𝗗𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗮 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗜 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗴 At the Executive AI Briefing hosted by @pranary1 held at Pamodzi Hotel this morning, Dr @Lelemba Phiri, partner at ATG Samata, delivered a thought-provoking session that challenged leaders to rethink how they show up in an AI-driven world. Her message was clear: people don’t follow policies or speeches, they follow behaviour. If leaders are not visibly using AI in their own work, teams are unlikely to embrace it. She spoke openly about the fear many employees, especially middle managers, are carrying. As AI takes over routine tasks, many worry about relevance, job security and identity. When these fears go unaddressed, they often show up as quiet resistance, even when organisations are investing heavily in new technologies. She explained that the familiar workforce structure is changing fast. The “average performer” role is shrinking, while those who learn to work confidently with AI are becoming high-impact contributors. AI, she stressed, doesn’t replace human value but strengthens it. Judgment, creativity, empathy and local context still matter, and AI simply helps people work faster and better. For leaders, the choice is simple: ignore the shift and face skills decay, or invest early in continuous learning and safe spaces for experimentation. She closed by reminding leaders that the real work isn’t the technology itself, but guiding people through the change because that’s where the true advantage lies.