The Intentional Growth Leader · Issue 7 · 31 August 2026

The Leadership Paradox

As AI does more, what must remain human?

Last week in Brisbane, I was part of the Team Moreton Bay delegation at SD26, Something Digital 2026.

Two days of conversations about AI, automation, digital transformation, accessibility, agents, governance and the future of work left me thinking less about technology and more about people and leadership.

The theme was “Shaping the Paradox Era”. The more I listened, the more I realised how many of the challenges in front of us sit between two things that appear to contradict each other.

We have more information than ever, yet it can be harder to know what is true. We are more connected than ever, yet many people feel increasingly disconnected.

These aren’t contradictions we can simply resolve. They are tensions we have to learn to hold and lead through.

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