The rise of AI and automation is reshaping the world of work at a pace few of us expected. For many, this brings excitement and opportunity. But for others, it triggers anxiety—about job security, relevance, and what the future holds. This is entirely understandable. When machines appear to be getting smarter by the day, it is natural to wonder where we fit in. The good news? There is a place for us, but we need to step up. Here are five practical ways to ease AI-related anxiety and build a more resilient, future-ready mindset. 1. Shift from task to capability thinking Jobs are collections of tasks. And it is true—many routine or repetitive tasks are being automated. But rather than focusing on what you do each day, think in terms of capabilities. What are you good at? What can you bring to different contexts? Are you a strong problem solver, communicator, or relationship builder? By identifying your core capabilities—those transferable strengths that machines struggle to mimic—you can start to reposition yourself. You are no longer just a “role” that can be replaced; you are a capability-rich contributor who can flex, adapt, and thrive across situations. Taken to te next level, a shift to outcomes will help you reposition your proposition in the context of what organisations truly value. 2. Stay curious and keep learning One of the best antidotes to anxiety is action. AI and automation are advancing, yes—but so are the opportunities to learn about AI. Short courses, YouTube tutorials, workplace communities, even AI tools themselves can help you stay informed and ahead of the curve. Learning does not have to mean becoming a data scientist. It might mean understanding the basics of how AI works or becoming more fluent in using collaborative tools. Every time you add to your skillset, you build confidence—and that helps reduce fear. 3. Get comfortable with tech Fear often comes from unfamiliarity. If AI feels like a black box or distant threat, try bringing it closer. Play with AI writing tools like ChatGPT, experiment with automation apps like Zapier, or explore how your organisation is already using smart systems. Perhaps even befriend a techie! Rather than seeing AI as something done to you, treat it as a co-pilot. How can it help you save time, make better decisions, or improve your work? When you use the tools yourself, you start to see their limits—and their potential. That perspective shift is powerful as it will attenuate your anxiety. 4. Focus on what makes you human AI may be good at logic and prediction, but it struggles with empathy, trust-building, and creative leaps. That is your zone. Strengthen the qualities that make you uniquely human—emotional intelligence, storytelling, ethical judgment, contextual awareness. The future of work will increasingly centre around collaboration between humans and machines. Your ability to bring emotional depth, navigate ambiguity, and care about others will be a competitive advantage, not a quaint leftover. Whilst AI systems have had millions of hours of training, we have had millions of years of training largely in very harsh environments. We have become highly adaptive. AI is not there yet. 5. Engage in shaping the future Do not sit on the sidelines. Get involved in how your organisation is adopting technology. Ask questions. Offer ideas. Join pilot programmes. Contribute to ethical discussions. When you are part of shaping change, you feel less like a victim of it. This does not just help your own mindset—it also signals to your employer that you are proactive and adaptable, qualities every organisation needs in uncertain times. Final thoughts AI and automation are not just about job losses. They are about the reconfiguration of work—and in many cases, the elevation of human contribution. By focusing on capability, continuous learning, human strengths, and active participation, we can all approach the future with more clarity and less fear. Rather than asking “Will AI take my job?”—ask, “Am I perceived as someone who is comfortable working with AI?”. And looking a little further ahead, “How can I become someone AI wants to work with?!”.

The calculators are coming The dominant narrative around AI in the workplace often boils down to a gladiatorial match: humans on one side, machines on the other. Will we beat the machines? Will they take our jobs? But this framing is not just tired — it’s dangerous. The real opportunity isn’t humans vs. machines, but humans with machines. Think augmented humans. Just as calculators didn’t replace mathematicians, AI won’t necessarily replace humans — but it will force us to rethink what it means to be human at work. In fact, we might be entering an era where bringing your humanity to work, quirks and all, is a key element of your value proposition. But we must acknowledge that AI is better at pattern recognition, computation, and task repetition. Humans excel at ambiguity, empathy, storytelling, intuition, and sensemaking in messy, uncertain environments. We need to shift the conversation from "how can I do what I’ve always done, but faster or better?" to "what is my new role in an AI-augmented organisation?" The human edge In a machine-enhanced world, our value doesn’t lie in doing what AI can do — it lies in what it can’t do (yet). That includes: Judgement in uncertain or morally grey situations Empathy in leadership, healthcare, education, and beyond Meaning-making — we interpret, frame, and storytell Physical intelligence — movement, performance, presence Relationship-building — trust, influence, collaboration Insight generation – particularly where the dataset is very small. Adaptiveness – Today AI can be trained to do something but will struggle to learn something new. And even if it does learn something new, it loses the ability to do what it did. Whereas humans evolve and have the capability to synthesise their skills. Rather than clinging to routine work that machines now do better, we should be leaning into these more human dimensions. Employers need cognition to fuel innovation, though many haven’t woken up to that yet. Artificial cognition is the talk of the town, but those that can bring their natural cognition to bear will be very much in demand. From competitor to collaborator So the future of work isn’t about defeating AI — it’s about designing careers and organisations where humans and machines co-evolve. The best workers will be those who: Use AI to amplify their impact Know when to trust data, and when to override it Bring ethical, emotional, and ecological intelligence to tech-infused systems Help build cultures where AI is a tool, not a tyrant Final Thought If you’re asking “Will AI replace me?” you’re already framing your career as a set of tasks. Flip the script: What am I uniquely capable of sensing, deciding, and doing — in partnership with AI? For the last few centuries the majority of workers ‘turned handles’. Today, we need creative problem solvers. Increasing disruption, gives rise to new problems. The future belongs not to the most efficient worker, but to the most adaptive one.

