3 Essential Leadership Traits To Thrive In The AI Era

Leader managing a hybrid team of humans and AI workers.

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The standout qualities and traits of successful leaders fill the pages of business books, memoirs, and biographies, as well as appearing in perennial articles like this one. But leadership isn’t a static concept. It has evolved from the mid-20th century’s top-down management style focused on efficiency to today’s dynamic, technology-driven approach.

By the late 20th century, globalization and the knowledge economy demanded more adaptable, people-centric leaders. The early 21st-century digital boom then pushed leaders to become agile and collaborative. Now, artificial intelligence (AI) is again redefining leadership responsibilities, transforming organizations, and placing new demands on executives.

At the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff captured the profound nature of this current transformation when he emphasized that today’s executives may well be “the last generation of leaders managing entirely human workforces.”

A recent paper by Wharton professor Ethan Mollick found that AI can function as a teammate rather than a tool. As such, it contributes to improved performance, expertise sharing, and positive emotional experiences.

To manage teams successfully and combine human talent with intelligent technology, today’s leaders must acquire a strategic understanding of what it takes to thrive in the AI era. Here are three traits every leader should develop:

AI Fluency

In an AI-driven world, leaders must be conversant with technology. This goes beyond running emails through ChatGPT or dabbling in the latest image creation tool that can turn one’s likeness into Ghibli-style characters. In today’s rapidly shifting environment, a competitive advantage can evaporate with the announcement of a new release by one of AI’s major players. This means leaders need to understand AI’s capabilities, limitations, and strategic applications. They must learn to interpret complex algorithmic insights with confidence, leveraging decision-making recommendations while also critically evaluating underlying data assumptions. In this way, leaders optimize strategic choices.

Actionable Strategies:

• Get hands-on experience and experiment with AI tools. Learn how AI can solve problems in your business context. Build intuition about AI’s strengths and quirks by trying a machine-learning demo or using a platform such as ChatGPT on a work task.
• Increase AI literacy in your team. Create opportunities for your colleagues to learn and play with AI. For example, you can host internal hackathons or training sessions to enable employees to explore the impact of AI on their roles.
• Partner with experts. When working with data scientists or AI vendors, actively engage and ask questions. Understand concepts such as algorithms, data bias, and model accuracy so you can make informed decisions rather than deferring blindly to tech teams.

Collaborative Intelligence

AI’s rise demands mastery of collaborative intelligence. This is the nuanced leadership skill of coordinating human and artificial intelligence as seamless partners. Extensive research demonstrates that organizations that blend human intuition and creativity with AI analytics and efficiency will significantly outperform competitors.

AI-savvy leaders exemplify collaborative intelligence by strategically distributing responsibilities. They understand, for instance, that AI tackles data analysis, freeing up humans to focus on strategic and creative insights. These leaders define roles to enable teams to leverage human-AI synergies effectively.

Leaders who are strong in collaborative intelligence break down silos between technical and non-technical teams. This ensures that data scientists and domain experts can collaborate seamlessly with AI in the mix. By encouraging teams to view AI as an enabler rather than a threat, these leaders multiply their organization’s collective intelligence.

Actionable Strategies:

• Empower cross-functional collaboration. Pair domain experts with data scientists and encourage knowledge sharing. When implementing an AI solution, involve end-users, such as marketing and operations, from the outset so they can co-create the process. This inclusive approach ensures that AI is integrated in a way that people find useful and enhances their work rather than threatening it.
• Communicate and coach through change. Be transparent about how AI will impact roles and provide support to people throughout the transition. Leaders who explain the “why” behind AI changes, and provide training, see far better adoption and higher morale. For example, when introducing an AI tool to automate reports, frame it as freeing employees to focus on more meaningful tasks. Follow this up by offering coaching or peer mentoring so everyone gains confidence with the new tools.
• Foster psychological safety. To leverage AI fully, your team needs a “safe-to-fail” climate in which to experiment and occasionally fall short. Encourage idea-sharing and make it clear that not every pilot project will succeed – and that’s okay. When people trust that they won’t be punished for failure, they collaborate more openly and find creative ways to use AI. This kind of empowered, innovative culture is ultimately what allows organizations to adapt continuously alongside intelligent machines.

Cognitive Flexibility

If agility is about quick action, then cognitive flexibility is about agile thinking. It’s the mental agility to switch between different ideas or problem-solving approaches. In a world of increasing human–AI collaboration, leaders often need to balance intuitive judgment with data-driven analysis. Cognitive flexibility enables leaders to toggle between trusting their gut instinct in one instance and relying on AI insights in the next. It means being willing to adopt a beginner’s mindset, to jettison old assumptions and adopt concepts as technology evolves. This way, a leader can respond creatively to surprises and avoid getting stuck in one way of thinking. Cambridge research warns that experts often become cognitively entrenched. They get stuck in obsolete frameworks precisely when adaptability is essential. Leaders who embrace cognitive flexibility remain curious and responsive, ensuring their organizations innovate.

Actionable Strategies:

• Embrace a growth mindset. Choose to see new technologies and processes as opportunities for learning. Experiment with new AI tools as they emerge. Don’t dismiss them.
• Train your brain’s flexibility: Just as muscles need exercise, so does your brain. Neuroscientists suggest that learning new, unrelated skills, such as a language or an instrument, can condition us to become more cognitively flexible. The same applies to reading challenging literature, which serves as an accelerator for cognitive stimulation and neural plasticity. Encourage your team (and yourself) to pursue diverse interests and cross-functional projects to break out of routine thinking patterns.
• Model calm and agile leadership in crises: When faced with AI-driven setbacks or market surprises, regulate your own stress response. Leaders who stay solution-focused under pressure signal to their teams that change is manageable. Techniques like mindfulness or deliberate breathing before making tough decisions can help keep your prefrontal cortex (the logic center) engaged. This resilience in the face of volatility instills confidence and cultivates an agile, “let’s figure it out” culture.

Why These Traits Matter Now More Than Ever

Today’s executives are tasked with guiding organizations through unprecedented change brought by AI.

Foundational leadership traits, such as resilience, integrity, empathy, and compassion—all of which contribute to emotional intelligence—will always remain relevant. It’s leaders who emphasize the traits of AI fluency, collaborative intelligence, and cognitive flexibility who will transform AI’s challenges into significant opportunities.

Effective leadership in the AI era skillfully blends enduring human strengths with distinctly modern capabilities. This is precisely what leaders need to foster resilient organizations that are well-positioned to flourish amid constant innovation.

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