Leadership Lessons: Tackling the Challenges of a New Era
AI threatens to drown authentic voices in automated noise, making bold, human thought leadership vital.
This Techronicler article compiles recommendations from business leaders, thought leaders, and tech professionals to amplify distinctive perspectives.
Experts urge grounding narratives in lived experience, owning contrarian angles, and using AI as an accelerator—not replacement—for conviction.
They advocate contextualizing breakthroughs, demonstrating real impact, and pairing domain mastery with storytelling that answers “why now?”
As algorithms prioritize authority and audiences crave clarity amid hype, these strategies restore trust.
In 2025’s content flood, they turn leaders from commentators to irreplaceable guides, ensuring human insight prevails over generated sameness and preserves professional relevance in an AI-saturated world.
Read on!
Authority Beats Algorithms Every Time
Large language models prioritize the authority of the author when selecting content for AI search summaries.
That means effective thought leadership today isn’t just about what you say – it’s about where and how often you say it.
To strengthen your authority, become a consistent contributor to conversations in your field.
A recent Semrush study found the most-cited websites in Google’s AI Overviews are LinkedIn, Reddit, and Quora.
These are free and powerful platforms you can use to build an authoritative digital footprint in your industry.
In parallel, pursue longer-form thought leadership in credible, earned media outlets (not sponsored placements).
Articles published in respected industry publications can significantly boost your perceived authority both with audiences and AI.
In this new landscape, your authority is professional capital.
Derek Jones
Chief Operating Officer & Founder, Feed Media
Lawyers Lead with Ethical Caution
In the legal world, AI has enormous potential, but it also poses serious risks if used carelessly.
Lawyers must remain the voice of caution and integrity as AI tools are adopted in research, document drafting, and even case prediction.
Thought leadership today means not just embracing new technology, but actively educating clients and peers about its limitations, particularly around confidentiality, bias, and due process.
One AI content hallucination in a legal case can damage reputations or worse, jeopardize a person’s rights.
To lead effectively in this space, legal professionals must advocate for transparent, ethical AI usage while reminding the public that in matters of justice, human judgment remains irreplaceable.
Michael Oykhman
Founder & Senior Criminal Lawyer, Strategic Criminal Defence
Be the Source AI Cites
AI is changing how people find information.
PAN’s 2025 Brand Experience Report shows a 41% drop in traditional media mentions and a 23% decline in website traffic for mid-sized tech brands, as AI tools give users answers without clicks.
To stay visible, leaders need to create content that AI can pull from. It should be simple, clear and linked to trusted sources.
Focus on building your own content library, showing up in podcasts and sharing ideas in newsletters or forums where people are talking about your topics.
Thought leadership today is about being useful where decisions happen, not just getting covered by the media.
Mark Nardone
CMO, PAN
Stay Human, Share Real Stories
AI is changing the game for every industry, including real estate.
My recommendation for leaders right now is simple: stay human.
Thought leadership isn’t just about having strong opinions or flashy predictions. It’s about being rooted in real experiences.
If you’re worried about AI derailing your career, double down on what makes you irreplaceable – your relationships, insights from the field, and your ability to read situations beyond data points.
For me, that means sharing real stories from clients, lessons learned in tough markets, and honest takes on what’s coming next.
People crave guidance they can trust. They don’t want sterile advice from someone who’s detached from work.
AI can produce endless content, but it can’t replicate grounded, human perspective. That’s what cuts through the noise.
As leaders, our voice becomes stronger when it’s anchored in authentic experience and used to elevate others. That’s how we build trust that lasts beyond any technological shift.
Matt Ward
Team Lead, The Matt Ward Group
Custom Upskilling Saves Careers
This is not the first time humanity has faced a so-called “dystopian-like loss of jobs”. Humans had such visions of doom earlier.
Previous such scares include: Industrialization, robots in production, and computers.
We have ‘survived’ all these… somehow. But how?
Like always, great leaders will find the answer in up-skilling current employees. This time it will be AI up-skilling.
What I am seeing is a lot of rushed and half-baked measures taken by corporations.
A basic demo, a few formats of prompts, and some rudimentary lectures thrown in.
