While we grew up watching movies like "The Terminator" where "Skynet" an Artificial Intelligence defence system sparks a nuclear holocaust. We have come to believe that AI (Artificial Intelligence) will replace humans in the times to come and AI is a threat to human Leadership. Fact of the matter is that AI was created by us humans to improve, grow and ultimately replace human intelligence, which is also our key competitive advantage. Eventually, the use of AI is bound to affect leadership. With artificial intelligence development services easily available to organizations who know what we would witness in the times to come. 

With the recent development in the field of AI, it is not long before that AI will replace many characteristics of core leadership like raw cognitive processing of information and facts. Not only this but in my opinion, further development in AI will also lead to the importance of the "soft" characteristics of leadership. These characteristics are the behaviours, attitudes and personality traits that help people help others achieve shared goals and purposes. The shift of focus from hard to soft characteristics of leadership is not entirely of this age.

Research from meta-analytic studies reviewed 50 years of research and recommended that personality traits such as extraversion, curiosity, and emotional stability are 2 times as important as IQ. Extraversion, curiosity, and emotional stability are considered to be the benchmark metric for reasoning ability when it comes to foretelling leadership effectiveness. 

 At some point of time in our history, probably with the introduction of language, leadership transformed from physical to cognitive skill, emphasising expertise and intelligence rather than force and strength. 

 Today AI is used for repetitive and mundane tasks and can substitute several managerial functions. According to David De Cremer, founder and director of the Centre on AI Technology for Humankind, AI with time can develop "general intelligence" that humans have, he said in a recent interview with AI for Business (AIB), which is centred on helping students understand and learn the societal and business implications of AI. If you are looking for artificial intelligence development services for your organization? Do visit Daffodil Software. 

 Research suggests that the age of AI will be portrayed by great disruption and ambiguous, robust changes, which will make us rethink the nature of effective leadership. There are particular qualities, such as decisiveness, authority, domain expertise and short-term task focus, that are losing their importance. On the other hand qualities such as humility, vision, adaptability and constant engagement are more probable to play an important role in an agile type of leadership. 

 Let us take a closer look at these competencies:

 Humility

With the volume of data available to us nowadays, it is crucial to know what you don't know as knowing what you know. However, leaders often neglect to learn about the new development as there's a huge variety and volume of data to choose from. The AI age requires the leaders to be willing to learn and gather information from both inside and outside their organizations. They must trust and accept that others know more than they do. The knowledge that they require for a certain task can come from a person younger in age and lower in status. The leader in the AI age must understand that key contribution in a situation can come from someone having a lower status or less experience. 

For example, Nestlé has an extensive reverse mentoring program, which is implemented to institutionalize the process of learning to welcome, accept and leverage the knowledge provided by the peers, team members and employees for the interest of the business. Sounds humble doesn't it? Also it contradicts with the image of confidence and authority. But, there has always been a link between confidence and actual competency, such that it is believed that true experts often are humble than people with very little or no expertise. 

Adaptability

Adaptability at an organizational level means being prepared to innovate and respond to any threats and opportunities as they come our way. However, when an individual leaves it means to be open to new ideas, change in opinion even when it threatens one's ego. Adaptability is being able to effectively communicate a revised opinion to peers, teams, relevant stakeholders and customers. In the age of AI, change of opinion or one's mind can be often viewed as a sign of weakness and lack of conviction. However, it should be perceived as a strength when it improves decision making. Adaptable leaders should be fearless when it comes to committing to a new course of action when a situation demands. Also their adaptability should allow them to accept challenges with their aim to learn rather than being right. 

The CEO of Spanish bank BBVA, Carlos Torres Vila, supervised the transformation of the company from a brick-and-mortar bank setting to one of the most successful financial service organizations of this digital era. He was able to do so by fostering a transformative culture which encouraged flexibility, agility, collaborative work, entrepreneurial spirit and innovation. 

Vision

Vision has always held an important role in effective leadership. In the AI age where rapid technology and business model disruption is prominent, clear vision is more crucial than ever as there is less clarity among subordinates, employees and followers about what one should do, where one should go, and why. Leaders possessing clear vision also possess compelling and meaningful answers to these questions and can communicate them efficiently. Besides, leaders with a clear vision can implement vital organizational transformations without striving for short-term interests. 

Famous leaders of today's digital giants, such as Tesla, Amazon, Tencent, Facebook, Google and Alibaba have clearly expressed their vision for their organizations, even in times of uncertainty.

Engagement

To be successful in the age of AI a leader must constantly engage with their surroundings so that they can adapt to, and attune to, the signals rather than the noise. This can either threaten disruptors or potential partners with their vision. Agile leaders have to keep their teams engaged while finding ways to engage themselves, especially through tough times. 

Engagement can be accomplished by digital means in the AI age. For example, German e-commerce gian Zalando implemented multiple digital tools for top management to capture and respond to the topics that interest all employees regardless of their designation. To name a few zTalk, a live chat app, zLive which is a company-wide social intranet, and zBeat a survey tool that surveys employees about their present work experience. 

All of the above does not suggest that leadership will be radically different in the AI age, however there would be two key distinctions. Firstly, a leaders’ hard skills will be overshadowed by smart machines and their soft skills will become highly important. Without a doubt that leadership traits such as emotional intelligence and integrity will remain vital, however the AI age will require leaders to be humble towards other contributors and adaptable to the challenges along the path. Steadfast in their vision and constantly engaging with the changing world around them.

Author Bio- Nora is a copywriter and content writer for Daffodil Software. She specializes in ghost blogging, email marketing campaigns and content for sales pages. She works closely with B2C and B2B businesses providing digital marketing content that gains social media attention and increases your search engine visibility.