#266 AI in Leadership

Sweet Buzz - Scaling a Digital B2B Business With Dancho Dimkov

In this episode, I share my key takeaways from a conference in Armenia focused on AI in the consultancy world. What stood out the most was the discussion on AI digital employees—AI that’s no longer just a productivity tool like ChatGPT but is taking on actual employee roles with access to emails, reports, and even customer service. During the conference, I saw a live demo where an AI receptionist handled a full conversation and booked a reservation, which shows how far AI has already come. Beyond that, we explored the idea of AI in leadership—how AI could eventually manage teams or even run companies. As I pursue my PhD in leadership and behavioral management, I’m excited to see if AI can lead a startup. This episode is all about looking at how AI is moving beyond basic tasks and getting ready to disrupt leadership as we know it. Transcript: Hello, everybody, how’s it going? I just returned from a trip to Yerevan, Armenia, and I had some really interesting impressions from the conference I attended. The conference was focused on AI and the consultancy world, and while I shared my insights on AI, I was blown away by some of the other speakers and what they had to say. The discussions weren’t just about how AI will evolve in 20 to 30 years—that’s just speculative. What really caught my attention were the insights on what’s happening with AI right now, and let me tell you, it was eye-opening. Today, I want to talk about the three levels of AI involvement in business that were discussed at the conference, and it got me thinking about how AI is changing leadership, especially with what I’m focusing on in my PhD. Right now, the first level of AI involvement is pretty common—we’re all using AI tools like ChatGPT to be more productive. I use it myself for everything from content writing to data analytics. AI as a tool is a huge productivity booster, and this is where most businesses are right now. The second level is where things get really interesting: AI as a digital employee. We’re not talking about ChatGPT just spitting out text based on a prompt anymore. AI is now becoming an actual employee. It has access to email, LinkedIn, the internet, reporting systems—it’s doing real tasks that a human would typically do. I was skeptical at first, but then one of the speakers at the conference did a live demo where he called a restaurant that uses an AI receptionist. The AI picked up, handled the reservation, discussed menu options, and had a full human-like conversation. That’s no longer theoretical—that’s happening now. The third level that blew my mind is the potential for AI to take on leadership roles. This is still in the future, but we’re not far off from AI assisting with decision-making, strategic planning, and even team management. As I explore leadership and behavioral management in my PhD, I’m starting to wonder if AI could fully run a startup. What if we start a new company, let an AI handle the hiring and day-to-day operations, and see what happens? I’m convinced it would work, and even more, I think young professionals might prefer to be managed by AI over humans, as AI provides transparent and unbiased management. This isn’t a sci-fi movie plot—it’s the future of business. With AI digital employees and potential AI leadership, companies can scale faster than ever before. Imagine running multiple businesses with AI CEOs working 24/7, no holidays, no breaks, just pure productivity. This is where we’re heading, and I’m excited to dive deeper into this through my doctoral research.