What the EGN Leadership Report 2026 Reveals About Humans, AI, and the Future of Leadership – Henrik Larsson Broman

“We are in the middle of a thinking revolution,” says Henrik Larsson Broman, trend analyst, sales expert, speaker and author. “AI can help people think better, not just work faster.”

As artificial intelligence moves from experimentation to everyday reality, leaders around the world face a defining challenge: how to create meaningful value through the partnership between humans and AI – without losing sight of what makes leadership fundamentally human.

According to the EGN Leadership Report 2026, the greatest barriers to success are not technological, but managerial and cultural. AI is widely used, yet rarely transformative. The missing link is leadership.

From productivity tool to operating model

One of the most common misunderstandings among leaders is treating AI primarily as a productivity enhancer rather than as a catalyst for rethinking how work, decisions, and leadership actually happen.

“AI is being used across organizations, but not within their core workflows,” explains Henrik Larsson Broman. “The result is high individual adoption but very limited measurable business impact.”

The mindset shifts now required is a move from experimentation to intentional integration. Instead of allowing AI use to grow organically at the individual level, leaders must take responsibility for redesigning processes, roles, and capabilities for true human-AI collaboration. This means shifting focus away from tools and toward operating models, skills, and leadership accountability.

Beyond Efficiency: AI as a learning and thinking partner

While many leaders see AI as both an opportunity and a risk, its greatest potential lies beyond automation and efficiency gains. Used well, AI acts as a learning accelerator and decision partner-expanding access to insights, challenging assumptions, simulating scenarios, and supporting reflection.
This turns everyday work into everyday learning and strengthens critical leadership capabilities such as judgment, creativity, and problem-solving. In an increasingly complex and uncertain world, these human skills matter more than ever.

Speed is not the same as progress

The Leadership Report 2026 shows that organizational growth and digital transformation have become stabilizing anchors for leaders navigating uncertainty. AI is rapidly becoming the engine behind both but often in a limited way.

“Most organizations use AI to accelerate what they already do,” Henrik notes. “Faster sales cycles, quicker decisions, more efficient operations.”

While this creates momentum and short-term performance gains, it also carries a risk: confusing speed with progress. Activity, pilots, and tool adoption can give the illusion of transformation without addressing deeper questions about business models, value creation, and how work is organized.

True progress, according to Henrik, comes when leaders are willing to slow down strategically – to redesign systems rather than simply speeding up existing machines.

Reintegrating sustainability through AI

The report also highlights a declining strategic emphasis on sustainability and ESG – not because these issues matter less, but because leadership attention is being pulled toward short-term competitiveness.

“The solution is not to prioritize sustainability higher, but to integrate it differently,” says Henrik.

When sustainability is treated as a parallel agenda – focused on reporting or compliance, it will always lose out. But when embedded into digital transformation and AI-driven initiatives, it becomes a performance driver.

AI can make sustainability measurable, operational, and actionable in real time: optimizing energy use, improving supply chains, reducing waste, predicting maintenance, and supporting smarter investment decisions. In this way, sustainability shifts from long-term ambition to daily business practice – and from moral obligation to competitive advantage.

Leadership competencies for a Human-AI future

As AI increasingly becomes a co-worker rather than a tool, leadership itself must evolve. Traditional command-and-control models are losing relevance.

“Future leaders won’t manage people alone- they will orchestrate ecosystems of humans and intelligent machines,” Henrik explains.

This requires what he describes as compass leadership: guiding through values, direction, and purpose rather than rigid instructions.

Critical competencies include:

  • Technological empathy – understanding AI’s capabilities and limitations well enough to ask the right questions.
  • Ethical foresight – anticipating and navigating the moral implications of AI-driven decisions.
  • Curiosity and unlearning – letting go of the need to have all the answers.
  • Trust-building – not only between people, but also in and around technology, at a time when trust is becoming a new currency.

Above all, leaders must stop treating AI as a project and start embedding it into the strategic DNA of the organization.

“Leadership in the age of AI is not about replacing the human touch,” concludes Henrik Larsson Broman. “It’s about reinforcing it: with clarity, compassion, and courage.”