Managing a human workforce is hard enough without adding robots, cobots and AI assistants into the equation. Experts say the next generation of business leaders will need a fundamentally different approach to manage this new hybrid workforce effectively.
David Gethin, senior manager in workforce consulting with PwC Ireland, says AI is redefining leadership by shifting the role from managing activity to designing and aligning how work gets done across humans and intelligent systems. “Leaders are increasingly responsible for translating AI ambition into real value by aligning strategy, skills and workforce experience, while operating in an environment of continuous change,” he explains. “This requires a move away from direct oversight towards orchestrating outcomes, ensuring trust and adoption, and enabling the organisation to scale AI effectively across the workforce.”
Accenture’s latest report, Generating Impact: Turning Frontier AI Capabilities into Frontline Productivity and Growth in Ireland, highlights a clear gap between ambition and execution, however.
“While AI adoption among employees in Ireland has accelerated significantly, with over one in five now using it daily, only 29 per cent say a major process in their team has been redesigned around it – showing that leadership-led transformation is lagging behind individual use,” explains Audrey O’Mahony, managing director, talent and organisation with Accenture in Ireland.
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At the same time, just 5 per cent of executives believe their workforce is fully prepared for more advanced forms of AI such as agentic systems, and over a third report little to no impact on profit and loss to date. “This points to a leadership challenge – moving beyond experimentation to organisation-wide change.”
According to Alison Hodgson, market director of CIPD Ireland, this all means line manager capability has never been more complex. “And training and support has never been more needed than now.”
Yet she cautions against a complete reinvention of what it means to be a good manager. “We need to evolve and iterate, I would say, rather than reinvent,” she says. “It all goes back to the line manager where they need confidence, capability and capacity in order to be able to manage the complexities of what the world of work and what human beings are in this day and age.”
Gethin agrees, noting traditional leadership approaches built on “hierarchy, functional silos and periodic transformation” are being replaced by more fluid, system-oriented models. “Leaders must now balance clear strategic direction with distributed decision-making, as AI enables faster, more decentralised execution,” he says. “The focus is shifting from managing functions to redesigning end-to-end workflows, and from driving change as a one-off initiative to embedding continuous reinvention.”
Leaders need a baseline level of AI and data literacy to make informed decisions, alongside strong systems thinking to redesign work across human and digital contributors
— David Gethin, PwC Ireland
Laura Flynn, EY Ireland partner and head of people consulting, points out that leaders in an AI-enabled workplace are pivoting from “knowing and directing” to “orchestrating and enabling. They create value by setting clear direction, applying judgment, and building the conditions for teams to use AI with confidence and accountability.”
This goes far beyond simply “sponsoring adoption” of disruptive technologies. “Leaders need to define a clear vision for the future operating model, setting out how work will be redesigned, how decisions will be made, and how both people and AI, including agentic AI, will work together in how work is delivered,” Flynn explains. She also notes that in many sectors, people working alongside AI or agents is still an emerging trend rather than a widespread situation, making leadership direction and role clarity even more important.
At an organisational level, leaders will also need to think beyond individual teams or departments, because AI often works across the whole organisation. “Leaders must balance performance with responsibility, ensuring governance, trust and workforce transition are embedded into how AI is deployed,” Flynn points out. “This demands a more hands-on, cross-functional and future-focused approach than many organisations have historically been used to.”
The EY 2025 Work Reimagined Survey found that 88 per cent of employees use AI at work, yet just five per cent are using it in advanced ways that transform how they work. In that context, Flynn says AI makes leadership more human, not less. “The premium shifts to judgement, communication, adaptability and the ability to help people navigate uncertainty.”
As AI becomes embedded in everyday work, the most valuable leadership capabilities will be those that turn technology into better decisions and better outcomes, Flynn says. “What is changing is not just the skills leaders need, but the mindset and behaviours required to apply them effectively at pace.”
Gethin strongly agrees, saying that in an AI-enabled world, the most important skills combine technical awareness with distinctly human capabilities. “Leaders need a baseline level of AI and data literacy to make informed decisions, alongside strong systems thinking to redesign work across human and digital contributors,” he says. “Equally important are judgment, ethical decision-making and the ability to lead in ambiguity.”
Flynn adds: “Leaders need the skills to translate AI into meaningful outcomes, the mindset to embrace continuous change, and the behaviours to role model curiosity, experimentation and responsible use.”
Meanwhile, O’Mahony says, “Our latest research shows that demand for routine, structured cognitive skills is declining, while AI-related skills are the fastest growing category. But demand has also increased significantly for skills rooted in people management, judgment, critical thinking and communication.”
