You’re becoming a new type of leader

You’re becoming a new type of leader, even if you’re an individual contributor. With AI, I increasingly think the job can look less like playing one instrument and more like conducting.

An investment professional can move from editing slide wording to delegating an initial financial model. A small-business owner can have an agent use a cloud browser to log into siloed vendor portals, reconcile operational and receivables data, and build a dashboard. A product manager can ask an agent to update the interface and submit code for review.

The agents are the musicians and their tools are the instruments. The goal and constraints are the score. Give them the wrong instrument, key, or tempo and the ensemble may produce polished work that misses what the audience needed, while the conductor is still accountable for what reaches them.

How much of your work now feels less like playing the instrument and more like conducting the ensemble?