How to Be a Great Manager in a High Tech World

You’ve likely seen the stories. Organizations are no longer hiring young professionals because they lack skills and can be replaced by AI (Burleigh, 2025). The robots are coming for everybody’s jobs (Mesa, 2025). The skills needed to be successful at work have rapidly changed and will continue to do so (LinkedIn, 2025). It’s harder than ever to get a job due to how AI has changed the application process through Application Tracking Systems, AI-generated resumes, and “easy apply” bots. And more.

As with all new things, we simply do not have enough data yet on how AI is upending or already has upended our work and our lives. In fact, a piece published just this week notes that while there is a lot of fear about the perceived impacts of AI on the workplace, research by Yale University and Brookings “found little evidence that artificial intelligence has fundamentally transformed the workforce or reshaped the economy in the ways people assumed — at least not yet. In fact, the technology’s impact thus far appears to be fairly limited, suggesting that its long-promised disruption may still be on the horizon” (Urwin, 2025). And even the results of that study are limited due to lack of definitive data.

What we do know is this: Work will continue to change, AI is here to stay, and the smart employee constantly looks to evolve their skills to stay relevant. But what does this mean for those in management? How does one effectively manage people and teams in this age of AI?

Management Skills for an AI World

It's easy to think that today's manager needs to think about how to automate roles, and mostly entry-level roles, for greater efficiency and fewer headcount. However, as noted in several of the pieces cited above, the verdict is still out as to whether organizations are doing away with roles due to AI. More likely, AI will “gradually chip away” at the tasks that make up individual roles rather than replace entire roles all at once (Mesa, 2025). Certainly, eliminating entry-level roles, where people gain skills and knowledge about how to do work, and more specifically, how to do work at your organization, is an incredibly short-sighted way to lead.

No matter the scenario, evolving skills to remain relevant is not limited to the entry-level employee. Tasked with managing individuals and teams while implementing AI tools, there are some key competencies that you as a manager need to develop as well.

• Get smart on the technology. AI tools are ever-changing and will continue to do so. While you don’t necessarily need to be a technical wizard, you do need to understand what the tools are, how they work, and what the best use case is for your organization and your team. Just like you would get smart on industry trends, new product opportunities, or other factors that impact your team’s work, you need to get smart on how AI will potentially disrupt your work, change processes, and shift directions.
• Understand the ethics. Talk to your HR and legal departments, and if that’s not available to you, reach out to professional organizations or colleagues to understand the ethical use of these tools. You hold a lot of power over the people who report to you, and if you tell them to do something, no matter how unintentionally unethical, there is a good chance they will do it. You set the tone and the parameters for ethical work. There is a lot of grey area with these tools and you need to know where and how to draw the lines so your people will too.
• Model good behavior. If you want your team to learn about, and try out AI tools, then they need to see you doing the same. If you want them to understand how it fits into the mission and work of the organization, then you need to be the one to explain that. If you want them to use the tools in an ethical manner, then they need to see you doing the same. Remember, one of the top attributes people are looking for from their leaders and managers is integrity. And once you lose it, there’s no getting it back.
• Remember this is a change management process. AI has arrived on the scene quickly, and like any change, people need time to adjust. Change management is less about what change needs to happen (incorporate AI tools into work processes) and more about how people feel about the change that needs to happen. And every individual will feel differently about it, with some excited about new processes and others grieving what is being lost. Effective managers know how to make the mission-centered case for making the change and help people process their very real feelings about it.
• Manage for human-centered skills. In this era of rapid change and high tech, it can be easy to forget that we are, first and foremost, humans. Yes, AI tools may be taking some people’s jobs. And that has real human implications that you will need to manage. And, they aren’t replacing acting humans (yet). Those who will be most successful in this new world of work are those who know how to build relationships, think critically, develop empathy, learn, create, and adapt. In other words, what the world of AI reveals is the critical importance of being very deeply human. Don’t manage the tool. Develop the human.

Finally, remember a tool is just a tool. Ultimately, the role of a manager is to provide direction, set goals, uphold accountability, equip people with what they need to be successful, and ensure the individuals and the team are working together to achieve organizational goals. You do that with and through people.

The effective manager must get to know people as people, and coach and manage to their unique strengths and skillsets. Like many other tools we use every day to get work done, AI is just a tool. The effective manager understands that work, and management, is about people.