AJ Thomas on Redefining Leadership for the AI Era
AJ Thomas on Redefining Leadership for the AI Era
Artificial intelligence is changing how we work, live, and connect. But while conversations about AI often focus on technology — algorithms, automation, efficiency — the bigger question may be this: what kind of leaders will guide us through this transformation?
AJ Thomas, Founder and CEO ofThe Troublemaker Laband General Partner ofGood Trouble Ventures, believes the AI revolution is not just about machines. It is about people. And it demands a new model of leadership that blends creativity, courage, and humanity.
Beyond Efficiency: The Human Question
For decades, leadership models have been shaped by efficiency. How do we move faster? How do we cut costs? How do we out-perform competitors? AI promises to supercharge these questions: to automate repetitive work, analyze massive datasets, and optimize processes beyond what humans can manage.
But AJ argues that this obsession with efficiency misses the point. “The question is not justwhatAI can do,” she often tells founders, “butwhowe will become as we use it.”
Her perspective comes from years at the intersection of technology and human systems. At Google X, the Moonshot Factory, she led human experience design, helping engineers and scientists build cultures that could sustain radical innovation. Now, throughThe Troublemaker Lab, she works with leaders navigating the very real challenges of building AI-enabled companies without eroding trust, creativity, or wellbeing.
The Old Playbook Is Breaking
Traditional leadership often relies on command-and-control models: leaders set the direction, employees execute, and technology supports. But in an AI-enabled workplace, that hierarchy fractures. Algorithms surface new insights, teams collaborate across borders and time zones, and decision-making is distributed in real time.
If leaders cling to the old playbook, they risk creating fear and confusion. Workers may feel replaced rather than empowered. Customers may feel surveilled rather than served. Innovation may stall under the weight of mistrust.
AJ has seen these dynamics firsthand. “AI can either widen the gap between leaders and teams, or it can create new possibilities for connection,” she says. “The difference comes down to how leaders show up.”
When AI Meets Culture
One of AJ’s core beliefs is that technology does not exist in a vacuum. Every new tool is embedded in culture, and every decision about how to use AI is also a decision about values.
This is why she pays attention not only to what companies are building, but how they are building it. Are they designing AI systems that reinforce equity and trust? Are they creating space for creativity, or simply automating it away? Are they scaling in a way that strengthens their culture, or erodes it?
For AJ, culture is not a “soft” concern. It is the soil from which sustainable innovation grows. “If leaders do not tend to culture in the AI era, they will end up with efficient companies that nobody wants to be part of,” she warns.
A Different Lens on Venture
ThroughGood Trouble Ventures, AJ applies this lens to investing. While many funds prioritize technical advantage, she looks for founders who are thinking about cultural impact as well.
This means asking questions like: How does your AI product change the way people relate to each other? What unintended consequences might arise from your technology? How will you ensure that your culture keeps pace with your code?
Her approach challenges a venture ecosystem often focused on short-term returns. But AJ believes the long-term winners in AI will be the companies that put humanity at the center of their strategy.
Leadership for the Brave, Not the Perfect
If there is one theme that runs through AJ’s work, it is bravery. She does not expect leaders to have all the answers about AI. She expects them to have the courage to ask the right questions, to admit what they do not know, and to engage their teams in co-creating the future.
This is not easy. It requires humility in a culture that often rewards certainty. It requires vulnerability in industries that prize control. And it requires imagination at a moment when many leaders feel overwhelmed by change.
But AJ’s own journey proves that courage and imagination can turn struggle into strength.
The Future of Leadership
The AI era will not just test our technologies. It will test our leadership. The companies that thrive will not be those with the most powerful algorithms, but those with leaders who are willing to rethink what power even means.
ForAJ Thomas, this is the opportunity of a lifetime: to redefine leadership in a way that blends creativity, technology, and humanity. To show that braver leadership is possible. And to remind us that even in a world of machines, it is still people who write the future.