How A.I. is reshaping the leadership equation
In the mid-1990s, Daniel Goleman’s research reframed our understanding of great leadership. He proposed that beyond the technical expertise required to do the job, and the analytical horsepower to think strategically, it was a leader’s Emotional Intelligence—their ability to understand and manage their own emotions and those of others and engage people to vision and purpose—that most clearly separated high performers from the rest.
Nearly 30 years on, this insight has only grown in relevance. But now, with A.I. transforming the nature of work at an exponential pace, the balance between these three domains—technical, cognitive, and emotional—is rapidly shifting once again. And leaders who want to remain effective in this new landscape must adapt.
In this piece, I want to briefly revisit Goleman’s framework and then explore what’s changing with the increasing impact of A.I. —and what that means for how leaders need to show up in the years ahead.
The Three Domains of Leadership Capability
Goleman[1] identified three broad domains of competence that underpin effective leadership:
Technical Skills: The role-specific knowledge or operational expertise a leader needs to do the job.
Cognitive Skills: The ability to think strategically, spot patterns, and make complex decisions under uncertainty.
Emotional Intelligence (EI): The ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions, empathise with others, and lead through social and relational complexity.
Goleman’s research found that while technical skills were an expected baseline, and cognitive skills necessary but insufficient, it was Emotional Intelligence that accounted for nearly 90% of the difference between average and top-performing senior leaders. That’s a striking finding—and one that’s been repeatedly validated over the years.
But it’s what happens when we look at these three domains through the lens of today’s and tomorrow’s technology-driven workplace that things get really interesting.
A.I. Is Reshaping the Leadership Equation
The pace at which A.I. is being embedded into business operations is no longer speculative—it’s operational reality. From automating complex analyses to streamlining decision-making, and augmenting strategic planning, A.I. is no longer a tool just for specialists. It’s quickly becoming part of how we all work. So what does that mean for the competencies that leaders themselves need to bring to the table?
Let’s break it down.
Technical Skills: Still Necessary, But No Longer Defining
As A.I. tools become more intuitive and powerful, many technical skills that once required deep domain knowledge are becoming democratised. Expert systems are gaining access to the current body of resarch and knowledge in fields such as engineering, accounting, economics, law and the sciences, more than any human could ever hope to master. Leaders don’t need to know how to do everything themselves; they need to know how to ask the right questions, interpret outputs, and orchestrate human-A.I. collaboration.
That doesn’t make technical literacy irrelevant. But its role as a differentiator is rapidly fading. The leader of the future doesn’t win by doing the work better—they win by enabling smarter work across their teams.
Cognitive Skills: Still Necessary, But Evolving
A.I. is now outperforming humans in most discrete cognitive tasks: summarising large volumes of information, recognising patterns and trends, strategic modelling, problem solving and generating insights, doing them faster and with less human bias. The human edge remains in how we deal with ambiguity and apply ethical judgment.
In the next few years, the most valuable cognitive capabilities for leaders won’t be raw processing power, but the ability to think critically about A.I. outputs, to recognise where it adds value and where it introduces risk, and to bring multidisciplinary thinking into strategy development.
This means cognitive strength is still vital—but its nature is shifting. It’s no longer just about individual intelligence. It’s about integrative intelligence—seeing the system, not just the solution.
Emotional Intelligence: Rising to the Top
And then there’s Emotional Intelligence. As A.I. handles more of the “what” and the “how,” the premium on the human aspects of leadership—the “who” and the “why”—is rising fast.
Work is becoming more emotionally complex. People are grappling with automation anxiety, shifting identities, and the challenge of finding meaning in hybrid and technology-mediated environments. Leaders need to build trust where uncertainty is high, inspire when the future is unclear, and connect across increasingly diverse, distributed teams. This is where emotional intelligence shows its full value.
The ability to:
Empathise with people whose roles are changing or at risk
Communicate transparently and with conviction
Create a psychologically safe environment for creativity and innovation
Navigate polarisation and conflict with steadiness and respect
These are the human capabilities that no algorithm can replicate. These aren’t soft skills. They’re hard differentiators—and they're deeply human. They’re also the ones that most powerfully sustain performance, culture, and cohesion over time.
The Future-Proof Leader is Deeply Human
Let me put it simply: A.I. is accelerating the obsolescence of certain leadership habits—but not leadership itself. In fact, as machines take over more tasks, leadership becomes more human, not less. It’s not enough to be technically fluent or intellectually sharp. The leaders who thrive in this new era will be those who can show up with presence, empathy, and integrity, shaping purpose, building clarity and connection.
If Goleman was right about EI being the most powerful predictor of leadership success in 1995, then it’s even more true in 2025. Developing deep Emotional Intelligence isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore. It’s now a core survival trait and strategic imperative for leaders.
[1] Emotional Intelligence, why it matters more then I.Q. Daniel Goleman. Bantam Books (1995)