Balancing act - The traditional concept of work-life balance, where work and personal life exist in separate domains, is increasingly outdated. In the industrial era, most work was either dull, dangerous or dirty. Work was the price we paid for funding our lifestyle. It was fair to say that many of us did not enjoy work, so we were keen to ringfence it. Thus the notion of work-life balance emerged. The nature of work back then was typically location dependent. It was impractical to attach doors to partially completed cars unless the assembly line passed through your living room. Shift based working also made it easier to separate work and life. Work's a beach But today, we can work from anywhere - a coffee shop, our living room, our bathroom and even our bed. With good internet connectivity and some specialised equipment, it is possible to carry out surgical procedures from home whilst bickering with the family. Post Covid there is a whole generation of people who perceive work as being simply one aspect of their lives. They do not want to be identified solely by their profession and they do not want to be hemmed in, “Tell me what to do and when it is needed and I’ll get it done”. As far as they are concerned, the fact that the work is done after an all-nighter in another hemisphere to their primary workplace or interwoven with a cycling holiday in a not so near mountain range is not an issue the employer should concern themselves with. Thus the notion of leave now enjoys a degree of fluidity. There is nothing wrong with this. The trick is being so good at what you do that you can call the employment shots. Why? We also need to consider our rationale for working. Is it just to pay the bills, or is the plan to become world class or the path to self-discovery? Therefore, in some cases, unless you perceive work and life as one and the same, you are a dabbler. However, most of us are not on a warrior monk path and so we do need to manage our work-life integration with care. In any case, work-life integration has the potential to make life more interesting, be more productive (in theory at least) and dramatically improve job satisfaction. Worker beware Failing to exercise care in respect of work-life integration can lead to: Burnout – Some managers assume you are 24x7 available. This is like walking around with a cortisol drip attached. Random interruptions coupled with the anticipation of random interruptions result in never being able to relax and recharge. Strained relationships – Taking a call as your partner to be glides up the aisle may well impress your boss but is unlikely to impress anyone else. A fragmented life – Too much swapping between work and life commitments can result in most of your energy being spent on task switching rather than achieving outcomes, eg. completing that report or finishing that bedtime story. Eliminate boundary disputes To reap the benefits of work-life integration whilst avoiding its risks, both individuals and organisations must adopt intentional strategies: Set clear boundaries – Define specific work hours and communicate them to colleagues. Use time-blocking techniques to allocate time for personal and professional responsibilities. Leverage technology wisely – Use tools that enhance efficiency (e.g., automation, asynchronous communication) rather than increase the workload. Silence non-essential notifications outside of work hours. Prioritise outcomes over hours – Shift the focus from working long hours to achieving meaningful results. Organisations should measure productivity based on impact, not time spent online. Promote well-being – Schedule breaks, engage in physical activity, and create rituals that separate work from personal life. Leaders should model healthy integration practices. Create organisational support systems – Companies should implement policies such as flexible working arrangements, mental health support, and clear expectations around after-hours communication. Decentralise leadership – Allow the workers to decide how the work gets done. Buurtzorg, a Dutch healthcare organisation, lets its nurses determine how patient-centric care is delivered. The future of work – Pay it backward Work-life integration has cultural implications. Organisational culture done well will ease your path to becoming an effective part of the team. The understanding is that the new joiner will someday help other new joiners. As social animals, we need human contact and we have a need to be helpful at a personal level. Ultimately work is more than a mechanism for engineering the perfect lifestyle. It is about creating value by bringing our humanity to bear. With intentionality and good boundary management, work-life integration can lead to a healthier existence.

