The Future of Leadership Amid AI: World Management Agility Forum

Pete opens by describing the warning signs of AI he felt one year earlier. Leaders he works with were asking the same questions, having the same concerns. The competitive pressure to beat everyone else in the AI gold rush had created a pattern: technology leading leaders, leaders feeling behind.

"We're playing catch-up," Pete observes. This happens with every new technology advancement, but what's different is the polarization—the attachment to AI's wonderful possibilities versus fear of human society's destruction.



Rather than thinking as an AI doomer or optimist, Pete positions himself as a realist exploring the balance between AI's features and leadership's responsibility.

The lab formed when Eric Kihn—a PhD physicist who's been using machine learning for decades—asked Pete: "Do you have a class you can teach me on leadership and AI?"

Pete's response: "I don't know. But would you be willing to ask the questions and join some research?"

Pete formed the AI Leadership Lab through Agile Leadership Journey as a cohort-based learning experience for leaders. Not a traditional class, but a group exploring questions together. Eric participated as a member of the lab's advisory team.

The lab became a space for leaders to become more aware of AI technology, understand use cases and capability, and explore how leadership itself and organizations are changing.

The belief Pete brings to the conversation: real truth lies in between. Not just AI. Not just the human side. Some sort of integration between these two. The best leaders will solve this problem not simply from a technology perspective, not by ignoring it, but somewhere in between.

Bridging Science and Business Perspectives

Pete convenes the panel to bridge two different sectors—Eric representing the science and technology perspective where AI has already transformed work over the past decade, and Alvin representing the provocateur voice challenging common AI misconceptions.

The panel explores how leaders can't wait for traditional learning models to catch up. The education system will break because knowledge has become free.



Pete's lab work examines hundreds of leadership use cases—running team meetings, developing strategy, working on culture—and how AI could be applied to each. It looks at leadership capabilities: how leaders show up, what power style they use, how open and adaptive they are.

The Deep Dive Experience

At the conference, Pete also offered a hands-on exploration workshop using a leadership coaching bot created as an experiment by Agile Leadership Journey. Participants interacted directly with the AI tool, exploring what this looks like and what leaders need to think about when using these technologies.

The approach demonstrates Pete's conviction that leaders don't need more answers. They need to develop capacity to navigate without them, to lead with adaptability and critical thinking in a rapidly evolving AI landscape.

Watch the Panel Discussion