According to Hanna Lagerholm, this makes leadership more important than ever. Leaders need to separate signal from noise, understand their own biases, and create structures for accountability, risk management, and ownership.

— Competence is not just about knowing how to use a tool. What matters is understanding what the technology should achieve, how it supports the business, and the role it should play in the organisation, she says.

As more decisions are informed by AI, the question of human accountability becomes increasingly important. Here, concepts such as "human in the loop" risk creating a false sense of security.

— If it simply means having one person approve the outcome at the end of the process, it is not enough. Humans need to be involved before the loop begins – setting direction, purpose, and accountability before the technology is used, she says.

At the same time, relationships and collective judgement are becoming critical competitive advantages. As AI makes it easier to act quickly, organisations risk losing the friction that encourages reflection, challenge, and critical thinking.

– AI has removed friction. But friction was never the problem – it was often the thing that forced us to think, says Hanna Lagerholm.

According to her, the next step is not simply about investing in more technology. It is about upgrading the human software.

– Everyone is asking which AI they should buy. Almost no one is asking which human software they need to upgrade. That is the question that will make the difference, Hanna Lagerholm concludes.

This article was originally published in the Swedish business newspaper Dagens Industri on 2 June 2026.