Despite £30 billion global investment in AI, just 5% is seeing ROI. The potential is there – how can organisations convert it into real returns? In the first of our three-part AI skills special, we look at how the landscape is changing and what leadership must do to stay ahead, stay relevant and seize the initiative through executive transitions and organisational transformation.
It has become unequivocally clear that the executive and economic landscapes are undergoing structural change, irreversibly and at unprecedented speed, as AI capabilities and reach expand exponentially. What were previously long-term trends have become short cycles and the skills required to remain competitive are now evolving in real time.
Meanwhile, the market is becoming increasingly challenging (see our latest executive outlook), meaning it has never been so crucial for senior leaders to be able to differentiate themselves and stay a clear length ahead of technological and cultural trends.
Thus, all executives are facing a stark reality: traditional leadership qualities remain essential, but without demonstrable, up-to-the-minute digital and AI capabilities, they risk being seen as out of touch with the markets they serve.
Leaders who allow their skills to become dated or even obsolete can also become an organisational risk if they are trying to operate in the same ways they have done traditionally.
Agility and adaptability are key to leaders and their workforces.
Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn, said his top piece of advice in this febrile business culture is to “remain a lifelong learner…seek out opportunities to learn new technologies, because the ability to adapt and learn how to learn is going to set you apart.”
In the first of our three-part AI skills special, we will look at why executives need to commit to continuous learning – how the market is changing now and how it is shaping up for the rest of the decade. What do C-suite and other senior leaders need to understand and why are AI skills for executives replacing traditional skills and qualifications in executive and board level job specifications?
Part two will define and explain the most in demand AI-related technical and soft skills which are relevant to different C-suite roles and how executives can access effective learning to adapt their management style, culture and skillsets to stay relevant, including the highest rated education tools.
And the third part will examine how to audit and upskill workforces, identifying any shortages on the market of in demand expertise and soft skills and ways of future-proofing human-first organisations.
In brief, guesswork based on fragmented or limited understanding is dangerous.
Too much AI adoption has been ill thought through or driven by hype, leading to failing pilots, disappointing ROI or financial losses, misdirected resources, stakeholder and staff scepticism and investor hesitance.
A recent MIT report found that despite up to £30 billion worth of global investment in AI, an astonishing 95% is not yet seeing any return.
Here is the difficulty: go too quickly, and leadership risks reputational and organisational damage; too slow and the landscape will have already evolved, allowing the more agile, AI-literate and aligned competition to streak ahead, gaining the innovative edge and grabbing new markets.
Choose the wrong projects and a business’s trajectory could be thrown way off target. Yet blanket adoption – expecting every knowledge-based employee to use Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini without training, oversight, ethical and security precautions or impact assessment – carries its own extremely high risks.
It’s a precarious balancing act, and only the most AI literate who are willing to commit to constant learning can keep that tightrope taut.
The MIT study concluded: “The core barrier to scaling is not infrastructure, regulation, or talent. It is learning. Most GenAI systems do not retain feedback, adapt to context, or improve over time.”
While it was referring to the failure of systems to learn, it is up to leadership to define the goals, mechanisms and understand the capabilities and limitations of any AI end use under their management.
Executives need to understand the tech and what they want it to do, to set metrics and measurements. They must start with the problem, look for AI solutions and constantly analyse the data/output and recalibrate the mechanism, input and goals accordingly.
They need to work with data analysts, department leadership and teams to identify which pilots are showing the best potential for scaling up and what organisational transformation and resource allocation is needed to optimise the technology.
AI fluency will, then, be the most important core executive skill to lead the best prepared organisations as we move into the next phase of the AI hype cycle: past the peak of the hype – possibly where we are now – and through the trough of disillusion, into the scope of enlightenment and on to the plateau of productivity.
This shift is reflected in recruitment data and in the way that executives are presenting themselves online.
According to LinkedIn, global C-suite executives listing AI literacy on their profiles have tripled in two years and 88% of senior leaders said accelerating AI adoption was a top business priority for 2025.
Labour market analyst Lightcast reports that postings mentioning generative AI skills specifically are up 800% for jobs outside IT and computer science since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, This is not marginal demand. It represents a core realignment of what employers are seeking and organisations need.
It also found that postings mentioning at least one AI skill came with a 28% salary bump, including in business management and operations and human resources.
According to Indeed, management consulting roles saw the biggest increase in Gen AI job titles.
A generation ago, it was enough to invest in an MBA, professional qualifications or sector-specific training early in a career and then rely on experience and reputation during executive transition.
