The Human Multiplier: AI Changes the Work. Leadership Shapes the Value

Leaders cannot determine how fast AI advances. They can determine how their organisations respond, and what kind of organisation AI creates. Those that gain most from AI will not treat human capability as a cost of the transition. They will recognise it as a source of competitive advantage.

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Overview  |  Report  |  How KDVI can help  |  Method

Overview

AI is reshaping organisations at unusual speed. The pace of change is accelerating, while leaders are being asked to make decisions without settled rules, stable roles or reliable precedent. Our study explored what AI is changing for leaders, their teams and their organisations and what it takes to turn adoption into lasting organisational value.

Five Core Findings

  1. AI Exposes and amplifies the organisation you already have
  2. Leaders face paradoxical choices. This can improve or undermine leadership judgement
  3. Competitive advantage moves towards what AI cannot easily replicate (judgement, trust, creativity)
  4. Governance is the opportunity to scale with confidence
  5. Leaders need to support the human journey, and be supported themselves

What this means for leaders

Treat human adoption and technical adoption as one transformation. Across the organisations we mapped, the largest group had neither formal adoption nor governance established, and the appetite to adopt was outpacing the capacity to govern. Closing that gap creates a new leadership responsibility: the judgement steward, deciding what AI should do, what work should remain human, and where accountability should sit. Leaders who proactively shape the human adoption of AI create the conditions for experimentation while protecting trust, development and purpose.

Next steps:

We would love to share the full report with you.

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Let’s talk it through

If you would like to discuss what these findings mean for your own leadership or your organisation, we would be glad to talk. A conversation with one of our senior consultants is the usual starting point.

GET in touch

Report

The full report covers the above themes in detail as well as providing insight on:

 

  • The fundamentals of transformation that remain unchanged, and the distinct AI related challenges that need to be addressed
  • The capabilities required to lead through complexity
  • Where AI creates value at the individual, team and organisational levels; and the costs that shadow these gains
  • How AI exposes and accelerates the culture, trust and leadership it encounters, for better or worse
  • Differences in opportunities, risks and priorities based on sector and stage of adoption
  • How AI changes the meaning of work
  • Where leaders add value now, and how to develop future AI capable leaders
  • Governance as a speed enabler
  • The board’s AI agenda

How KDVI can help

Uncovering what’s really going on.

Most leadership teams don’t have a clear picture of how AI is actually being used, or how it is impacting their organisation. Our diagnostic surfaces the current reality, including what may be getting in the way of success, so leaders know where to focus.

Helping teams make the decisions that matter.

AI is forcing faster, harder decisions on investment, governance and where the human line sits. Our work with boards, steering committees and teams helps align the people making the decisions, have the conversations that they are currently avoiding, and become the judgement stewards their organisations need.

Navigating the never-ending transition.

Most leaders are carrying the weight of this change alone. KDVI AI Leadership Circles bring them together to work through real challenges in real time and move forward with greater clarity and intention.

Method

61

senior leaders interviewed, primarily at executive amd board level

20+

sectors, from financial and professional services to healthcare and manufacturing

14

countries, predominantly across Europe plus North American, Asia and Africa, many with global remits

4

months of fieldwork, with themes checked back to source transcripts

The interviews were semi-structured, conducted by 20 KDVI senior coaches and consultants, and preceded by a literature review spanning major consultancies, institutes and academic research on algorithmic anxiety, professional identity and deskilling. Transcripts were anonymised throughout. Every theme and quotation was checked against the source material, and findings were sense-checked with the interviewing consultants before publication.

Next steps:

We would love to share the full report with you.

GET YOUR COPY

Let’s talk it through

If you would like to discuss what these findings mean for your own leadership or your organisation, we would be glad to talk. A conversation with one of our senior consultants is the usual starting point.

