AI Fluency: The Skill Every Leader Needs Now

In this episode of The John Eades Podcast, I sit down with Charlene Li, author of Winning with AI , to unpack one of the biggest shifts leaders are facing right now. Not just how to use AI… but what it means for your role, your team, and your identity. At one point, Charlene tested AI against her own thinking. The results were uncomfortable. The AI was 80% as good as her. That moment forced a deeper question. If AI can do most of what you do… what actually makes you valuable? We talk about what AI really is, why so many leaders are either overestimating or underestimating it, and what it actually means to become "AI fluent." This isn't a conversation about tools. It's a conversation about how leadership is changing. In this episode, we cover: What AI is and how to explain it simply Why AI feels helpful… even when it's wrong The concept of "AI fluency" and why every leader needs it The fear employees have about working themselves out of a job How leaders should think about managing people and AI agents The difference between what AI can do and what only humans can do Why this moment is more about identity than technology You can grab Charlene's book here: Winning with AI If you're leading a team right now, this is not something you can ignore. Because the leaders who win won't just use AI. They'll understand how to think differently because of it.

You can listen to AI Fluency: The Skill Every Leader Needs Now online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

AI Fluency: The Skill Every Leader Needs Now is an episode from Follow My Lead: Developing the Leaders of Tomorrow with John Eades by John Eades.

This episode is 35:52 long.

This episode was published on Apr 8, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Follow My Lead: Developing the Leaders of Tomorrow with John Eades when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.