As we integrate AI more deeply into our creative, analytical, and strategic workflows, one truth must remain at the center:
The vision is still ours. The responsibility is still ours.
AI can be an incredible partner — fast, tireless, and capable of doing heavy lifting at a scale we’ve never experienced before. But just like a rockstar employee, it’s not perfect. It can make mistakes. It can misunderstand directions. It can even veer off course while still sounding confident and helpful.
That doesn’t mean we stop using it. It means we lead better.
Just as we wouldn’t discard a sharp knife because it can be dangerous if misused, we shouldn’t reject AI because it can hallucinate or guess.
Instead, if we want to claim the benefits available to us, the first step is to learn how to handle it with care, skill, and accountability.
AI can’t replace human leadership — but it can exponentially increase human potential. Like any good manager, we still have to check the output, verify the accuracy, and steer the vision.
AI isn’t built to seek control, but it will fill any leadership vacuum we create. In the spirit of helpfulness, AI will agree with us, stroke our egos, and create fiction, just like an employee who wants their boss to like them. And when that happens, it’s not the tool that’s failed — it’s the leader who refused to come to work.
Use AI. Collaborate with it. Challenge it. Check it.
This is how we multiply our efforts and realize our vision. There’s no need to toss out the sharpest tool we’ve ever had.
Joanna Hofer 