Why AI Reskilling is Now a Leadership Imperative
The Future Has a Deadline
In late September of 2025, the CEO of Accenture, Julie Sweet, sent shockwaves through the business world. I remember when I heard it that this was probably a first indicator of more to come.
The CEO announced they would begin exiting staff who could not be reskilled on AI. *
Not underperforming staff. Not redundant staff. (Some are doing this to cut extra staff hired during the pandemic, and I think are using AI as a reason.)
Accenture leadership found that they had some people who simply weren’t adapting fast enough to the coming wave of AI tools and workflows.
This isn’t a tech company trimming fat or laying off programmers because AI is now doing their work.
It’s one of the most respected consulting firms on the planet sending a clear message:
The future of work is going to be AI-enabled, and the window to prepare is shrinking.
Sweet says that she believes they have less than 24 months before major shifts happen - and that was as of July 2025.
So let’s call it what it is—this is not just a technology shift. It’s a workforce shift, and more importantly, a leadership challenge.
The Illusion of “Using AI”
Most professionals in today’s workforce think they’re already using AI. After all, we’ve all typed prompts into ChatGPT, right? That counts for something.
We’ve asked Gemini or Copilot to rewrite a paragraph or re-write an email for us.
Maybe you’ve used it to brainstorm ideas or summarize an article so that you didn't have to read the whole thing. (That's another problem - not taking the time to think deeply or read the details, but I'll save that for another day.)
That’s not transformation. That’s dabbling. (I wrote another article about this. I call them the "5 Stages of Adoption." You can read about them here.)
Real AI capability means knowing how to find, choose, implement, and scale new tools. (And there are new ones hitting the market every day.)
It means using AI not as a clever shortcut - especially if you're using it so that you don't have to take time to think). But think about using it as a lever to gain a competitive advantage, to improve your margins, and to transform your culture.
Most teams aren’t anywhere close to that based on the conversations I'm having. And most leaders don’t have a roadmap to get there.
AI Isn’t Optional. Neither Is Strategic Leadership.
Think about this: If you don’t figure out how to lead your team into AI adoption, you’re giving that advantage away.
- Your margins will come under increasing pressure when your competitors start becoming more efficient.
- Your hiring decisions will become inefficient or inadequate.
- You’ll retain staff who feel productive but don't seem to be keeping pace.
- And eventually, you’ll be outpaced by competitors who made the hard decisions earlier.
AI doesn’t just affect one function or department or type of work.
It reshapes your entire operating model.
The Strategic Questions Every Leader Should Be Asking Now
If you’re a senior leader or executive, here are questions I would start with:
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Where could AI meaningfully improve or accelerate our workflows?
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What’s one low-risk area we could pilot an AI implementation next quarter?
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Who on our team is naturally curious about tech? Could they be our internal champion or on an early adoption task force?
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How do we create margin for staff to learn new systems? (This one is big. No one has time to learn how to save time. Ironic, right?)
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What cultural beliefs and norms will need to shift to make this possible?
If those questions feel overwhelming, that's ok. That’s your signal that you realize that this isn’t a back-burner issue.
This is fundamental to your strategic direction.
My Personal Experience: Innovation Doesn’t Happen on Autopilot
I spent several years leading an IT department along with implementations of WMS and ERP systems. Later on, I served as an Innovation Director -- both of these roles in a large division (Liberty Hardware) of a global company (Masco - $10B+).
In that small Innovation department, Mike served alongside me, and he saw the leadership challenge firsthand as well.
And we’ve seen the same mistake repeated across industries:
Leaders hope that innovation will happen organically if they say the word enough times. That maybe people will figure it out eventually.
Maybe...
But usually they won’t. Not fast enough. Not at the scale required.
What will work?
- A clear plan.
- A defined roadmap.
- Cultural permission to fail small and learn fast.
- Integration of AI strategy directly into company strategy—not as a side initiative, but as a fundamental layer of how you operate.
That's the only way that our innovation efforts took hold at Liberty. It was only when we had a plan, gave people permission to experiment, and celebrated the quick wins publicly did it really start to take hold and become part of the culture.
Leaders Set the Tone. Culture Follows.
If your team isn’t learning new AI capabilities, don’t get frustrated or blame them. Start with the culture you’ve allowed to develop and what you have today.
To diagnose what culture you are creating, ask yourself:
- What behaviors and activities do we reward?
- What do we celebrate?
- Do we provide and protect time for deep learning and experimenting?
- Or do we promote focusing on the urgent and neglecting the important?
If you can answer those questions with honesty—and take strategic action—you will be one of those who will not just survive this shift, but lead in the new economy that is coming.
Final Thought
The Accenture news is just the beginning. Other companies will follow suit. Some will do so quietly, some with big headlines.
But it's coming.
You still have time. The difference is that the deadline is no longer theoretical. It's actually starting to play out right before our eyes.
You don’t need to become an AI expert—but you do need to become an AI-literate leader with a plan to build your future-ready team.
If there's one thing more expensive than re-skilling your team it's being left behind.
* https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/26/accenture-plans-on-exiting-staff-who-cant-be-reskilled-on-ai.html