Leading in the Age of AI: What Leaders Miss to Their Own Peril

What does it take to be an industry leader in the Age of AI? It’s a question many leaders are asking themselves these days.

I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, and I believe there are four imperatives that leaders must focus on during these disruptive times. The first three are quite straightforward:

1.????? Customer-Centric vs. Feature-Centric Innovation: AI offers a sea of opportunities. Are we making the right strategic bets that address real customer needs, or are we simply chasing the latest trends?

2.????? Agility and Imperturbability: In an environment where change is constant, do we have the mental flexibility and organizational agility to pivot quickly when faced with disruptions?

3.????? Execution Excellence: Are we relentlessly pursuing disciplined execution, even under pressure? Are we actively seeking ways to raise the performance bar?

While these imperatives may appear straightforward, they are more than just tasks—they are critical capabilities that leaders must build at every level in their organizations daily. The rationale is simple: to the extent that leaders can grow these capabilities in everyone, the organization becomes exponentially smarter, more innovative, and better equipped to thrive in the Age of AI.

The key to building this intelligence is to grow a new thinking and self-managing capacity across the organization and in every employee. I call this capacity the “Mind of a CEO”. ?So, the fourth and most important leadership imperative is leading in a way that grows the “Mind of a CEO” in everyone. This involves cultivating a culture that embeds capability-building into how people work, every day.

Many leaders struggle with this concept. Some believe in simply "buying talent," while others rely on increasing performance pressure—an unsustainable approach in the long term.

This is why for the past decade I've dedicated much of my energy to helping leaders grow this developmental leadership muscle. This T-Mobile case study demonstrates how developing these capabilities in senior leaders led to a breakthrough in innovation, agility, and business growth during a pivotal moment for the company.