Where Tech Leads, Leadership Must Follow

RdL was honoured to be invited as a guest speaker at the recent International Summit on Technology and Innovation—an event that brought together global thought leaders from the worlds of AI, cyber security, digital transformation, and investment.

While the summit was abuzz with extraordinary advances in automation, robotics, and data platforms, a deeper insight emerged: the technology may be cutting-edge, but leadership development is lagging dangerously behind.

Across high-skill industries, including tech, finance, engineering, aviation, and automotive, there remains a critical imbalance—organisations are investing heavily in systems but not enough in the people who lead them.

A recent Gallup poll found that 33% of managers now use AI frequently, compared to just 16% of frontline staff. This suggests a growing divide—not only in digital literacy but in how organisations convert strategy into action.

Without targeted leadership development, this gap becomes a driver of both strategic drift and leadership drift.

That’s where RdL comes in.

Our message to summit delegates was clear: technology is only as powerful as the leaders who set its purpose and steer its implementation. And while innovation may start in IT, its sustainability relies on leadership capability across the entire business.

Our Approach RdL works with technically driven organisations to close the widening gap between innovation and execution. Our three-part approach ensures leadership remains focused, agile, and aligned:

• Leadership Capability – We lift leaders out of the operational detail to build strategic thinking, influence, and enterprise-level clarity.

• Culture and Behaviour – We foster psychological safety and accountability—empowering teams to challenge systems, question assumptions, and collaborate across silos.

• Governance Alignment – We align innovation with structure, ensuring risk, compliance, and accountability evolve with transformation.

This model not only supports tech firms—it’s proving essential for industries with deeply entrenched technical expertise. In our work with aviation, financial services, and industrial sectors, clients have achieved a 30% increase in time spent on strategic priorities, faster innovation cycles, and a stronger succession pipeline.

The next frontier of growth won’t come from the technology alone—it will come from the leaders who know how to harness it.

RdL is proud to stand at that intersection, helping organisations stay sharp, scalable, and strategically aligned in a rapidly changing world.