In enterprises in the forefront of agentic AI, a Team of 2-5 people supervises a team of 20-100 agents, according to McKinsey.
Every team will soon be a hybrid team consisting of Humans and AI.
As a manager, you’re facing a unique challenge: integrating AI not as a replacement for your people, but as a teammate that amplifies what humans do best. The leaders who thrive in the next five years won’t be those who know the most about AI technology, but those who know how to design collaboration between humans and AI, preserve what brings their teams joy, and build trust through transparency and co-creation .
This guide reveals the top 3 essential skills you need to lead Hybrid Power Teams where Humans and AI work together to deliver Top Performance.
1. Human-AI Workflow Design: Preserve Joy – Scale Impact
The most dangerous mistake in AI adoption is starting with the technology instead of the people. Effective workflow design begins with a simple but profound question: What brings your people joy in their work? Identify those elements and protect them fiercely.
Despite 70% of organisations using AI, only 40% report tangible return on investment. Most organisations deploy it in isolated, fragmented ways—chatbots, copilots, standalone tools. This creates local value but does not impact the bottom line.
Successful organisations instead design AI into end-to-end business workflows that directly affect revenue or cost. Typically they orchestrate AI agents (often 20–100 agents managed by compact 2–5 person teams), with one accountable business owner and one KPI linked to financial performance, transforming AI from experimentation into measurable returns.
Always start with a genuine business problem or inefficiency, define a clear outcome with one measurable KPI, and ensure your team collaboratively defines AI’s role as a team member in a transparent, co-creative process. This approach transforms AI from a threatening disruptor into a valued colleague.
PRACTICAL TIP
Map one workflow in your team this month. List every step, mark which ones drain energy versus spark joy, and identify where AI could remove friction without removing meaning. Share this map with your team and co-design the AI integration together. Ownership drives adoption.
2. Become an AI-Enabled Super Communicator
In a world where AI handles information processing, the leader’s role evolves: you must become a super communicator who builds human connection and inspires action. AI can dramatically improve the mechanics of leadership communication—helping you prepare meetings faster, summarize complex discussions, translate technical ideas for different audiences, and create clarity instead of information overload. But the goal isn’t to generate more content; it’s to free you to focus on what machines fundamentally cannot do: listen deeply, ask empowering questions, build genuine trust, and inspire people through the quality of your presence and attention.
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When used well, AI becomes a communication amplifier that handles the administrative burden so you can elevate the human elements—empathy, persuasion, storytelling, and relationship-building that drive commitment and action.
ACTION STEP
After your next team meeting, feed your notes into AI and ask it to create three outputs: a concise summary for leadership, a detailed action item list for your team, and talking points for stakeholders. Track the time saved—then reinvest that time in a meaningful conversation with someone on your team.
3. Build Trust and Psychological Safety: The Foundation of Hybrid Teams
AI fundamentally changes team dynamics, and the biggest obstacle isn’t technical—it’s trust. People fear being replaced, being monitored, or losing relevance as AI capabilities grow. These fears, if unaddressed, will sabotage even the most sophisticated AI implementation. The solution? Transparency, co-creation, and humanization of AI as a team member.
Leaders must be open about how AI is used, what decisions it informs, and most importantly, involve teams in defining the AI’s role. Trust isn’t optional in Hybrid Power Teams—it’s the foundation everything else is built on. When people trust that AI is a tool for their empowerment rather than their replacement, and when they help co-create its role, they engage creatively and bring their best thinking forward.
The Brian Story: A client of mine in the FMCG industry was implementing robotic process automation (RPA) to handle invoices, purchase orders, and document creation. Initially, there was significant fear that the new system would replace the people doing these tasks.
So we decided to humanize it. The team held a contest and named the robot “Brian,” after the Backstreet Boys. Then a small group created Brian’s role profile—what he would do, what he could and couldn’t do—and made it public for comments and feedback. It became a co-creation process.
When Brian went live, they threw a welcome party. Brian sent a message: “I’m not very smart right now, but with your patience, I promise to work 24/7 for you.” The fear transformed into collaboration.
After Brian’s success, they introduced “Doc Fred” for document management and “Kate” in product development. Each AI teammate got the same treatment: transparency, co-created role profiles, and human welcoming.
REFLECTION QUESTION
Are you being transparent about your AI integration plans? Could your team co-create the “role profile” of their AI teammates? What would change if you gave your AI tools names and welcomed them as colleagues rather than implementing them as systems?
