…And that’s a key point to keep in mind when designing and delivering leadership development programs in today’s increasingly artificial intelligence-dominated world. As one of our Training Hall of Famers points out, leadership development needs to focus on cultivating leaders who are deeply human in how they show up, and increasingly skilled at using AI as a tool to amplify—not replace—their impact with their teams.
That organization is seeing a strong emphasis on using AI to free up time for the human side of leadership—automating routine tasks so leaders can spend more energy on coaching, thinking strategically, and connecting with their teams. Check out our cover story for more leadership development insights and lessons learned from our Training Hall of Famers.
The “high-tech” + “high-touch” theme likewise emerged in the results from our 10th annual Leadership Development Survey conducted in partnership with Wilson Learning. As one survey respondent noted, “Generative AI is an assistant or thought partner, not the authority. AI recommends; humans decide.”
Attendee takeaways from our Learning Leaders Summit in February reinforced the theme. They include:
- “Integrating AI remains a very HUMAN challenge.”
- “Human connection cannot be replaced by AI.”
- “AI is being used in many different ways to enhance the human intelligence delivery. Training isn’t just content but how we are connecting people to the content.”
- “Human intelligence and artificial intelligence BOTH matter!”
We will continue this conversation during networking “Braindates” and other sessions at our upcoming TechLearn 2026 Conference (www.TechLearnConference.com) September 15-17 in Austin, TX. I hope to connect with you there!