Last year when I interviewed Asana CEO Dan Rogers, the dominant conversation around AI was “humans in the loop,” offering some sort of reassurance that humans would remain involved in the AI implementation and deployment process, and that human job titles would still remain.

But in 2026, that conversation has evolved away from making humans part of the process, and more into making humans front and center. Rather than supervising robots, the question is a matter of who’s leading them, and how.

When we think about AI trends, we’re most likely to consider developments like agentic AI or vibe coding, both of which picked up steam in 2025. But this year, the most critical AI trend has everything to do with who’s in charge, more than technological advancements themselves.

That’s what Accenture CEO Julie Sweet pointed out at Davos last week in the annual World Economic Forum convention, where she told Axios’ Mike Allen:

“I want to be super clear. The future of AI and companies is human in the lead.” When Allen interrupted to clarify that she didn’t mean human-in-the-loop, she explained:

“I think the human in the loop has been a huge disservice because companies are led by humans. Leaders at all levels will have more technology that they’re managing and fewer humans,” Sweet said.

Referencing back in 2015 when RPA (robotic process automation) was introduced, she said that one thing does not change, regardless of how technology evolves: “Companies are led by humans and they will win by tapping into human creativity. And I think we have to actually get rid of that narrative because it’s not inspiring to people to be a human in the loop.”

It’s not inspiring to people to be a “human-in-the-loop.”

Sweet’s conclusions hail a new era of leadership and human resource management, one that is shaped by viewing humans as the most critical and significant resource a company has, and investing in them as such, rather than getting so carried away by jumping on the automation bandwagon that humans are dehumanized in HR processes and their careers are left to suffer.

Sweet’s Davos statement also echoes what Coursera uncovered in their newly released Job Skills Report 2026, which always coincides with the WEF Davos meeting. “As AI automates technical tasks, human skills grow more valuable,” they said. Coursera’s findings revealed, amongst other things (the below bullet points are quoted directly from Coursera):

As AI automates routine analytical tasks, the value of human cognitive skills has escalated.
Critical Thinking is the #2 fastest-growing skill for learners in the Data cohort, with an extraordinary 168% year-over-year enrollment growth (for Coursera enterprise learners).
This trend is reinforced by massive growth in related human-led validation skills. Enrollments in Data Quality—the process of ensuring data is correct and consistent—grew by 108% year-over-year, while Data Cleansing—the process of identifying and correcting errors—grew by 103%.
This all points to the growing importance of Data-Driven Decision-Making (up 126% year-over-year), where professionals apply judgment to turn raw data into strategic insights.
A 2025 Microsoft Research study found that GenAI shifts the nature of critical thinking toward information verification and response integration.
As AI automates analysis, the ability to validate this output has become an increasingly important human skill. The data professional’s role is evolving into that of a high-level auditor, responsible for spotting flawed assumptions and applying the contextual business understanding that machines lack.

What This AI Trend Means For Leaders

For humans to truly be in the lead, three things need to happen:

1. Leaders/Managers Must Empower & Enable Humans

Managers and business leaders need to move away from viewing humans as a resource to manage, and instead of command and control, move towards human-centered, servant leadership and coaching styles. This empowers your team to take ownership, develop a growth mindset, and refine their critical thinking skills, more than telling your team what to do in the traditional “boss” sense.

2. Leaders Must View Teams As More Than A Cost

If your humans are more valuable and important to the growth of your business than AI (which they are) then you need to view them differently. This means treating your teams with empathy and ensuring your communication reflects active listening and empathy. For example, if you have to make the difficult decision to lay off a fraction of your workforce, how this decision is communicated, and the career support that is offered, makes all the difference, instead of keeping employees in the dark and coldly informing them at the last minute.

3. Leaders Must Embed Critical Thinking Skills Into L&D

Critical thinking exercises, skill-building workshops, and team brainstorming sessions and masterclasses must make critical thinking an integral component. This needs to show up in AI training and awareness sessions, and be a competency that is modelled by managers and leaders as well.

There’s nothing inspiring about being a human in the loop anymore

getty

So with that, welcome to the new trend defining AI in the workplace in 2026: ”Human in the Lead.”

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