The Human Edge: Leading Through Change in the Age of AI

In a fast, fragmented, and increasingly hot world - as Andy Doyle, CPO at Kantar put it - businesses are facing a tipping point. The future is arriving quickly, reshaping how we work, lead and thrive. AI is now woven into every function. Hybrid work has moved from experiment to norm. Trust is low. Expectations are high. And in the midst of it all, Chief People Officers and their leadership peers are asking one vital question:

How do we harness the full potential of our people - not just to survive this era, but to elevate through it?

I recently attended a powerful conference hosted by Cecilia Crossley of Uplifting People, where CPOs from leading organisations like TSB, Boeing, Sky, Deliveroo, and Vitality shared insights into the challenges and imperatives they face. There were many threads - geopolitical risk, hybrid policy, AI integration, shifting demographics - but one signal stood out through the noise:

Your people are your power. If you can’t fully leverage them, nothing else will work.

The Risk and the Opportunity

Businesses are trying to drive performance and transformation, but often without investing further, and while battling declining trust, fragmented communication and rising ambiguity.

Leaders are being asked to do more with less: fewer HR partners, leaner teams, and more complexity. In this environment, your Chief Officers - your most capable operators - are the key leverage point. They hold the culture, influence the climate, and activate strategy in real time.

But many of them are stretched, plateaued, or privately wrestling with the ambiguity of what’s next. And this is where leadership development too often falls short: not because your Chiefs lack capability, but because no one is supporting them to elevate their leadership to meet the moment.

This is why I believe so strongly in the power of Self-Realized Leadership - and why I work directly with Chiefs to help them bring more of who they are to the table. To expand their capacity. To increase their impact. And to energise the business, team, and culture around them.

What I Heard from the CPOs

Across the sessions, several themes emerged that align with the work I do with Chief Officers:

• Human Connection as Core
  At Boeing, 95% of communication happens digitally, but it’s the remaining 5% of human-to-human contact that drives engagement. Across the board, CPOs affirmed that meaning comes from connection, not process. Yet ironically, the very leaders businesses rely on most are often the most isolated.
  

• Middle Managers Matter More Than Ever
  In multiple sessions, middle managers were described as either the bridge or the block. Their influence is growing, their roles more complex, but are they being equipped to carry that responsibility, or just expected to absorb it?
  

• AI is a Leadership Challenge, Not Just a Tech One
  From Deliveroo to AXA XL, CPOs are clear: AI must be strategically led, not just operationalised. It needs clear purpose, human oversight, and cultural readiness. This demands leaders who can hold paradox, lead through change, and bring wisdom to complexity.
  

• Purpose is the Anchor
  When change is constant, people need a North Star. Purpose-led businesses, like Flora and Vitality, are doubling down on helping people feel they are living their purpose at work, with striking results in engagement and performance.
  

• Trust is Fragile… and Fundamental
  In the absence of certainty, people need leaders they can trust. As one speaker put it, “Trust is at an all-time low, and yet (in our modern society) the organisation is the last bastion of it.” That trust is won or lost in everyday moments. And it starts with how well your Chiefs are showing up.
  

The Leadership Imperative

As Bob Geldof put it in his closing fireside chat with Cecilia:

“Can you activate the people who are needed to enable the change to happen?”

In my work with Chiefs - whether they’re newly promoted, struggling under pressure, poised for more, or preparing for CEO succession - this is the central aim. Helping them access more of their inherent power. Not through generic performance coaching, but through a process of self-realisation that elevates their leadership, sharpens their clarity, and enables them to lead with both conviction and humanity.

Because when your Chiefs leverage who they are, the entire system improves and the business thrives.

A Closing Reflection

This isn’t about adding another development programme. It’s about meeting the moment, and doing so through your most powerful lever: the humans at the top of your business.

If you're a Chief People Officer navigating fast change, complex culture, and tight resources, I’d ask:

• Which of your Chiefs are ready to do more?

• Who is privately struggling under pressure?

• Who’s in waiting for a bigger role… and needs help to elevate?

• Who do you want to retain, re-ignite, or ready for succession?
  

This is the work of Chief Officer Coaching. This is Self-Realized Leadership.

And it’s more needed than ever.