The calculators are coming The dominant narrative around AI in the workplace often boils down to a gladiatorial match: humans on one side, machines on the other. Will we beat the machines? Will they take our jobs? But this framing is not just tired — it’s dangerous. The real opportunity isn’t humans vs. machines, but humans with machines. Think augmented humans. Just as calculators didn’t replace mathematicians, AI won’t necessarily replace humans — but it will force us to rethink what it means to be human at work. In fact, we might be entering an era where bringing your humanity to work, quirks and all, is a key element of your value proposition. But we must acknowledge that AI is better at pattern recognition, computation, and task repetition. Humans excel at ambiguity, empathy, storytelling, intuition, and sensemaking in messy, uncertain environments. We need to shift the conversation from "how can I do what I’ve always done, but faster or better?" to "what is my new role in an AI-augmented organisation?" The human edge In a machine-enhanced world, our value doesn’t lie in doing what AI can do — it lies in what it can’t do (yet). That includes: Judgement in uncertain or morally grey situations Empathy in leadership, healthcare, education, and beyond Meaning-making — we interpret, frame, and storytell Physical intelligence — movement, performance, presence Relationship-building — trust, influence, collaboration Insight generation – particularly where the dataset is very small. Adaptiveness – Today AI can be trained to do something but will struggle to learn something new. And even if it does learn something new, it loses the ability to do what it did. Whereas humans evolve and have the capability to synthesise their skills. Rather than clinging to routine work that machines now do better, we should be leaning into these more human dimensions. Employers need cognition to fuel innovation, though many haven’t woken up to that yet. Artificial cognition is the talk of the town, but those that can bring their natural cognition to bear will be very much in demand. From competitor to collaborator So the future of work isn’t about defeating AI — it’s about designing careers and organisations where humans and machines co-evolve. The best workers will be those who: Use AI to amplify their impact Know when to trust data, and when to override it Bring ethical, emotional, and ecological intelligence to tech-infused systems Help build cultures where AI is a tool, not a tyrant Final Thought If you’re asking “Will AI replace me?” you’re already framing your career as a set of tasks. Flip the script: What am I uniquely capable of sensing, deciding, and doing — in partnership with AI? For the last few centuries the majority of workers ‘turned handles’. Today, we need creative problem solvers. Increasing disruption, gives rise to new problems. The future belongs not to the most efficient worker, but to the most adaptive one.

Balancing act - The traditional concept of work-life balance, where work and personal life exist in separate domains, is increasingly outdated. In the industrial era, most work was either dull, dangerous or dirty. Work was the price we paid for funding our lifestyle. It was fair to say that many of us did not enjoy work, so we were keen to ringfence it. Thus the notion of work-life balance emerged. The nature of work back then was typically location dependent. It was impractical to attach doors to partially completed cars unless the assembly line passed through your living room. Shift based working also made it easier to separate work and life. Work's a beach But today, we can work from anywhere - a coffee shop, our living room, our bathroom and even our bed. With good internet connectivity and some specialised equipment, it is possible to carry out surgical procedures from home whilst bickering with the family. Post Covid there is a whole generation of people who perceive work as being simply one aspect of their lives. They do not want to be identified solely by their profession and they do not want to be hemmed in, “Tell me what to do and when it is needed and I’ll get it done”. As far as they are concerned, the fact that the work is done after an all-nighter in another hemisphere to their primary workplace or interwoven with a cycling holiday in a not so near mountain range is not an issue the employer should concern themselves with. Thus the notion of leave now enjoys a degree of fluidity. There is nothing wrong with this. The trick is being so good at what you do that you can call the employment shots. Why? We also need to consider our rationale for working. Is it just to pay the bills, or is the plan to become world class or the path to self-discovery? Therefore, in some cases, unless you perceive work and life as one and the same, you are a dabbler. However, most of us are not on a warrior monk path and so we do need to manage our work-life integration with care. In any case, work-life integration has the potential to make life more interesting, be more productive (in theory at least) and dramatically improve job satisfaction. Worker beware Failing to exercise care in respect of work-life integration can lead to: Burnout – Some managers assume you are 24x7 available. This is like walking around with a cortisol drip attached. Random interruptions coupled with the anticipation of random interruptions result in never being able to relax and recharge. Strained relationships – Taking a call as your partner to be glides up the aisle may well impress your boss but is unlikely to impress