Episode Highlights

• From Summit to Scholarship—The Birth of an Idea:  Dan and Gaurav revisit the origins of their co-authored Journal of Leadership Studies article, born from the International Leadership Association’s first global summit on AI and leadership. The summit revealed that leadership education and AI are now deeply intertwined—and that the human must remain in the loop. “AI isn’t a side topic anymore.  It’s central to how we learn, think, and lead.”

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• Leadership Development, Rewired—not Replaced: AI is not replacing leadership learning, but it’s reshaping it. Generative AI can scale lessons and simulate feedback loops, but empathy, nuance, and trust remain distinctly human. “We always need a human in the loop—and a leader in the loop ... You can scale content, but you can’t scale trust.”

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• The Power of Safe and Brave Spaces: True leadership learning requires vulnerability and trust. Drawing from psychology and pedagogy, Dan explains how safe spaces encourage honest reflection, while brave spaces invite challenge and growth. “Learning thrives where you can stretch without fear ...Those moments of emotional honesty are the ones that stick—they can’t be automated.”

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• A Century of Scholarship Meets Generative AI: From John Dewey’s experiential learning in 1913 to Khan Academy’s AI tutor today, Dan and Gaurav connect a hundred years of educational research to the present. They explore how generative AI can personalize learning through context, choice, and feedback, echoing Hidi and Renninger’s four-phase model of interest development. “AI can create teachable moments on demand ...That’s powerful—but it still depends on human guidance.”

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• Reframing TED: Training, Education, and Development: Borrowing from their article, the hosts reimagine the “TED” model for the AI era. Training now includes micro-simulations and feedback bots; education blends theory with dynamic examples; development invites reflection through AI-guided journaling and coaching. “Generative AI can bridge what used to live in silos ... It’s up to us to design those bridges intentionally.”

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• Agentic Flows and the Next Frontier: Gaurav introduces “agentic flows”—AI systems that don’t just answer questions but plan, act, and reflect across multiple steps. Dan adds that future leadership programs will need experts to help design, test, and ethically guide these new systems.  “Agentic AI behaves like how humans write essays ... They plan, draft, revise, and check their work. That’s what agentic AI is starting to do.”

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• Humans in the Loop—Now and Always: Despite rapid advances, both agree that empathy, creativity, and moral judgment can’t yet be encoded. “The human brain still runs on 34 watts; it’s more powerful—and more mysterious—than any model we’ve built.”

• “Generative AI is a catalyst, but it requires thoughtful implementation. You need the technology, the pedagogy—and most of all, the people.”