GET IN TOUCH

Margot Schumacher:

Senior Associate at KDVI, Adjunct Professor of Leadership Development at TIAS Business School, and executive coach at INSEAD. Margot has coached senior leaders across global organisations following senior roles at Unilever and Kraft Heinz. Since 2010, she has advised multinationals on leadership and organisational development, with a focus on enhancing effectiveness at the top team and board levels. She also serves on the Supervisory Board of Thales Netherlands. Her global perspective is shaped by living and working in Shanghai, Pittsburgh, and London before returning to the Netherlands

Oriane Kets de Vries:

Oriane Kets de Vries is CEO and owner of the Kets de Vries Institute. She leads a global team of coaches, consultants and educators dedicated to developing reflective, emotionally intelligent leaders and cultivating workplaces where people can thrive. In her faculty role, she draws on extensive experience designing and directing leadership programmes for senior executives, contributing her expertise in psychodynamic coaching, organisational culture, and transformational leadership development.

Oriane has served as consultant, coach, and programme director for clients including Pictet, Deutsche Bank, Merck, UBS, Mishcon de Reya, and Engie, and she has taught on open-enrolment programmes with leading institutions such as Cambridge Judge Business School, Oxford Saïd, INSEAD, ESCP, ESMT and CEDEP. Her interests centre on the human side of leadership, particularly identity, creativity, entrepreneurship and gender dynamics. She holds an MBA and Executive MA in Coaching and Consulting for Change from INSEAD, has trained at the Harvard Kennedy School, and brings more than a decade of professional experience in creative and entrepreneurial industries into her work with leaders.

Manfred Kets de Vries:

Manfred Kets de Vries is a pioneering authority in leadership development, coaching, and organisational change. He is a founder and director of the Kets de Vries Institute (KDVI) and served as Distinguished Clinical Professor of Leadership Development and Organisational Change at INSEAD. With academic credentials in economics (University of Amsterdam), management (MBA and DBA, Harvard Business School), and psychoanalysis (trained in Canada), he brings a uniquely interdisciplinary perspective to leadership. His work bridges management theory and clinical insight, establishing him as a global thought leader in executive coaching and transformation. At INSEAD, he founded the Global Leadership Centre and led the flagship programme The Challenge of Leadership for 31 years. He also served as scientific director of Coaching and Consulting for Change, an 18-month Executive Master’s programme that has shaped over 3,000 senior leaders and executive coaches worldwide. He has advised and coached senior executives at global firms including Goldman Sachs, BP, Shell, Unilever, McKinsey, and Volvo. A prolific author of over 60 books and 400 articles, his work appears regularly in The Financial Times, The Economist, and Harvard Business Review. Recognised by Le Capital, Wirtschaftswoche, and The Financial Times as one of the world’s top 50 management thinkers, he is widely regarded for advancing more human-centred approaches to leadership.

Yulia Chupina:

Senior Adviser (Luminary) at Accenture and executive coach with over 12 years of board experience. Formerly a banker and McKinsey consultant, Yulia has led banking transformations in digital, agile, organisational change, and talent development. Her coaching spans the finance, tech, and consumer goods sectors, blending technological insight with emotional intelligence to guide leaders through transformation. Recently, she advised BBVA on agile methodologies and senior talent development. Influenced by thought leaders such as Manfred Kets de Vries and Gabor Maté, Yulia brings an analytical, reflective approach to leadership. She has lived and worked across the UK, Spain, the US, and Russia.

Elizabeth Florent:

Elizabeth has worked closely with Manfred Kets de Vries for many years and has served as a Senior Lecturer and Research Fellow at INSEAD. Her extensive background in leadership development spans organisational consulting, executive coaching, and academic research. She holds advanced degrees in Organisational Development and Clinical Organisational Psychology and is a certified Coaching Supervisor through the Tavistock Institute. Her doctoral research explored experiential domains in executive education, and she has authored or co-authored numerous academic articles, case studies, and books on leadership and organisational dynamics. Elizabeth led the development teams behind KDVI’s diagnostic instruments, including the GELM, OCA™, and ITI. Drawing on her diverse training and global experience, she brings deep cross-cultural insight to her work with leaders worldwide. Originally from California, Elizabeth has made France her home for over 30 years.