anyone else. A fragmented life – Too much swapping between work and life commitments can result in most of your energy being spent on task switching rather than achieving outcomes, eg. completing that report or finishing that bedtime story. Eliminate boundary disputes To reap the benefits of work-life integration whilst avoiding its risks, both individuals and organisations must adopt intentional strategies: Set clear boundaries – Define specific work hours and communicate them to colleagues. Use time-blocking techniques to allocate time for personal and professional responsibilities. Leverage technology wisely – Use tools that enhance efficiency (e.g., automation, asynchronous communication) rather than increase the workload. Silence non-essential notifications outside of work hours. Prioritise outcomes over hours – Shift the focus from working long hours to achieving meaningful results. Organisations should measure productivity based on impact, not time spent online. Promote well-being – Schedule breaks, engage in physical activity, and create rituals that separate work from personal life. Leaders should model healthy integration practices. Create organisational support systems – Companies should implement policies such as flexible working arrangements, mental health support, and clear expectations around after-hours communication. Decentralise leadership – Allow the workers to decide how the work gets done. Buurtzorg, a Dutch healthcare organisation, lets its nurses determine how patient-centric care is delivered. The future of work – Pay it backward Work-life integration has cultural implications. Organisational culture done well will ease your path to becoming an effective part of the team. The understanding is that the new joiner will someday help other new joiners. As social animals, we need human contact and we have a need to be helpful at a personal level. Ultimately work is more than a mechanism for engineering the perfect lifestyle. It is about creating value by bringing our humanity to bear. With intentionality and good boundary management, work-life integration can lead to a healthier existence.

Learn then earn Reality and the notion of a career are at war. It appears that reality is winning. The learn – work – retire model is fraying and has been for some time. The 20th century idea that a predefined level of educational frontloading would enable you to jump on an ascending career conveyor belt that gracefully took your gene pool to new socioeconomic heights is now a genre of nostalgia. Unlike some of my university friends, who saw graduation as the jettisoning of their career rocket booster, I had no idea what I wanted to do. As an unexceptional astrophysics graduate, science wasn’t an option, so I drifted into software engineering. Bureaucratically in the eighties getting into the startup world was not dissimilar to seeking permission to build a casino in your rented accommodation. Failure is not an option The option to instantly create a pre-IPO startup with one Chat-GPT prompt wasn’t an option. Bureaucratically in the eighties getting into the startup world was not dissimilar to seeking permission to build a casino in your rented accommodation. So graduates generally headed off in the direction of the professions – law, architecture, medicine and so on, whilst some decided to take their chances in ‘big industry’. There was a sense that you had to get this right first time otherwise you had better enlist a speechwriter to help you craft an explanation for your failed mission at the next reunion. This of course was a problem for many people who had been pushed into the professions by parents seeking dinner party validation. It took a great deal of courage to jump off the socioeconomic conveyor belt, given the associated social shame. Look back in anger? At the other end of the spectrum, we read the heartfelt stories of people embarking on retirement. Some of these stories are of course underpinned by a non-disclosure agreement, whilst others are an attempt to make sense of what just happened and how the professional path they took was in some way elegantly designed. These stories usually come from people who have entwined their identity and their career to such an extent that what they now feel is a sense of partial paralysis. Standardisation of the employment framework within sectors enabled people to have one career spanning several organisations. Au revoir certainty My rambling point is that careers are largely over. Careers require societal stability and predictability. This enables organisations to chart their courses accurately and thus implement an employment framework that from an employee’s perspective looks like a career. At one point, one could have a complete career with one employer. Standardisation of the employment framework within sectors enabled people to have one career spanning several organisations. Today society and the market are no longer stable and predictable. This has been the case for some time. But such is the nature of exponential change, that the changes are largely imperceptible until the tsunami is upon us. So those of us who acknowledge this reality will be better able to adapt to the chaos that lies ahead. This will be the thrust of subsequent editions of this blog. One could say that we are now in a world where we have multiple careers with multiple employers. But I believe we are even past this and so it would be better to think multiple gigs, multiple clients. Given the precarity of employment the difference between permanent and temporary