The AI Talent Conversation Is Missing the Point
A recent Harvard Business Review Analytic Services Pulse Survey, sponsored by TriNet, looks at how small and midsize businesses are rethinking talent in the age of AI. The report, The New Talent Playbook for Small and Midsize Businesses in the Age of AI, highlights how AI is changing hiring, training, workforce planning, and leadership expectations.
The data makes one thing clear: AI is changing work. That part is not really up for debate anymore. According to the report, 76% of small and midsize businesses plan to increase their use of AI over the next 12 months. The same report found that 79% agree AI is driving the need to upskill existing talent, while only 19% say they are highly prepared to acquire the AI skills and talent they need.
So yes, AI is a talent issue. But I don’t think it is only an AI skills issue.
The real talent gap is not just technical. It is judgment, clarity, and leadership.
That is where I agree and disagree with the conversation happening right now.
You can find the full report through Harvard Business Review Analytic Services.
What I Agree With
I agree that companies need to take AI seriously from a talent perspective. Not eventually. Now.
AI is already changing how people write, analyze, recruit, sell, operate, serve customers, manage workflows, and make decisions. For small and midsize businesses, this matters because they usually do not have the luxury of endless layers, giant departments, or unlimited training budgets.
When work changes, roles change. When roles change, expectations change. When expectations change, leaders need to get clear about what skills matter now, what skills will matter next, and what skills may no longer be enough.
The HBR report points out that many SMBs expect AI to change how they train employees, evaluate candidates, onboard talent, measure performance, and define roles. That tracks with what I see in real organizations. Leaders are trying to figure out where AI belongs, what it should replace, what it should support, and what it should never touch.
That is not a technology question alone. That is a leadership question. It is also a people strategy question.
Companies need to build AI literacy. Employees need practical exposure to the tools. Teams need training, experimentation, and clear expectations. Leaders need to understand enough about AI to ask better questions, make better decisions, and avoid being dazzled by every shiny new tool.
So yes, upskilling matters, hiring for new capabilities matters, and talent strategies needs to evolve. I agree with all of that.
Where I Disagree
Where I disagree is with the idea that the answer is simply “hire AI talent” or “train everyone on AI.” That feels too narrow. It assumes the biggest gap inside companies is technical. I don’t think it is.
The bigger gap is judgment, adaptability, clarity, and communication. The bigger gap is leadership teams not knowing what they are actually trying to solve before they start adopting tools.
AI can make a clear company faster. It can also make a confused company chaotic.
If your decision rights are messy, AI will not fix that.
If your managers do not know how to deliver feedback, AI will not fix that.
If your team is unclear on priorities, AI will not fix that.
If your culture rewards speed over thoughtfulness, AI may actually make the problem worse.
That is the part of the AI talent conversation that feels underdeveloped to me.
The future does not belong only to people who know how to use AI. It belongs to people who know when to use it, when not to use it, what questions to ask, what risk to notice, and what human consequence to consider.
That is a very different talent strategy.
The Real Skill Is Discernment
The HBR report references the growing importance of human capabilities like creativity, intuition, discernment, empathy, ethical clarity, and wisdom. That is the part I think deserves more attention.
Because AI can generate.
AI can summarize.
AI can pattern match.
AI can accelerate.
But AI does not own the outcome. People do. Leaders do. Teams do.
That means companies need people who can look at an AI-generated answer and ask:
Is this true?
Is this useful?
Is this aligned with our values?
Is this good for our customers?
Is this legally or ethically risky?
Is this solving the real problem, or just making us feel productive?
And for small and midsize businesses, this may be the advantage. Large companies may be able to outspend smaller companies on AI talent. They may be able to hire specialists, build internal labs, and pay for expensive training programs. But smaller companies can move faster if they are clear. They can experiment faster, make decisions closer to the work, and build cultures where people are not just trained to use AI, but expected to think critically about it. That is the opportunity I hope all leaders see.
AI Will Expose Leadership Gaps
Here is the part leaders need to be honest about.
AI will not just change the work. It will expose the organization, unclear roles, weak managers, bloated processes, outdated job descriptions, whether people know how decisions get made, and whether the leadership team is actually aligned or just nodding in the same meeting.
This is why I believe AI strategy and people strategy cannot be separated.
Before leaders ask, “What AI skills do we need?” they should also ask:
What work actually matters here?
Where are we creating unnecessary friction?
What decisions are taking too long?
What should humans continue to own?
Where do we need better judgment, not just faster output?
What kind of leadership will this next version of the company require?
That is the conversation I want more founders and executive teams having. Not just “How do we adopt AI?” But “What kind of company are we becoming because of it?”
What I Tell Founders and CEOs
If you are leading a growing company, I would not start with a massive AI transformation plan.
Start smaller with more curiosity:
Identify the work. Where is AI already showing up? Where are employees quietly using it? Where could it reduce low-value manual work? Where could it create risk?
Identify the judgment points. Where does human discernment matter most? Customer communication? Hiring? Performance decisions? Compliance? Strategy? Creative work? Sensitive employee issues?
Build practical literacy. Do not make AI training abstract. Teach people how to use it in the actual flow of their work.
Update roles and expectations. If AI changes how work gets done, managers need to be clear about what good performance looks like now.
Strengthen leadership. The companies that win with AI will not just have better tools. They will have leaders who can create clarity, make decisions, build trust, and help people adapt without pretending everything is simple.
My Take
I agree that AI is rewriting the talent playbook.
I disagree that the new playbook should be centered only on AI skills.
The real playbook is about building companies where people can think clearly, adapt quickly, use tools responsibly, and make better decisions in a more complex environment.
AI may be the accelerant. But leadership is still the constraint.
At Tandem, we help founders and leadership teams build the clarity, structure, and people strategy required for the next stage of growth. If your company is trying to figure out what AI means for your people, your leaders, or the way work gets done, this is the conversation worth having.
