The next generation of business leaders may not be human. This is not me being rude about council leaders or chief executives but simply speculating that the next generation of leaders will be Artificial Intelligence (AI). As soon as it can be demonstrated AI makes better business judgments than human leaders those organisations wishing to have a competitive edge will take the Great Leap Forward. This will change what we understand by leadership.

Think of the case of driverless cars. As soon as they are demonstrated to be safe there will be a strong argument for replacing human drivers. A machine doesn’t have road rage, drive whilst under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and assume the speed limit can be ignored.