employment is now blurred. Today’s barrister is tomorrow’s intelligent legal agent. Why bother? So what are we to think? Is it pointless to think in terms of careers? Yes and no. In my view traditional careers are dead or dying. Today’s barrister is tomorrow’s intelligent legal agent. A piece of software that will interact with other judicial software agents. Today’s heart surgeon will be tomorrow’s car tyre fitter. The tech tsunami is upon us. We can make sense of our existence, at least professionally, by choosing a path that on reflection will look like a good return on our labour. Following your passion is a mistake. Pick a path So at best, we can choose a north star even if we don’t know what the associated path will be. So what are our north star options? Common aspirations include: Pay the bills Become rich Be famous Help others Acquire mastery Make a difference Maximise free time. These are not mutually exclusive. But know that if you optimise for one you might de-optimise for others. Ultra-distance runners accept optimising for endurance is de-optimising for speed. But of course rich and famous is possible. And such people can even make a difference. But they probably had to prioritise one initially and the others become fortuitous by-products. Mastery is an interesting one. My initial goal was to become a database expert. This made economic sense at the time. However the commoditisation of database technology forced a rethink. Following your passion is a mistake. Identifying market supply-demand imbalances is the way forward. We will get into this in subsequent editions.

Ade McCormack helps leaders create intelligent organisations optimised to embrace disruption. Take a look at his forward thinking work on how organisations need to evolve. The Adaptive Edge Initiative The Adaptive Edge Initiative is where I develop my perspectives on how organisations and societies adapt to an increasingly disruptive world. This work underpins the services that I offer. Visit the Adaptive Edge Initiative

Press and Media I help leaders create intelligent organisations optimised to embrace increasing disruption. Here are some of the most popular ways I support clients in achieving their objectives. Photos Short bio Career history Published in Books Live Miscellaneous Photos Use one or more of these for your promotional materials. Crop as required. Return to top Short bio This can be trimmed to exclude irrelevant points: I am a former technologist with a background in astrophysics who today is focused on how organisations adapt to what is an increasingly complex world. Some key points: Financial Times columnist for a decade on leadership matters. Lectured at MIT Sloan on leadership matters. Work with the University of Cambridge (Moller Institute) on leadership education. Trained in astrophysics and have worked in space science for the European Space Agency. Worked in over forty countries across the world across multiple sectors with many of the world’s most prominent brands. Engaged with former government leaders globally in the creation of a book focused on reimagining government. Written six books on strategic and societal matters. Worked with the European Commission, including authoring a book on the future of skills in Europe. Return to top Career history This is some background on my career to date. It may inpart help position me when Iam being introduced prior to speaking: 1 -Technical I had a childhood interest in astronomy. So you can imagine my surprise when I discover that studying astrophysics was a little more complicated. Thus I embarked on a career in software engineering. However, I was able to call upon my astrophysics degree when I worked at the European Space Agency on a cosmology programme. Through the defence sector, I developed a very deep understanding of technology as my roles initially involved: Real-time naval ship systems Electronic warfare Avionics lifecycle management Naval battlefield simulation Fighter jet management systems. Software engineering also took me into the worlds of: Investment banking Maritime search and rescue People management. I drifted into project management. For a bit of variety I got involved in training new entrants in software engineering and eventually experienced technologists in systems analysis and design. 2 – Educational I eventually set up my own company which focused largely on demystifying technology for businesspeople. I realised that there was a divide between technology people, who could not see the bigger context for the systems they were building and maintaining, and the users who had no idea what the technologists were saying. Initially this started with supporting service companies that engaged with technologists, eg. staffing companies and consultancies. Eventually this bubbled up to the c-suite. I managed to convince the Financial Times that they needed a column focused on digital leadership, which I penned for a decade. I was also engaged by the FT Live organisation to chair CxO dinners and conferences. This helped me develop an understanding of the issues leaders faced and it helped me develop some impressive contacts. Today some of my time is involved with leadership development. I have lectured at MIT Sloan as part of their MBA programme and today I am actively involved in leadership development with the Moller Institute, Churchill College, University of Cambridge. Over time, I found myself developing as a keynote speaker. 