Last month, I had the opportunity to attend the Wall Street Journal’s “Future of Everything” conference in New York City. It was an enlightening event that featured guest speakers discussing the future of “everything” from banking to healthcare to entertainment to nutrition. I learned a lot from every presentation, but I walked away reflecting on the impact of AI on how leaders influence others.

It became clear early in the conference that AI is already a competitive necessity for large companies. The CEOs from Wells Fargo, United Airlines, and Bristol Myers Squibb all spoke about how they are utilizing AI right now. It was also obvious that AI will be impacting every organization sooner rather than later. Its power to quickly provide immense amounts of data is already changing business as we know it. Leaders now have endless information on command, strengthening their decision-making and problem-solving.

But amid all this AI optimization talk, filmmaker Brian Grazer cut through the noise with a simple truth: “AI has no soul.”

Data? AI has more of it than we could ever use. Heart? Not so much.

How, then, do we take advantage of AI’s ability to help us solve real leadership problems while still holding on to our humanity?

I see this balance playing out in my own work. When I help leaders prepare for difficult conversations, AI can simulate endless practice scenarios as a “digital twin” of the other person. But when it’s time for the actual conversation? That’s where the human shows up. This same principle applies whether you’re using AI for customer service, data analysis, or strategic planning.

As Jeanine Carlucci, Global Head of Talent and Employee Experience for JP Morgan Chase, put it: “AI + HI (Human Intelligence) = ROI.” 

The key question every leader should ask: ‘How can this AI application help my people be more fully human?’

If we aren’t already, we will all be using AI at work soon. The key, as I see it, is remembering that AI exists to support and bolster the human experience, not the other way around.