Leading in the age of AI: Why competence development matters more than ever

Author: Tobias Bock, TU Braunschweig, Institute for Corporate Management and Organisation, Germany

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant technological vision—it is a transformative force reshaping how organisations operate, make decisions, and create value. Research shows that AI enables automation of routine tasks (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2012), enhances analytical decision-making (Huang et al., 2019), and fundamentally alters managerial roles (Larjovuori et al., 2018; De Cremer, 2019). As organisations move deeper into digital transformation, a critical question emerges: Which competencies must leaders develop to successfully navigate the era of AI?

Our recent systematic literature review provides one of the most comprehensive answers to date. Synthesising 730 publications, the study identifies 24 core leadership competencies—12 personality traits and 12 skills—required for effective leadership in AI-enabled environments. These competencies span adaptability, agility, and creativity, as well as collaboration, empowerment, communication, and technical understanding.

A clear pattern emerges across the literature: collaboration is the single most consistently emphasised skill, appearing in 16 out of 17 primary sources. Leaders must collaborate not only across teams (Petrucci & Rivera, 2018; Gilli et al., 2023) but also with AI systems themselves—a fundamental shift described as human–machine symbiosis (Jarrahi, 2018). This aligns with Dewhurst and Willmott’s (2014) assertion that future leaders must excel at orchestrating communication between humans and machines while making judgments that algorithms cannot.

The growing relevance of soft skills—especially empathy, empowerment, and visionary thinking—is another consistent theme (Chamorro-Premuzic et al., 2018). AI reduces the managerial burden of routine oversight, which means leaders must shift from monitoring to motivating, from controlling to coaching. As Pearce (2018) argues, the leaders who thrive will be those able to inspire teams, foster innovation, and shape organisational culture in a context where technologies evolve faster than traditional management structures.

The research also highlights significant methodological gaps. Much of the current literature is conceptual, practitioner-oriented, and lacking empirical depth, with frequent reliance on recycled datasets and consulting-driven narratives. This limits our ability to understand how competencies differ by hierarchy, function, or industry. The field urgently needs robust empirical examination of how managers actually adapt their behaviours, roles, and decision-making practices when working with AI systems.

Despite these limitations, the impact of this research is already visible. It informs leadership development programs, supports strategic workforce planning, and contributes to emerging discussions around “artificial leadership”—the concept of leading with and through AI technologies (Kollmann et al., 2023). It also highlights the competitive advantage of organisations that invest early in AI-related leadership capabilities (Haefner et al., 2021).

Looking ahead, several research avenues deserve greater attention:

•    Differentiating digital vs. AI-specific leadership skills (an area rarely addressed explicitly).
•    Understanding competency needs across hierarchy levels, especially middle management.
•    Investigating organisational culture as a determinant of AI readiness, as suggested by Du et al. (2023).
•    Exploring industry-specific implications, given that current literature is disproportionately focused on healthcare and telecommunications.

What becomes clear is that AI does not diminish the importance of leadership—it elevates it. In a world shaped by powerful algorithms, the most valuable leaders will be those who combine human judgment, ethical awareness, and empathy with a deep understanding of how to collaborate with intelligent systems. Preparing today's managers for this reality is not optional; it is a strategic imperative.

References

Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2012). Race Against The Machine: How The Digital Revolution Is Accelerating Innovation, Driving Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and The Economy. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 7(2), 185–187. 

Chamorro-Premuzic, T., Wade, M., & Jordan, J. (2018). As AI makes more decisions, the nature of leadership will change. Harvard Business Review, 1(1), 2–5. (accessed 12.04.2024) 

De Cremer, D. (2019). Intelligence at work: A Matter of a facilitating human-algorithm cocreation. 13(1), 81–83. https://doi.org/10.1002/jls.21637 

Dewhurst, M., & Willmott, P. (2014). Manager and machine: The new leadership equation. McKinsey Quarterly, 3(3), 76–83. 

Du, X., Alghowinem, S., Taylor, M., Darling, K., &  Breazeal, C. (2023). Innovating AI Leadership Education. IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), Vol. 18, pp.1–8. 

Haefner, N., Wincent, J., Parida, V., & Gassmann, O. (2021). Artificial intelligence and innovation management: A review, framework, and research agenda. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 162(June 2020), 120392. 

Gilli, K., Lettner, N., & Guettel, W. (2023). The future of leadership: new digital skills or old analog virtues?. Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 45 No. 1, pp. 1-16. 

Huang, M. H., Rust, R., & Maksimovic, V. (2019). The Feeling Economy: Managing in the Next Generation of Artificial Intelligence (AI). California Management Review, 43–65. 

Jarrahi, M. H. (2018). Artificial intelligence and the future of work: Human-AI symbiosis in organizational decision making. Business Horizons, 61(4), 577–586. 

Kollmann, T., Kollmann, K., & Kollmann, N. (2023). Artificial leadership: digital transformation as a leadership task between the chief digital officer and artificial intelligence. International Journal of Business Science and Applied Management, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 76-95.  

Larjovuori, R.-L., Bordi, L., & Heikkilä-Tammi, K. (2018). Leadership in the digital business transformation. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, 212–221. 

Pearce, S. (2018). Leadership in the era of AI. NZ Business + Management. (accessed 05.06.2024) 

Petrucci, T., & Rivera, M. (2018). Leading growth through the digital leader. Journal of Leadership Studies, 12(3), 53–56

Author Bio:

At TU Braunschweig, Tobias Bock is studying the influence of artificial intelligence on leadership within the automotive sector. He previously earned his degree in industrial engineering, specialising in international logistics management at ESB Business School in Reutlingen, and his Master's in international management at Steinbeis University in Berlin.