Today, the pace of change is so rapid that Gartner predicts 30% of current executive skills will be obsolete by 2030. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 says 44% of workers’ core skills will change in the next five years, with leadership roles no exception.
Every few months, emerging technologies are developing beyond recognition – in just the two years since ChatGPT4 brought generative AI to the masses (see previous insight on how it impacts leadership) it is now being used in one form or another by 65% of the global knowledge-based workforce. Just as most of us were getting to grips with it, along came agentic AI, which can reason and execute complex workflows, and now we must anticipate the seismic impact that emerging Artificial General Intelligence will have.
Continuous upskilling is becoming as integral to senior leadership and executive transition as financial acumen or strategic foresight.
So, the challenge for executives is to demonstrate ongoing mastery of core leadership and governance skills while integrating technological literacy into their professional identity.
The online learning market reflects this urgency. Coursera, which offers 10,000 courses from universities and businesses, says enrolments on its 700 GenAI modules surged 195% in a year, with 8 million people signing up while platforms such as edX, LinkedIn Learning, and Udemy report that courses tagged “AI for executives” or “AI governance” are among the fastest growing.
Executives who commit to learning report tangible benefits. A 2024 PwC study found that leaders who invested at least 10 hours per month in structured learning were twice as likely to achieve promotion into board-level roles compared with peers who did not.
It also found that 88% of directors believed a single action could improve board effectiveness and 45% of them said seeking education or training on key topics was likely to have the biggest positive impact.
AI-literate leaders also report higher confidence in navigating disruptive change and greater retention of top-performing teams, as employees responded to leaders seen as forward-looking and capable of guiding organisations through uncertainty.
The nature of continuous learning is also changing. Where once it was dominated by in-person training and formal qualifications, the growth of online platforms has lowered barriers to entry. Executives can now engage in micro-learning, modular courses and personalised coaching, often alongside their daily responsibilities.
This flexibility is vital. Evidence is increasingly showing that “bite-sized” online courses that fit into a working week yield greater returns than traditional longer qualifications. This aligns with the rise of “stackable” credentials that allow leaders to build recognised expertise in areas such as AI ethics or advanced analytics without taking time away from work.
Looking ahead, the next two to five years will further intensify these demands. In 2023, McKinsey forecast that generative AI could deliver $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy by 2030 through corporate use cases, while simultaneously displacing or reshaping millions of jobs.
It now identifies the greatest challenge being how to unlock that long term potential while steering organisations through the shorter-term disruption with fewer measurable rewards. Executives will need to navigate this difficult period by combining governance and foresight with hands-on understanding of new technologies.
The implications for leadership are profound. Those who embrace continuous learning will be positioned to seize opportunities in growth sectors, from healthcare technology and green energy to advanced manufacturing and financial innovation. Those who resist risk being left behind in roles that no longer exist. Evidence already suggests that traditional functions are declining. In the UK, entry-level corporate support roles fell by over a third in the past year and routine managerial oversight positions are shrinking in number and remuneration. In contrast, leadership roles requiring digital transformation skills are growing faster than average, even in a broadly flat labour market.
Executives should be using AI in almost every task – from preparing meetings and briefings to auditing and enhancing their own skills and those of the workforce; digesting the latest and most relevant market news and information; identifying risks and opportunities, driving innovation and efficiencies and getting closer to the market; improving customer and employee experience and anticipating trends and opening markets and preparing their organisation’s response; allocating resources and analysing data. The possibilities are, literally, endless and evolving every day.
Skills once considered optional are now a baseline expectation. Demonstrating competence in AI strategy, data governance and digital transformation is becoming as fundamental to boardroom credibility as financial discipline or regulatory compliance. The path to relevance lies in proactive learning, visible adaptation and the ability to tell a convincing story about how personal skills align with emerging business needs.
As the pace of change accelerates, every executive must think seriously about how to stay relevant, maintain credibility, and secure a strong executive trajectory in today’s market. This requires not only mastering the fundamentals of leadership but also committing to continuous AI learning and digital fluency.
If you are considering how best to position yourself for the next stage of your career or an upcoming executive transition, Rialto can support your journey. In addition, you can join the Rialto AI Business Leaders Circle — a forum enabling members to gain insider access to the conversations shaping the future of AI, including private briefings in the House of Lords, strategic insights from global AI experts, and the chance to influence national policy through the All-Party Parliamentary Group on AI.
Designed specifically for Executives, C-suite leaders, and senior decision-makers, membership offers a unique vantage point on real-world AI adoption and sector-specific ROI.
This is your opportunity to shape the dialogue, build organisational AI fluency, and secure your place at the forefront of business model transformation.
To find out more, book an appointment to speak to one of our team today:
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