As AI rapidly integrates into organizations, leaders face a fundamental shift in how they manage people, structure work, and define strategy. On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, a panel of business leaders and experts—including Francine Katsoudas (Cisco), Parker Mitchell (Valence), Amy Edmondson (Harvard Business School), and Klaus Moosmayer (Novartis), in conversation with Kevin Delaney (Charter)—explored how leadership must evolve when everyone has AI. The discussion was hosted by Charter in partnership with Valence and The Washington Post’s WP Intelligence unit.
Watch a video of the discussion here.
Here are key takeaways:
1. AI Will Be in Your Org Chart—Sooner Than You Think
The idea of AI as a colleague may soon cease to be speculative. Organizations are moving toward a future where AI agents are embedded in decision-making and managerial workflows.
“The conversations I’ve had with CHROs have been that 2025 is going to be the year that AI will join your org chart.” — Parker Mitchell, CEO, Valence
Mitchell emphasized that AI is evolving beyond automation, taking on roles that require reasoning, context processing, and decision-making. This shift will fundamentally change how work is structured, raising questions about accountability, collaboration, and leadership.
2. Leadership Must Shift from Control to Empowerment
Traditional leadership models—where managers provide answers, exercise control, and expect deference—are no longer viable in an AI-driven workplace.
“If nothing else, AI kills that mental model. It just has to because it’s becomes clear that no, you are not the one with the answers.” — Amy Edmondson, professor, Harvard Business School
Edmondson highlighted that AI’s ability to process information at scale means leaders must focus on asking the right questions, guiding teams through complexity, and fostering adaptability rather than relying on their own expertise alone.
3. Leadership Visibility Matters More Than Ever in an AI-Driven Workplace
As AI takes on more decision-making and operational tasks, the role of human leaders must evolve—focusing more on engagement, trust, and visibility.
“Leadership needs to be visible on the journey.” — Parker Mitchell
Leaders must not only adopt AI themselves but also openly discuss their learning process, address employee concerns, and model adaptability.
4. AI is Already Transforming Coaching
AI-powered coaching is reshaping leadership development, offering real-time feedback, personalized guidance, and skill-building at scale.
“People who already know how to be great coaches—that will persist. It is the lower tier of coaches. If you’re being paid $40 an hour to be a coach on a platform and you’re coaching 40 different people in the course of a month and you’re trying to remember, ‘What did I talk about two weeks ago?’ AI can already do that better.” — Parker Mitchell
5. AI Adoption Must Start from the Ground Up
Many organizations are struggling with AI implementation, not because of a lack of strategy, but because they are not engaging employees in the process.
“AI feels really top down and I think that’s a problem…We have to let our people start to play.” — Francine Katsoudas, chief people officer, Cisco
Katsoudas pointed out that most AI strategies are driven by executive mandates, while frontline employees—the ones who will use AI daily—are often left out of the learning and experimentation process. Cisco’s approach has been to provide hands-on AI training to hundreds of employees, allowing them to explore how AI can enhance their work.
6. Ethical Leadership is More Crucial Than Ever
With AI advancing at a rapid pace, organizations must anticipate long-term ethical and regulatory implications.
“We will be judged in three years from now for what we did today.” — Klaus Moosmayer, chief ethics, risk & compliance officer, Novartis
Moosmayer warned that AI governance cannot be an afterthought. Organizations must proactively establish ethical frameworks that guide AI deployment, particularly in industries like healthcare, where decisions carry life-or-death consequences. Those principles include transparency and Moosmayer noted the importance of trying not to slow the speed of innovation.
7. A Possible Risk: AI Could Erode Workplace Relationships
One of the unintended consequences of AI in the workplace is that—without conscious design efforts or intervention—it may reduce human-to-human interaction.
“When we reach out less, our relationships deteriorate. When our relationships deteriorate, our community and our culture suffers. Then collectively we feel less connection to the organization, maybe less motivation, maybe less engagement. And certainly the hit to teamwork is something we should take seriously.” — Amy Edmondson
Delaney noted recent research showing that AI-powered coding assistants, for example, lead to fewer developer interactions. If employees rely more on AI and less on colleagues, workplace culture and trust may erode. Leaders will need to proactively design AI implementations that encourage—not replace—collaboration.
The Leadership Mandate for an AI-Powered Future
The discussion made clear that AI is not just a tool—it is becoming a fundamental part of how organizations operate, requiring leaders to rethink what both human work and leadership are.
“Leadership to me is really the force that allows us to do not the things that are easy, but the things that are hard and including being vulnerable, including knowing that we’re going to be seen as imperfect and incompetent in many of the things we do, and doing it anyway.” — Amy Edmondson
Watch a video of the session here.
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