“Use AI as a sparring partner, as a colleague, as a peer… ask it to take another perspective, take something you’re weak in, and have a dialog.” — Nikolaos Kaintantzis

In this episode of SPCs Unleashed, the crew tackles a pressing question: how should leaders navigate AI? Stephan Neck frames the challenge well. Leadership has always been about vision, adaptation, and stewardship, but the cockpit has changed. Today’s leaders face an environment of real-time coordination, predictive analytics, and autonomous systems.

Mark Richards, Ali Hajou, and Nikolaos (Niko) Kaintantzis share experiences and practical lessons. Their message is clear: the fundamentals of leadership—vision, empowerment, and clarity—remain constant, but AI raises the stakes. The speed of execution and the responsibility to guide ethical adoption make leadership choices more consequential than ever.

1. Provide clarity on AI use Unclear policies leave teams guessing or hiding their AI usage. Leaders must set explicit expectations. As Niko put it: “One responsibility of a leader is care for this clarity, it’s okay to use AI, it’s okay to use it this way.” Without clarity, trust and consistency suffer.

2. Use AI to free leadership time AI should not replace judgment, it should reduce waste. Mark reframed it this way: “Learning AI in a fashion that helps you to buy time back in your life… is a wonderful thing.” Leaders who experiment with AI themselves discover ways to reduce low-value tasks and invest more time in strategy and people.

3. Double down on the human elements Certain responsibilities remain out of AI’s reach: vision, empathy, and persuasion. Mark reminded us: “I don’t think an AI can create a clear vision, put the right people on the bus, or turn them into a high performing team.” Ali added that energizing people requires presence and authenticity. Leaders should protect and prioritize these domains.

4. Create space for experimentation AI adoption spreads through curiosity, not mandates. Niko summarized: “You don’t have to seduce them, just create curiosity. If you are a person who is curious, you will end up with AI anyway.” Leaders accelerate adoption by opening capacity for experiments, reducing friction, and celebrating small wins.

• Treat AI as a sparring partner to sharpen your leadership thinking.
• Provide clarity and boundaries to guide responsible AI use.
• Buy back leadership time rather than offloading core duties.
• Protect the human strengths that technology cannot replace.
• Encourage curiosity and create safe spaces for experimentation.

Navigating AI is less about mastering every tool and more about modeling curiosity, setting direction, and creating conditions for exploration. Leaders who use AI as a sparring partner while protecting the irreplaceable human aspects of leadership will build organizations that move faster, adapt better, and remain deeply human.