The More AI We Have, The More Human We Need to Become
Three pillars for stewarding human potential in an artificial age
The pace of AI's progression often leaves me breathless. I see leaders overwhelmed, creative businesses being disrupted, and colleagues of mine creating AI coaches that you wouldn't have believed possible only weeks ago.
In a recent conversation with Claude AI about this very phenomenon, an interesting term emerged: "The Great Substitution Myth"—the belief that our value as leaders lies in what we can produce rather than who we are and how we show up.
Yes, AI can and will replace certain tasks, jobs, and even professions. But there are profound things it cannot do. For many leaders, recognizing this requires a complete shift in how they see their role.
What AI Can't Regenerate
AI can generate impressive outputs, but it cannot regenerate the human spirit. It can optimize processes, but it cannot create the conditions where people feel truly alive at work. It can analyze engagement data, but it cannot foster authentic connection.
Here's what I've come to believe: The more artificial intelligence we introduce into our organizations, the more we need leaders who can activate regenerative intelligence—the capacity to restore, renew, and breathe life into the human elements that make organizations truly thrive.
Three Pillars of Regenerative Leadership
1. Energy Stewardship
While AI can work 24/7 without rest, humans cannot—and shouldn't try to. Regenerative leaders understand that their primary role isn't to compete with machines on productivity, but to become masterful stewards of human energy.
This means creating rhythms that honor both performance and recovery. It means recognizing that sustainable innovation comes from well-rested, energized humans, not from people trying to match AI's relentless pace.
Ask yourself: How are you protecting and cultivating the collective vitality of your team?
2. Meaning Making
AI can process information, but it cannot create meaning. It can identify patterns, but it cannot help people understand their deeper purpose or connect their daily work to something that matters beyond metrics.
Regenerative leaders become meaning makers—helping their teams understand not just what they're doing or how to do it, but why it matters. They create contexts where work becomes contribution, where tasks become expressions of values, where individual roles connect to collective impact.
How are you helping people connect their work to their deeper sense of purpose?
3. Relational Depth
Perhaps most importantly, AI can simulate conversation but cannot create genuine human connection. It can analyze team dynamics but cannot foster the psychological safety, trust, and authentic relationships that fuel true innovation.
Regenerative leaders invest deeply in the human connections that AI cannot replicate. They create spaces for vulnerability, courage, and authentic expression. They understand that in an age of artificial intelligence, emotional and relational intelligence becomes more valuable, not less.
The Beautiful Paradox
Here's a paradox I find both beautiful and hopeful: The more sophisticated our technology becomes, the more we need leaders who are deeply human. The more AI handles routine cognitive tasks, the more space opens up for uniquely human capacities—wisdom, empathy, creativity, and spiritual depth.
Instead of competing with AI, regenerative leaders create conditions where artificial intelligence serves human flourishing rather than replacing it.
The future doesn't belong to leaders who can compete with AI. It belongs to leaders who can create conditions where both human and artificial intelligence serve something greater than efficiency—they serve the unleashing of human potential, meaningfully, with joy.
Warmly,
Marc
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