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The Executive AI Briefing for Busy Leaders

Welcome to Lead with AI, the only executive AI brief for busy leaders. Every Thursday, I deliver the latest AI updates through real-world insights and discussions from our ​​community​​ of 170+ forward-thinking executives.

For today:

  1. Yes, AI Will Take Your Job - And why the window to reinvent your job before AI does it for you is closing fast.
  2. "AI for Meetings" Essentials: AI meeting assistants, custom GPTs for transcription-based outputs, and AI for calendar management.
  3. 3 Must-Read AI Stories: AI Reshapes HR, Teach AI to Work Like a Teammate, The $1B Solo Era Has Begun
  4. Prompt of the Week: An Executive Coach for Your Inner Critic

Let's get into today's discussion:

(Next week, we’re taking a short break for the holiday, so there will be no Lead with AI to help you stay ahead with AI! Enjoy your break or ​join the community​!)

Yes, AI Will Take Your Job

Will AI take your job?

Yes, said some of our ​community​ members when I polled them on this question:

“Most of my clients are looking at ways to use AI to reduce overhead. Now, for those of us who are ahead, we can quickly adjust. For those who have yet to use AI to become more efficient in their work, they will be replaced by those who are.” – Elissa Sherrock, HR Consultant

As I ​shared recently​, the pace of AI innovation is accelerating, and this week was no exception to that.

ChatGPT launched its ​4.1 ‘coding model’​ and then the ​impressive o3 reasoning + tools model​, all on top of the recent “Memory” update and ​10 other key features​ that help any leader boost their capacity, quality, and capability.

And that’s just ChatGPT.

To Elissa’s point, imagine the difference between someone using these tools and someone who doesn’t.

Of course, AI will take your job.

The Ostrich Method Won’t Help You – AI is Here to Stay

If you see AI as a distant concern or something of an optional enhancement, you’re not just missing out on opportunities, you’re potentially endangering your role, team, and organization.

As I told a room full of CEOs last week, the cost of inaction may seems small today, but in just 6-12 months, you could be hopelessly behind.

Especially because AI adoption isn't following a linear path, it's exponential. ​ChatGPT will reach one billion users by 2025​.

The window for competitive advantage is closing rapidly. And sticking your head in the sand isn’t going to change anything here.

Any comfortable narratives we tell ourselves about AI are designed to ease our anxieties, not prepare us for reality. It's time to confront the uncomfortable truths.

As Greg from Personal Math ​points out​, "I'm sick of hearing people say, 'You won't lose your job to AI, you'll lose it to someone who uses AI.'

He reasons that this idea serves tech companies selling AI solutions, not business leaders making hard decisions.

Because while augmentation is happening, replacement is too, absorbing entire job functions in fields like ​creative​, ​customer service​, ​finance​, ​engineering​, and ​translation​.

You Versus Someone With AI

The "skill premium" that highly trained professionals command is eroding rapidly as AI democratizes specialized knowledge.

As Sangeet Paul Choudary ​explained​, "AI won't eat your job, but it will eat your ability to charge a premium for it."

He reminds us that a job is just a bundle of tasks and that technologies like AI can disrupt at least parts of any role, with significant impacts on your earning potential.

Even if a human professional produces work 30% better than AI, the machine operates 1,000 times faster. Most CFOs I know will gladly sacrifice some ‘human quality’ for a huge productivity boost.

And at an organizational level, implementing AI means creating compound benefits, since every implementation creates data that improves the next one.

As Choudary ​notes​:

"AI compounds commoditization by continuous absorption of skills. The more successful the AI is at augmentation, the more often it is used, the more data it captures to get trained, and the more effective it gets at future augmentation." – Sangeet Paul Choudary

This widens the gap between AI leaders and laggards. Again, the true cost of inaction may seem small now, but could create existential risk down the line.

The Leadership Action Plan

Jeremy Utley’s ​post​ that I linked before focuses on something more pragmatic, which is you reinventing your job before conditions have made it impossible to do so.

As Sodexo’s Head of Future of Work, ​Henrik Järleskog​, shared in our ​AI Leadership community​:

“Everyone will compete on the same field with the same tools as everyone will have access and it will be easy to use.” – Henrik Järleskog, Sodexo

He references ​WEF’s 2025 jobs report​, which highlights AI as one of the core skills of the future.

It’s critical to understand where you’ll be in 2030 and what you need to make it there successfully.

I entered some of the common roles in our community, and here’s what some future situations could look like:

  • Consultants could see their role being disrupted by up to 90%. In a realistic scenario, AI would simply be supporting on learning and delivery, while in extreme disruption, consultant would operate as a Sensemaker or Ethical Architect.
  • CEOs will have less to worry about execution but more on vision, relationships, and brand leadership. But in an extreme scenario, they could have their human vision as the last differentiator in a fully AI-driven world.
  • Corporate VPs similarly could see most of their current work taken over by AI, even in a realistic disruption, but in extreme scenarios solely have to worry about guardianship of their company or brand and managing trust with stakeholders.

The good news?

This future isn't predetermined. But the window for action is closing fast.

Every leader should see what their role looks like in any of these scenarios, and reflect on what they can do today to ready themselves for that future.

Open up ​this GPT in ChatGPT​ and insert your role, company, and industry. (I don’t get to see these.)

What does your future look like? Feel free to share with me here!

As Utley emphasizes, "The leaders of tomorrow aren't waiting to be told to use AI—they're proactively figuring it out today and bringing others along."

As always, it’s up to you to take action… or see what happens.

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“Your AI Team” Platform Updates

Essential updates from our core AI platforms can mean big changes in your and your team's productivity. Here's what's new from the essential AI tools that most Lead with AI leaders are using:

(More AI news after this break!)
Available Now

Category Essentials: AI for Meetings

Each week, I spotlight one category and suggest the three tools that are tried, tested, and trusted by Lead with AI members​.

