What qualities do AI need for leaders when they transform their business? This short video from the 2025 MIT Sloan CIO Symposium discusses the skills AI experts and leaders build.
Artificial intelligence is rewriting the rules of business and technology leadership in real time. Given this fact, what leadership skills are most important now? We asked AI experts and business and technology leaders at 2025 MIT Sloan CIO Symposium to consider the most important characteristics of AI leadership. You might expect their answers to point to data literacy and technical strategies, but we have heard more interesting and human advice.
For example, Monica Caldas, executive vice president and CIO at Liberty Mutual Insurance and recipient of the 2025 MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award, said courage is extremely important among leaders today. “You have to think about the changes ahead, change management, how things should work, and your own beliefs about how it is evolving,” said Caldas. “It takes courage. We'll rethink the art of possibilities.”
Below are three other examples of leadership traits worthy of your attention:
- Playfulness: Experiment and tinkering rotation Real AI tools.
- Curiosity, careful pairing: Explore while building cyber resilience.
- Current maintenance balance: I look forward to it, but please keep it grounded.
Watch this short video and hear more about what AI is bringing to lead an organization through the transformation of the business and workforce. Next, consider how to build these AI leadership traits into yourself and your team.
Video Credits
Laurian McLaughlin Senior digital editor of MIT Sloan Management Review.
M. Shawn Reed This is the multimedia editor of MIT Sloan Management Review.