3 – Advisory My time spent writing, educating and keynoting helped me to develop the ability to convey insights in an engaging and memorable manner. Just as well as I was increasingly being invited to advise business and government leaders on matters of leadership, particularly in the context of societal upheaval and increasing disruption. This has led to many high impact engagements. Examples include, advising: One of the world’s leading banks on how to transition from slow technology follower to early adopter leader. Startups from around the world. The world’s largest technology organisations on how to attract and retain senior executive buyers. A government on how to set up an innovation centre optimised for ministers. A national sports association on how to navigate an increasingly disrupted world. A healthcare manufacturing company on how to harness the creativity of its people. Today, I am considered an expert on the drivers shaping our future and on how to build organisations that can embrace this increasing volatility. My delivery mechanisms are a mixture of advisory and, keynoting. I have also set up the Adaptive Edge Initiative . My focus on living systems and harnessing our natural human tendencies is well received by all stakeholders. Over the last four decades, I have worked in forty countries, across many sectors. My experience is unique, deep and broad. It is not clouded by the ‘trend du jour’. Most importantly, I don’t have all the answers. We are now operating in a ‘post-case studies’ world. My role is to help you create an organisation that can sense, decide and act with confidence regardless of what crosses your path. Return to top Published in I was a columnist for the Financial Times for a decade focusing on leadership matters. I have also been a columnist for a number of other publications: Return to top Books authored I am the author of several books, including one written for the European Commission on the future of skills in Europe.I have also produced reports and articles for Microsoft, HPE, Manpower, VMWare, Cisco, Pitney Bowes and other major brands. Return to top Miscellaneous Here is some information that is often required by event organisers: I am based just outside of London. London Heathrow is my nearest airport. I have no special dietary requirements. I prefer a lavalier or headset microphone and not a handheld. If my slides are to be integrated into a conference deck, I will need to see my embedded slides before the day of the event as this can detrimentally impact the slides. My slides can be shared with the participants in PDF format. I can provide this. I am happy to sign books if you choose to include one of mine as a participant gift. Return to top Do you need anything else? Contact me

Ade helps leaders create intelligent organisations optimised to embrace disruption. Discover how he can help your organisation. Services I help leaders create intelligent organisations optimised to embrace increasing disruption. Here are some of the most popular ways I support clients in achieving their objectives. Leadership development Public speaking Workshop facilitation Advisory Leadership development I can support your leadership development initiatives, particularly in respect of raising awareness of how increasing disruption is creating chaotic situations for which traditional organisational models are ill-quipped to handle. I also provide guidance on how to transition to a more adaptive model without threatening existing cashflows or unsettling the workforce. The learning is reinforced and embedded through team-based activities. Through my relationship with the University of Cambridge, I can also provide access to: Complementary leadership experts. Programme design and development capacity. Learning facilities, including what can be termed the Cambridge experience. Public speaking I speak at events ranging from intimate CxO dinners through to arena-level conferences. I am often invited to be the opening keynoter in order to present the big picture by providing a zoom-out perspective on how the world is changing. This contextualises the event and elevates the tone of the subsequent participant discussions. My content usually involves one or more of the following themes: Disruption Adaptiveness People Technology My perspectives on AI highlight that our concerns are misplaced, ie. there are reasons to be concerned, but not as portrayed by the media. Innovation Intelligence Leadership. Perhaps uniquely, I explore these topics from a number of unusual perspectives, including: Evolutionary biology Complex / living / natural systems Human performance Neuroscience Anthropology Sociology. Audiences welcome the exploration of strategic topics through these novel lenses. I am often invited as a panellist in order to weave my perspectives into the broader issues covered by the event. Here are some keynoting samples: Watch Ade live Workshop facilitation If your leadership already recognises that they need to rethink how they operate, then a workshop is a natural way forward. This provides an opportunity to: Ensure the leadership team have a common understanding of how the world is changing and how they might respond. Identify actions that can initiate the organisation's transitional journey. Advisory The expertise needed to address the organisation's challenges typically resides within the workforce or the wider ecosystem. However there are some foundations to be laid before this expertise can be harnessed effectively. I can help you with the preparing the necessary groundwork to thrive in an increasingly unknowable world. Let's discuss the outcomes you are looking to achieve Contact Ade