership in the AI era isn’t about technology—it’s about the leader.

AI offers incredible promises like unprecedented insights and personalized support, but also poses risks like cognitive laziness and bias amplification.

Our research on leadership in the age of AI points to the criticality of three core human qualities – Awareness, Wisdom and Compassion. Leaders who bring high levels of these core human qualities drive the best outcomes for their employees, such as:

• 97% higher trust in leadership
• 65% higher organizational commitment
• 61% increased psychological safety
• 37% less intention to quit

Integrating the power of technology with the essence of humanity is crucial.

Interested in more? Click the button below to see our recent research report, The Human Leader.

Go Deeper on the Topic

How AI Can Make Us Better Leaders

As great as AI can be, it cannot make us better leaders. For leaders to rely only on AI, without doing the inner work of human development, would be like buying a top-of-the-line Ferrari while ignoring our driving skills. To get the best from AI, we need to equally invest in the development of our human potential. Alone, neither is sufficient. Both are necessary.

In our latest HBR article, Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter discuss how AI can become a powerful ally in enhancing leadership abilities. They argue that to truly harness AI’s potential, leaders must also cultivate core human qualities – awareness, wisdom, and compassion – and integrate them with AI capabilities.

To Succeed with AI, Adopt a Beginner’s Mindset

Learn more about the importance of a beginner’s mindset in our thought-provoking Harvard Business Review article titled “To Succeed with AI, Adopt a Beginner’s Mindset”.

The Best Leaders Can’t Be Replaced by AI

Do you believe that leaders have qualities that AI cannot emulate? Or do you think that leaders will sooner or later be replaced? Read our Harvard Business Review article to explore more on this insightful topic.

To Succeed with AI, Adopt a Beginner’s Mindset

Fear and anxiety naturally arise in times of substantial change, such as the current AI revolution. However, they can cause leaders to fall back on their ego and emphasize their expertise, which negatively impacts both people and organizations.

Instead, leaders need to adopt a beginner’s mindset characterized by openness and curiosity.

Learn more about the importance of a beginner’s mindset in our thought-provoking Harvard Business Review article titled “To Succeed with AI, Adopt a Beginner’s Mindset”.

The Best Leaders Can’t
Be Replaced by AI

Despite the complexity and messiness of human interactions, employees still value them over AI’s promise. This, of course, doesn’t mean we should shun AI and its many performance benefits. Instead, the best leaders of today — and tomorrow — find a balance in their practice that embraces AI and its many strengths while also doubling down on their very human qualities as leaders.  

Do you believe that leaders have qualities that AI cannot emulate? Or do you think that leaders will sooner or later be replaced?  

Read our Harvard Business Review article to explore more on this thought-provoking topic.

The Mantras of Compassionate Leadership

Each chapter of the book is based on an important mantra used to help cultivate wise compassionate leadership. As a companion guide to the new book, we offer a series of Mantra Worksheets that are available for download.

We can help you with your AI journey.

An Inspiring Keynote

Human Leaders in the Age of AI

Pressure is on leaders to move quickly and smartly as the scope and applicability of artificial intelligence grow exponentially, At the same time, historically low levels of trust in leaders and external environments rocked by conflict and division mean employees are looking for leaders to be authentic, transparent, compassionate. How to move forward in an AI-enabled future?

In this keynote, we share results from Potential Project’s recent research on when and how best to embrace AI, and we share provocative insights on when leaders need to double down on becoming more human leaders. There is a way to do both and the opportunity is now. Let’s get started.

  • For: 20-30 Executives
  • Duration: 1-2 hours

An Experiential Program for Leaders

Becoming an AI-Augmented Human Leader

In an AI-enabled future, leaders who leverage AI will have a distinct advantage through gains in productivity, efficiency, and improved decision-making. When used appropriately, AI can even help to increase employee confidence and trust in leadership and the organization. But employees still want and value human leaders, despite the shortfalls and blind spots that come along that. Leaders who deepen their ability to lead with humanity will win at attracting, retaining, developing, and motivating top talent. For all of us, this is an amazing opportunity: an opportunity to be more authentic, more connected, more human.

Our experts and experienced facilitators guide teams through interactive discussions and exercises to build the three core qualities of a human leader: awareness, wisdom and compassion.

  • For: Intact or cross-functional teams
  • Duration: From 1 to 4 sessions, 60-minutes each
amgen logobosch logocisco logoikea logokpmg logolego logolloyds bank logodeutsche telekom logounilever logo
Thank you so much for your time. I hope you could see the level of interest and engagement the team has as it relates to compassionate leadership and your research.  They definitely wished we were spending multiple hours on this topic!

Francine Katsoudas, Chief Human Resources Officer, Cisco