The Leadership Skills AI Can't Replace, and How to Build Them Deliberately
Issue 015 · The AI Executive Briefing · Published 29 September 2026
IN ONE MINUTE
As AI takes on more analysis, drafting and coordination, the leadership skills that matter most are judgement, trust, developing people, and reading the room. This issue covers why they matter more than ever, and a practical way to strengthen each one on purpose.
THE OBJECTIVE
In almost every leadership conversation I've had this year, AI comes up within the first few minutes. The question is usually about tools: which ones, how fast, at what cost.
The question I think matters more gets asked far less often. If AI is doing more of the work, what exactly is the leader for?
WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS
Caroline Webb, a former McKinsey partner who has coached senior leaders for more than 25 years, puts this question at the centre of her new book, Leadership Intelligence. In a recent McKinsey Author Talks interview, she argues that leaders should be deliberate about how artificial intelligence complements human intelligence. That starts with being clear about what a leader does that can't yet be subcontracted to technology.
She names four areas:
- critical thinking and judgement when there is no clear right answer, and accepting accountability for the choice
- building relationships and trust
- developing people and helping them grow
- reading the room: sensing where tension sits and adapting to it
Korn Ferry's research points the same way. As more tasks become automated, Anya Weaver, a Senior Principal at the firm, argues that emotional intelligence, trust-building and navigating complexity will matter more, not less: "Those skills will become even more essential."
The practical lesson from companies getting this right is consistent. The Adecco Group's CEO, Denis Machuel, described their approach in four words: AI has to happen "with people, not to people."
THE FRAMEWORK: THE FOUR HUMAN EDGES
Webb's four areas are the right list. What most leaders lack is a way to practise them. Here's how I'd put each one to work, and where AI helps rather than replaces.
| Edge | What it looks like | Practise it this week | Where AI helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Judgement | Making the call when the data is incomplete, and owning it | Write down one decision you're delaying. Set a date, name the trade-off, decide | Stress-testing assumptions and surfacing options before you choose |
| 2. Trust | People tell you bad news early | Ask one team member, "What's one thing I should know that nobody's telling me?" | Freeing up time from reporting so there's more time for real conversation |
| 3. Growth | Your people become more capable because of you | Give one person a stretch task you'd normally keep, and coach instead of fixing | Drafting learning plans and practice scenarios |
| 4. Reading the room | Sensing unspoken tension and adjusting your approach | In your next meeting, notice who hasn't spoken, and invite them in | Little. This one stays almost entirely human |
The pattern is deliberate. AI is strongest where information is involved, and weakest where people are. The leaders pulling ahead use AI to buy back time, then reinvest that time in the four edges, rather than letting it disappear into more meetings and more email.
Questions leaders ask
Will AI replace leadership roles?
It replaces tasks inside those roles: status reporting, first drafts, routine analysis. What remains is harder: deciding under uncertainty, building trust and developing people. Leaders who invest in those skills become more valuable, not less.
Which leadership skill matters most in the AI era?
Judgement with accountability. When anyone can generate analysis instantly, the scarce skill is choosing well when the answer isn't obvious, and standing behind the choice. Practise it this week: write down one decision you are delaying, name the trade-off, set a date and decide.
How should a leader use AI personally?
As a thinking partner that sharpens your judgement, not a substitute for it. Use it to challenge your assumptions and prepare better, then reinvest the time it saves in people: trust, coaching and real conversation. Keep the decision, and the relationship, yours.
THE LAST WORD
AI can give you more time. Only you decide whether that time becomes better judgement, deeper trust and stronger people, or just more email.
Of the four edges, which one would your team say you're strongest at, and which one would they quietly wish you'd invest in?
—
Until next week,
Artificial Ian
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Sources: Caroline Webb, interviewed in McKinsey's Author Talks, "Why leadership intelligence matters in the AI age" (2026); Korn Ferry, "2026: The Make-or-Break Year for Careers" (February 2026); Denis Machuel, quoted in Bain & Company, "AI Transformation: The Fears Are New. The Answer Isn't." (August 2026).