But the employee’s needs are specific. They need AI training that is custom-built for their specific job.
Thus, this mandates the combined efforts of the higher management, HR, and the managers.
And finally, this requires a change of vision and focus of the company at large.
Ground Wisdom in Real Experience
In the AI age, we must anchor thought leadership in real-world experience, not speculation, trend-chasing, or hype.
As AI rapidly reshapes industries, careers, and communities, we urgently need voices that translate empirical evidence and hard-won lessons into actionable, ethical guidance.
The thought leaders who will stand out in this moment are those who:
– Ground their writing in cumulative, domain-specific experience, offering wisdom forged in practice, not theory;
– Focus on how to harness AI’s potential while steadfastly protecting people, purpose, and societal well-being; and
– Provide concrete, real-world examples of AI’s impact, illuminating both its promise and its pitfalls.
Now is not the time for empty commentary. It’s the time for responsible, courageous voices who help leaders navigate complexity with clarity, integrity, and a commitment to choices that strengthen both organizations and society.
Kristy Farewell
Founder & CEO, Kairos Insights
Your Story Beats AI Clones
When it comes to the avalanche of AI, your most powerful differentiator isn’t what you know, it’s how you *story* what you know!
As a practitioner of Applied Narrative Intelligence, I get to witness this magic daily: leaders completely transform their influence when they discover their unique narrative voice.
Sure, AI can churn out content all day long, but can it replicate your messy, beautiful, completely human journey? Your hard-won wisdom? The way you light up talking about what matters most to you? Not. A. Chance.
My recommendation? Stop trying to out-information the machines and start leading with what makes you gloriously, irreplaceably human.
Dig into your core story – your values, your protagonist moments, those problems only you could solve in your wonderfully weird way. Then share that story everywhere, always connecting back to real human experience.
People don’t follow perfect algorithms – they follow compelling humans with stories that make them feel less alone. That’s your superpower right there!
Kirsten Bombdiggity
Fractional CXO & Trainer, Bombdiggity LLC
Conviction Cuts Through AI Noise
AI isn’t replacing voices. It’s revealing how few were differentiated to begin with. The real threat isn’t AI—it’s sameness.
In a world where anyone can generate content, clarity is the new competitive edge.
I use AI as a force multiplier—not to outsource thinking, but to sharpen it. It helps me distill signals, test positioning, and pressure-check what I actually believe. But you can’t do that without a strong point of view.
If you don’t know what you stand for—strategically, emotionally, commercially—AI will just accelerate your drift into mediocrity.
So how do you strengthen your voice? Start with a problem you’re uniquely qualified to solve. Own your angle. Say what others won’t.
Then let AI help you turn up the volume, not water it down. That’s not scaling content. That’s scaling conviction.
Holley Miller
CEO & Founder, Grey Matter Marketing
Contextualize, Demonstrate, Guide Boldly
Thought leadership will and should look a lot different in the age of AI.
Given the fast pace of GenAI innovation and societal impact, as well as the lowering of barriers to demonstrating impact of GenAI, experts need to shift from passive commentary to active contextualization.
That means not just explaining what AI can do, but guiding by demonstration, and providing guidance across dimensions of how genAI unlocks strategy or creativity, or is forcing us to evolve an ethical framework.
The most impactful voices will be the ones that pair domain expertise with storytelling, helping audiences understand “why now” and “what’s next”.
Narratives should be grounded in reality around the promise of AI as well as where it can fall short, grounded in real-world use cases.
Transparency is also helpful, as thought leaders should be sharing what they’re learning (or rethinking), or experimenting with.
Right now thought leadership is incredibly being crowded out with automated noise so audiences are increasingly putting a premium on human insight, seeking commentary that is timely, actionable, grounded.
Steven Maheshwary
Strategic BD Leader, GenAI Platform, Amazon Web Services
On behalf of the Techronicler community of readers, we thank these leaders and experts for taking the time to share valuable insights that stem from years of experience and in-depth expertise in their respective niches.
If you wish to showcase your experience and expertise, participate in industry-leading discussions, and add visibility and impact to your personal brand and business, get in touch with the Techronicler team to feature in our fast-growing publication.
