AI Won’t Fix Poor Leadership
- Robert de Loryn
- Jul 5
- 2 min read
Everywhere you look, organisations are investing in artificial intelligence.
Boards are discussing it. Executives are funding it. Vendors are selling it. Teams are being encouraged to adopt it.
The promise is compelling.
Faster decisions. Greater productivity. Improved efficiency. Better customer experiences.
Yet there is a question many organisations are failing to ask.
What happens if the real problem is not technology?
What if the issue is leadership?
Deloitte’s 2026 Global Human Capital Trends report highlights that AI is increasingly influencing decision-making, with 60% of executives now regularly using AI to support decisions. At the same time, the report emphasises the growing importance of the “human advantage” and the need for organisations to redesign work, leadership, and culture to maximise value from AI.
This is where many organisations get stuck.
They invest heavily in technology while underinvesting in leadership capability, accountability, communication, and cultural alignment.
AI can analyse information.
AI can identify patterns.
AI can automate tasks.
What it cannot do is replace judgement, courage, trust, accountability, or leadership.
An organisation with poor communication will not become a great communicator because it adopts AI.
A business with unclear decision-making will not suddenly become aligned because it installs new technology.
A leader who avoids difficult conversations will not become an effective people leader because they have access to better data.
Technology accelerates the system you already have.
If leadership is strong, AI can amplify productivity, improve decision quality, and create significant competitive advantage.
If leadership is weak, AI simply scales confusion faster.
In fact, Deloitte’s research found that only a small proportion of organisations are effectively redesigning how humans and AI work together, despite recognising its importance.
The challenge is no longer access to technology. The challenge is how leaders integrate it into the way people work, decide, collaborate, and adapt. (Deloitte)
The organisations that gain the greatest return from AI will not necessarily be those with the biggest technology budget.
They will be those with leaders who create clarity, establish accountability, build trust, and help people adapt to change.
At RDL, we believe AI should enhance leadership, not replace it.
The future belongs to organisations that combine technology with human judgement, discipline, culture, and great leadership.
While AI may transform how work gets done, leadership still determines whether the work gets done well.
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