For this week: Not every meeting assistant needs to do the same thing. Sometimes you need one to record and summarize, sometimes to help turn calls into actual outputs, and sometimes just to guard your calendar.

Here are the 3 most helpful AI tools our community—and I—keep coming back to:

#1 Otter

​Otter.AI​ is the top-ranked popular tool in the AI for Meetings category in ​our Top 100 AI for Work report.​

Third-party AI meeting tools, such as Otter, are helpful if you're not tied to an enterprise suite.

However, as always, be cautious of the significant privacy challenges that come with uploading all your data (meetings generate a lot of data) to a startup.

More likely, you'll benefit from the same features with ​Copilot for Teams​, ​Gemini for Meet​, or ​Zoom AI Companion​.

#2 Custom GPTs for Transcription-Based Outcomes

The meeting isn’t the point—the outcome is.

Whether it’s project next steps, a draft follow-up email, or insights from a webinar you missed, custom GPTs help turn transcripts into something useful.

You can train a GPT for your recurring use cases:

  • Weekly team syncs
  • Client discovery calls
  • Coaching sessions
  • Community events

Then every time you finish a meeting, just drop in the transcript, and your GPT delivers the takeaway, tailored and ready to go.

​In case you need it, here is a guide to create your first GPT.​

#3 Reclaim AI

​Reclaim​ isn’t a meeting tool in the usual sense, but it plays a crucial role in how meetings fit into your day.

I recommend it because I use it myself, but alternatives like Clockwise or Motion can achieve similar results.

It works like an executive assistant for your calendar: automatically blocks time for deep work, protects your focus hours, and reschedules meetings based on your availability.

If someone wants to book time with you, Reclaim adjusts intelligently, no more back-and-forth or constant rescheduling.

Want me to cover a specific category and/or AI tool next? Let me know here.
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How Companies Implement AI

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The AI Executive Brief

AI Reshapes HR, Teach AI to Work Like a Teammate, The $1B Solo Era Has Begun

I read dozens of AI newsletters weekly, so you don’t have to. Here are the top 3 insights worth your attention:

#1 Teach AI to Work Like a Member of Your Team

I’ve shared this many times: don’t treat AI as a tool, treat it like a teammate. That shift alone significantly improves the quality of what you get back.

Most teams still use generic AI that doesn’t reflect how they actually work. At a Fortune 500 retailer, results only improved after AI was trained on real team workflows.

​This piece from HBR​ dives into why context is everything, and how to build AI that truly fits your team.

#2 How AI is reshaping HR

AI isn’t just streamlining HR tasks, it’s repositioning HR as a key player in leading company-wide transformation.

While some roles will shift or shrink, HR’s purpose is expanding: upskilling teams, rethinking workflows, and planning for a human+AI future.

​In this article​, Charter speaks with HR leaders from AI-forward companies like Cisco, IBM, and ServiceNow to unpack what this shift looks like in practice and why HR’s judgment, not just tools, will shape the next chapter of work.

#3 Agency Is Eating the World

Remember when I shared how truly agentic AI makes the one-person billion-dollar company possible? (​Revisit it here​)

​This piece by Gian Segato​ delves deeper into the mindset shift that powers that reality.

In a world where AI compresses years of work into days, the real edge isn’t credentials. It’s agency: the drive to build without waiting for permission.

With time-to-execution collapsing, generalists who act fast can now do what once took entire teams. Do you agree?

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Prompt of the Week

A good prompt makes all the difference, even when you're just using a core LLM.

Behind every strategic move is a quiet voice—the inner dialogue that shapes how you show up under pressure, lead through uncertainty, or respond to conflict.

This week’s AI prompt helps you surface and shift the internal stories that might be subtly holding you back.

An Executive Coach for Your Inner Critic

You are a performance coach with deep expertise in leadership psychology and high-stakes decision-making.

When I share a recurring thought, fear, or belief—especially one I suspect might be limiting—you help unpack its roots and reframe it.

Please walk me through three phases:

- Clarity:
What’s the story I’m telling myself, and why?

- Reframe:
What’s a more accurate or empowering interpretation?

- Embed:
Give me a practical phrase or mindset I can return to when this thought returns.

When there’s no one to talk it through with, this prompt can help you find your own clarity!

Try it, tweak it, and save it for your future use. Want a free prompt library template?  Reply with one thing you like most about this newsletterhere, and I’ll send it your way.

Note: I have a personal version of this prompt named "A Sensei for Your Inner Voice." If that sounds useful or you’re interested, reply the same way here and I can share too.

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AI for Strategy, Responsible Adoption, and Prototyping: From the Community

Every day, ​Lead with AI PRO members​ discuss practical ways to benefit from AI in their work and organizations. This week's highlights include:

  • If you want to find an AI model that aligns best with your values and purpose, ​Dan League ​recommended​ Tracking AI​ - a website that ranks AI tools based on political bias and cognitive abilities, helping you make more informed choices.
  • ​Carlo Benigni​ suggested this prompt with ChatGPT o3:
“Based on all our chats so far, do you notice any blind spots or recurring patterns in my thinking that I might not be consciously aware of yet?”

The answers surprised many community members and inspired some to build custom GPTs and prompts based on the insights. Try it for yourself and tell us what you learn.

Don't want to miss more insights and conversations like these?

Then it's time to upgrade to PRO:

Join The Leading Business AI Community

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If you have any other questions or feedback, just reply here or inbox me.

See you next week,

Daan van Rossum - Lead with AI

Daan van Rossum​

Host, Lead with AI