As our relationship with artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve as quickly as the technology itself, employees, managers and leaders alike are having to come to grips with a rapidly changing workplace environment. With a ‘decade of disorientation’ looming on the horizon, two University of Sydney experts believe there’s one element that can help us thrive: AI fluency.
A whole new world
“If you look at today’s headlines, your social media feeds or the conversations happening in your group chats, you’ll probably notice that we live and work in a restless time,” Associate Professor Sandra Peter observes. As she and her colleague Professor Kai Riemer like to put it, “We’re entering a decade of disorientation.”
The two co-directors of Sydney Executive Plus, a University of Sydney Business School initiative that focuses on upskilling leaders, are also the co-authors of The 2025 Skills Horizon, a report which explores the decade ahead. As part of their research, they gathered perspectives from 78 leaders from diverse sectors around the globe including the CEO of the world’s largest media corporation, two prominent chefs, theatre directors and top figures within academia, business and finance.
“We’re used to thinking of the world in clear trends or megatrends and, increasinglyl we’re seeing the very complex ways in which the world is shifting,” Sandra explains. Kai adds: “Established ways of thinking and doing are changing or becoming less reliable, and the world is becoming more fractured, uncertain, and complex.”
You can't fake AI fluency anymore, you have to start using it and actually know something about it
Professor Kai Riemer
AI vs Generative AI: what’s the difference?
AI in general, is built by encoding patterns from large amounts of data, such as images, videos or text. These systems are used to recognise patterns in new data and to make predictions. For example, they might recognise your face when you open your phone, help Siri or Alexa respond to your voice, let your streaming service predict what you want to watch next, and help your bank keep your account safe by detecting fraudulent transactions.
Generative AI (gen AI) is a form of AI that can generate new content from the patterns it has encoded, in response to information prompts that you give it. This can include text, images, videos, music and/or computer code. Its most popular version comes in the form of chatbots, like ChatGPT – gen AI that have been trained to respond in human-like conversation and be helpful in assisting with all kinds of language-related tasks, such as writing, editing and even creative brainstorming.
Speaking the language of tech
One of the most critical and complex areas that leaders will need to navigate is artificial intelligence and – and workplaces urgently need to embrace a shared understanding and collective approach to the way employees use, build, and govern AI.
“A lot of our work around emerging technologies is about making sense of how the world is changing, and exploring that foresight around the future of work, and preparation – how do you prepare for any of this?”
While many people have yet to fully embrace AI at work, she believes we will all have an ongoing connection to AI in the end, whether we’re working directly with it or alongside it, governing it, building it or even befriending it. “AI now touches everything – from the frontline to the boardroom. You can’t escape it,” Sandra says. “But unless you truly understand how it’s different, you won’t reap the proper rewards.”
“You can't fake AI fluency anymore,” Kai adds, “you have to start using it and actually know something about it. You don’t need to be able to code or build AI but you do need to know the technology deeply enough to make effective decisions.”.
Forewarned is forearmed
Although both Sandra and Kai believe the coming decade will provide a number of complex challenges, they are confident that these can be managed with foresight and education.
“Yes, we should be worried, because there are questions about whose problem the bigger picture is around the use of generative AI, and regardless of who is in charge of this, any leader in an organisation will have to grapple with this,” Kai says. “For example, if everyone uses AI differently and they don’t understand it in the same way, how are you ever going to figure out how to best use it in your organisation? Leaders need to think about how it actually connects to how the organisation creates value because that’s so important for better productivity and outcomes.”
And while neither Sandra nor Kai believe that AI is coming for our jobs, they both believe it’s coming for our job descriptions. “The types of things you do and how you will do them with assistive technologies will be different,” Kai predicts. “It’s really all about how AI can extend our skillset rather than replace our skillset.”
“AI preparedness fosters productivity,” adds Sandra. “For all the risks and challenges that AI raises, there are tremendous opportunities for those who understand it and can help craft a future out of it.”
And so, as we face a decade of disorientation, it turns out that the way forward is actually quite clear: learning is the great unlock.
“Be curious and learn,” Kai says. “Learn to speak the language of tech, upskill yourself and embrace this idea of lifelong learning. There’s never been a more important time to do this than right now.”
Great minds: humanities thinking will always be needed
While we live in an advanced technological age, with more data than ever at our fingertips and AI to help us make decisions, Sandra and Kai say they hear consistently from leaders about the importance of continuing to embrace humanities-style thinking.
The coming ‘decade of disorientation’ brings with it many uncertainties, they say. And in the absence of clear information, reflective thinking will always be needed, along with the ability to ask the right questions.
How to get gen AI to boost your productivity
- Define your needs: Do you need AI for automating repetitive tasks, creating workflows, or handling routine communications?
- Assess your data: Is your data organised, accessible, and sufficient for AI tools to analyse?
- Choose the right tools: Do you require specialised AI solutions for content creation, customer service, data analysis, or project management?
- Train your team: Have you provided training so employees can effectively use and benefit from AI?
- Measure impact: Are you tracking productivity metrics to evaluate how AI affects efficiency and quality?
Human leadership and team culture: the secrets to improved performance
Leadership skills are more important than ever in this technological age – and a study by the University of Sydney Business School has found that ‘humble leadership’ and committed workers are the keys to improving team performance.
Lead investigator Dr Nate Zettna (BA (Hons) ’07, PhD ’21) explains that humble leadership is a style that favours two‑way communication and is marked by a leader’s ability to accurately assess themselves and recognise their limitations, value others’ contributions, and welcome to new ideas and feedback.
The benefits of humble leadership are amplified in teams where workers are highly committed to the organisation, he says. “In teams with lower commitment, leader humility alone does not significantly impact silence or performance.”
The study also explored the effects of ‘team silence’ – when members of a team withhold important information, suggestions or concerns – on performance. “Team silence is a pervasive issue across various organisational levels and sectors,” Nate explains. “Organisations should recognise it not just as an individual issue but as a collective one.”
Nate advises organisations to complement their existing leadership training with initiatives that foster team commitment and address collective attitudes. “Effective interventions should target both leaders and team members to create a more open and collaborative work environment.”
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