AI is moving fast. But how fast should leaders be moving?
There is growing pressure on organisations to adopt new tools, drive efficiencies and demonstrate impact. For leaders, this creates a new challenge: knowing when to embrace AI, when to question it, and how to transform the way we work whilst protecting what matters about being human.
In this episode of Learning Horizons, Gaëlle Watson talks with organisational development consultant and executive coach Julie Drybrough about the leadership capabilities that matter in an AI-enabled workplace. They explore the critical thinking, judgement and human capabilities leaders need to navigate rapid technological change and turn the potential of AI into business and human performance.
Key learnings of Keeping Up with AI: The One Critical Skill Leaders Need
Is keeping up with AI really about moving faster?
How much do leaders really need to understand about AI to make good decisions?
What leadership capabilities become more important as AI becomes more powerful?
How can organisations encourage AI experimentation without creating unnecessary risk?
As investment in technology accelerates, what happens if investment in human capability doesn’t keep pace?
Express review
Save time and focus on the discussion elements which are essential for you:
1. Leadership in the Age of AI (00:00)
2. The AI Hype and Pace Problem (01:19)
3. What Capabilities Do Leaders Need? (04:42)
4. Is AI Really Changing Leadership? (07:53)
5. The Jurassic Park Problem: Just Because We Can… (09:43)
6. From Experimentation to Responsible Use (14:17)
7. How Technical Do Leaders Need to Be? (17:48)
8. Technology Investment vs People Development (20:48)
9. Creating Spaces for AI Sense-Making (24:42)
10. Community, Experimentation and Continuous Learning (27:48)
Tools and resources
- From ethics to practical application, an interactive sense-making day for L&D professionals navigating AI: “AI in Learning: A sense-making day” on Monday 28th September in London. Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ai-in-learning-a-sense-making-day-tickets-1982580538761
- The AI Checklist isn’t the Change Territory…Julie explore researches about changes in the job market and the role of Organisational Learning in supporting new entrants: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-checklist-isnt-change-territory-julie-drybrough-ktg5e/
- A word of wisdom: https://lnkd.in/p/esWbzfHd
About Julie Drybrough, guest speaker of Keeping Up with AI: The One Critical Skill Leaders Need
Julie Drybrough is an organisational development consultant, executive coach and one of HR’s Most Influential Thinkers 2026. With over 25 years’ experience, she has helped organisations including Maersk Qatar, Scottish Ballet, CIPD and Manchester Metropolitan University navigate leadership, cultural and digital transformation.
As founder of Fuchsia Blue Ltd, Julie specialises in leadership, organisational change and AI sensemaking. She helps leaders think critically and humanely about the impact of AI on people, organisations and learning, creating the conditions for sustainable, human-centred change.
Julie is Co-Chair of Scottish Games Week, Speaker Chair for the Learning Technologies Conference and a respected writer and speaker on leadership, organisational development and the human implications of technological change.
Contact Julie
To watch more episode visit https://syncskills.net/learning-horizons-series/
Available episodes:
Episode 1: Making Learning Material Truly Accessible
Episode 3: How to measure Learning Impact
Episode 4: How to use videos for collaboration, creativity and performance enabler
Episode 5: Driving Learning Impact Through Accountability
Episode 7: Unmuting Emotions for Better Collaboration in Hybrid Teams
Episode 8: The Art of Meaningful Communication in the Digital Workplace
Episode 9: Psychological Safety in Remote Teams: From Silence to Trust
Episode 10: Learning Communities: The Art of Personalised Learning
Episode 11: Beyond L&D: How AI Is Rewriting the Rules of Business
Episode 12: Is AI the Missing Link Between Business Performance and Skills Development?
Episode 13: From Tool to Infrastructure: AI and the Future of Workforce Development
Episode 14: From AI Experiments to AI Infrastructure: What L&D Leaders Need to Build Next
Episode 15: Personalised Feedback at Scale: AI’s Real Superpower
Episode 16: Trust Before Tech: What It Really Takes to Drive AI Adoption
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Contact SyncSkills
- +44(0) 1737 779480
- hello@syncskills.net