Leading in chaos is a workshop for leaders looking to understand how and why the world is changing and how they and their organisations need to adapt accordingly. It can be run as a programme or a one-off event. Workshop- Leading in chaos How to build an intelligent organisation Background Benefits Approach Delivery options Non-traditional Target audience Outline Outcomes Next step Background Geopolitics and technology are only two of the forces that are making the world increasingly uncertain. The traditional process-centric model, which has served organisations well for several centuries, is no longer ‘fit for purpose’. We need a radically different approach. But one that does not threaten existing cashflows or unnerves the staff. We simply do not know what lies ahead. Case studies are backward looking. A playbook will only work when the game has explicit rules, a boundary and a clear scoring mechanism. This is no longer the case. Perhaps the most shocking realisation is that leaders are no longer in control. However there is a way forward. The Adaptive Edge Initiative advocates an intelligent approach, which in essence draws from what we know about living systems. Such systems are optimised for survival. They: Have an acute sense of their environment. Are probabilistic rather than deterministic. Behave in a real-time manner. This programme will enable your leaders to develop an organisation capable of operating in increasingly chaotic circumstances. Return to workshop menu Schedule a chat Benefits Your leaders will: Develop both confidence and competence once they understand how the world is changing and the implications for how organisations operate. Be able to harness the full potential of your people, technology (including AI) and data. Be able to orchestrate this organisational evolution without spending a fortune on transformation. Counterintuitively, perhaps, your people will welcome this and so your existing cashflows will not be put at further risk. Return to workshop menu Schedule a chat Approach This programme comprises six modules delivered virtually over 6 weeks. Each module is of 60 minutes duration with an optional extra 30 minutes for further discussion. Also: Given the seniority of the participants this will be very interactive. There will be a focus on both the associated pain points, along with practical ways to address them. We will highlight exemplar organisations to demonstrate this works in practice. We will uncover the underlying principles to help participants apply the learning to their own context. We will use activities to embed the key principles. Each module will conclude with a set of clear, implementable actions. Participants will receive a workbook to capture their own takeaways from the programme. To convert this learning experience into organisational value we can, optionally, include post-programme assignments for each participant. These assignments can be supported with both coaching and assessment. Return to workshop menu Schedule a chat Delivery options These include: The public programme - people from different organisations attend. A private programme - only your people attend. We can run this in-person as a single event session at your offices. If you're looking to engage a larger audience, we can present the principles as a dynamic and impactful keynote. Through my relationship with the Møller Institute at Churchill College, University of Cambridge, I can also provide access to: Complementary leadership experts. Programme design and development capacity. Certification. Learning facilities, including what can be termed the Cambridge experience. Return to workshop menu Schedule a chat Non-traditional The content draws on multiple disciplines. Participants find this refreshing and stimulating. These include: Anthropology Evolutionary biology Cybernetics Complex systems Sociology Technology Human performance Neuroscience. Please note that participants do not need a background in these disciplines. Our approach recognises that the world is becoming more uncertain and thus it departs from the traditional linear playbook approach. The programme embraces the reality associated with complexity and chaos and thus challenges assumptions around control and strategy. Leaders typically find this both challenging and refreshing. While the rising uncertainty may push them out of their comfort zone, it will lead to a deeper sense of empowerment and clarity. More leader and less boss. Return to workshop menu Schedule a chat Target audience This programme is suitable for leaders, aspirant leaders and anyone involved in organisational transformation. Talent and technology leaders will also find this programme valuable. The programme is sector agnostic. The associated principles apply to both public and private sector organisations. Return to workshop menu Schedule a chat Outline The following are the primary areas of focus: Disruption – What is driving the need to develop intelligent organisations. Organisational design – A real-time, adaptive approach. Talent management – Harnessing our humanity. Technology – Augmenting our cognition. Leadership – The organisational nervous system. Purpose – A buffer against uncertainty. Return to workshop menu Schedule a chat Outcomes By the end of this programme, leaders will: Have a deep appreciation of why your organisation needs to evolve. Understand in what way your organisation needs to evolve. Recognise the importance of cognition, both natural (your people) and artificial, in respect of innovation. Be equipped with a set of actionable steps to increasing their organisation’s intelligence. Return to workshop menu Schedule a chat Next step Schedule a chat

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Ade helps leaders create intelligent organisations optimised to embrace disruption. Discover how he can help your organisation. Services I help leaders create intelligent organisations optimised to embrace increasing disruption. Here are some of the most popular ways I support clients in achieving their objectives. Public speaking Education Advisory Public speaking I speak at events ranging from intimate CxO dinners through to arena-level conferences. I am often invited to be the opening keynoter in order to present the big picture by providing a zoom-out perspective on how the world is changing. This contextualises the event and elevates the tone of the subsequent participant discussions. My content usually involves one or more of the following themes: Disruption Adaptiveness People Technology My perspectives on AI highlight that our concerns are misplaced, ie. there are reasons to be concerned, but not as portrayed by the media. Innovation Intelligence Leadership. Perhaps uniquely, I explore these topics from a number of unusual perspectives, including: Evolutionary biology Complex / living / natural systems Human performance Neuroscience Anthropology Sociology. Audiences welcome the exploration of strategic topics through these novel lenses. I am often invited as a panellist in order to weave my perspectives into the broader issues covered by the event. Learn more Education If your leadership already recognises that they need to rethink how they operate, then a workshop is a natural way forward. This provides an opportunity to: Ensure the leadership team have a common understanding of how the world is changing and how they might respond. Identify actions that can initiate the organisation's transitional journey. Learn more Advisory The expertise needed to address the organisation's challenges typically resides within the workforce or the wider ecosystem. However there are some foundations to be laid before this expertise can be harnessed effectively. I can help you with the preparing the necessary groundwork to thrive in an increasingly unknowable world. Let's discuss the outcomes you are looking to achieve Contact Ade