Time to read: 8 minutes
In this newsletter, you will find two topics:
- Are You on the Right Flight?
- One Prompt That Changes Everything
- AI readiness survey - test yourself!
- Zürich Social Hub event
Are You on the Right Flight?
Hi {{first_name | default: 'there'}},
This week I had a conversation with a senior leader at one of the world's largest healthcare companies.
She heads business development. Fifteen years at the same firm, multiple countries, multiple product lines. Sharp, international, commercially rigorous.
And at some point she said this:
"Something is changing. Nobody knows what is changing, what is coming. But what I want to know is, am I on the right flight? Am I even heading to the right destination?"
Wow.
That image, being mid-air. No option to pull over. The fear that you might be heading somewhere you did not intend. That is exactly what I hear from many people right now. Not from people who have checked out. From the ones who are paying the most attention.
Back to the lady on the flight. She has done everything right. She attends events. She follows the right people. She tests the tools. She builds her network. She reads. She shows up.
And yet she described her situation as: confused. Stuck. Struggling to find her sweet spot.
Not because she is not capable. Because nobody around her is asking the honest question either.
The AI world, as she put it, is dominated by people who understand the technology but not the business. And the business world is full of people performing confidence they do not quite have.
She is somewhere in between, and that space in between is exactly where most senior leaders are living right now. Mid-flight. No turbulence yet. But no clarity on the landing either.
That space has a name. I call it the judgment gap, and it is invisible from the outside.
Here is what I have come to understand, after dozens of these conversations: the problem is almost never the tools.
It is not that leaders have not tried hard enough, or attended enough events, or learned enough prompts.
You can rephrase an email with ChatGPT. You can sit in a briefing and nod at the right moments. You can delegate the AI roadmap to someone junior and feel like you have handled it.
"You are doing AI."
But privately, late in a meeting, reading another breathless headline, watching a vendor demo, you are still asking yourself: do I actually understand what is happening here? Could I tell if my own team was steering me wrong?
Most leaders cannot answer yes. And almost none of them say so.
We do not always have to do more. But we have to form our own perspective, not borrowing someone else's framework, not outsourcing the thinking to a consultant, not waiting until the picture is clearer.
We have to develop the kind of AI judgment that stays with us when the tools change, and they will change, so that we are not permanently dependent on someone else to interpret the world for us.
Don't expect magic from a course. Or a conference. Or another webinar.
What matters is a conversation. A private one. One where you do not have to perform.
One Prompt That Changes Everything
So where do you start that private conversation? I would say: with yourself.
Before I work with a new client around AI advisory, I ask them to do one thing first. Not fill in a form. Not answer my questions. Not wait until we meet.
I ask them to run a prompt. It takes about 10 minutes. It is uncomfortable in exactly the right way. And it consistently surfaces the thing nobody around them has been willing to say clearly -- including themselves.
The prompt asks you to describe your professional context honestly, and then asks AI to analyze your current role, compare you to top performers, map out how your role will evolve in the next three to five years, and build three future scenarios: one where you do not adapt, one where you integrate AI selectively, and one where you intentionally evolve into a top performer in an AI-augmented version of your role.
The output will not be perfect. But it will be honest. And it will tell you things that are hard to hear in a meeting room, or a performance review, or a conversation with a peer who is performing the same confidence you are.
I have run it myself. Eye-opening output.
Copy it, fill in your context, and run it. Be honest. That is the only requirement.
- - - COPY FROM HERE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Here is my professional context:
Age: [Insert age]
Industry / Sector: [Insert sector]
Current Role / Position: [Insert role title]
Years of experience: [Insert years]
Main parameters of my job today:
Core responsibilities: [Describe]
Scope of decision-making: [Describe level of authority and influence]
Use of technology and AI today: [Describe realistically]
Key stakeholders I work with: [Optional]
How I currently create value: [Describe]
Now I would like you to:
1. Analyze my current role. What does my job really consist of in terms of value creation? Where is it routine, where is it judgment-based, where is it strategic?
2. Compare my profile to top 10% performers in similar roles in my industry today. What are they doing differently? How are they integrating AI into workflows, decision-making, leadership, and communication?
3. Describe how this type of role is likely to evolve over the next 3–5 years due to AI. Which parts are at risk of automation? Which will be augmented? Which new capabilities will become essential?
4. Create three realistic future scenarios:
— Scenario A: I do not meaningfully adapt.
— Scenario B: I integrate AI selectively.
— Scenario C: I intentionally evolve into a top performer in an AI-augmented version of my role.
5. End with: 5 concrete actions for the next 90 days. 3 capability gaps I
should close. 1 bold experiment that would stretch me professionally.
Be specific. Challenge my assumptions. Avoid generic advice. Assume I am
ambitious and willing to grow.
- - - END OF PROMPT - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The output won't be perfect. But it will be honest, and it will tell you
things that are hard to hear in a meeting room, or a performance review, or a conversation with a peer who is performing the same confidence you are.
I've run it myself. Eye-opening output.
If you are not sure where you stand on AI readiness, take this 5-minute AI readiness test, for free, for your benefit:
Yes, I want to take the AI readiness test
And if you are at the point where you want more than a prompt or a survey, I work with a small number of senior leaders through Private AI Advisory. A confidential, one-on-one engagement built around your specific reality. Not a course. Not a consultant pitch. A private thinking partnership.
For whom is this? Read more here.
If that sounds like what you need, I would love to discuss with you.
Before I go...
This week, I joined a panel at Zurich Social Hub (if you are in Zürich, don't miss their next events!) to talk about what skills truly matter in the age of AI. My take: knowledge alone has lost its edge.
What counts now is judgment, perspective, and the ability to think in ways AI simply cannot replicate.
If you are curious about my speaking topics or would like to explore a keynote for your organisation, you can find more details on my website.
I am curious to know about events
Did you miss our last newsletters?
Inboxes can get a little crazy, right? Just in case you missed them, here are the links to our previous newsletters:
- Newsletter #30: I’m sharing how bad coaching isn’t about you—it’s about connection, why context beats technique, and what real leadership looks like in the AI age. → LINK HERE
- Newsletter #29: I’m sharing how asking AI for a mirror reveals your blind spots, why thinking is becoming cheap, and how to define your value in the AI age. → LINK HERE
- Newsletter #28: I’m sharing how asking AI for a mirror reveals your blind spots, why thinking is becoming cheap, and how to define your value in the AI age. → LINK HERE
Thanks for reading. Just drop a quick reply if you have any feedback.
Wishing you a great weekend ahead.
Until next time,
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