Artificial intelligence is eroding traditional career ladders, reducing predictable promotions and forcing professionals to demonstrate leadership readiness earlier. As organizations flatten and automation absorbs routine work, advancement increasingly depends on judgment, trust, and commercial impact rather than tenure. Business leaders interviewed by ZDNET outline five ways professionals can still progress to senior roles in this new environment.
Senior leaders emphasize stepping beyond functional comfort zones. Barry Panayi, Group Chief Data Officer at Howden, credits non-executive roles with broadening his perspective beyond data. Board-level exposure, he argues, builds the confidence to contribute outside a narrow specialty — a key differentiator at executive level.
Strategic thinking and commercial awareness are equally critical. Jason Pyle, COO at Harvey Nash, stresses that aspiring executives must link operational decisions to business outcomes. Understanding revenue, cost, and enterprise strategy signals readiness for broader responsibility.
Humility also features prominently. Joe Depa, Global Chief Innovation Officer at EY, notes that successful leaders stay open to feedback from customers, partners, and internal teams. Closed decision-making, he warns, often leads to execution failure in fast-changing environments shaped by AI.
Leadership progression increasingly includes developing others. Dawn McCarroll, Director at Helios Towers, highlights integrity, trust, and succession planning as signals of leadership maturity. Executives are judged not just on personal success, but on the leaders they create.
Finally, leaders must prove they can scale themselves. Pyle argues that managers who empower teams to operate independently demonstrate readiness for promotion. In an AI-driven workplace, leadership advancement depends less on climbing steps and more on showing reliable, hands-off stewardship.
As AI reshapes organizations, the path to leadership is no longer linear — but those who combine breadth, judgment, humility, and trust can still rise.
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https://www.zdnet.com/article/career-ladder-crumbling-climb-leadership/
