Leadership Learning: Peer-Powered AI Adoption- Leadership Development Exchange
How do organizations build AI fluency among senior leaders when the technology is evolving faster than the playbook? As AI accelerates and workforce expectations shift, HR leaders are being asked to move leaders from curiosity to practical fluency—through peer-powered learning, mutual mentorship, and visible leadership modeling that connects learning to business outcomes.
Sarah Heller, Director of Organizational Effectiveness Consulting at Dolby and Leadership Development Exchange Member Lead, opened the discussion through the lens of wisdom work—drawing on insights from the 2026 i4cp Next Practices Now Conference session, Wisdom at Work: An Undervalued Strategic Asset, to reframe reverse mentoring as mutual mentorship and position learning as a strategic advantage in the age of AI.
Those ideas came to life through a Peer Spotlight from Bill Ryan, Vice President and Head of Learning & Development at Allianz Life, who shared how Allianz is building AI fluency at scale through a workforce transformation strategy that combines access, skills, peer learning, and leadership accountability.
Building on both research and practice, Kevin Wilde, Research Advisor at i4cp, challenged members to view AI adoption as a leadership learning challenge—exploring the barriers preventing senior leaders from building AI fluency, and the critical role of human judgment in an increasingly AI-enabled workplace.
Together, the discussion reinforced a central theme: successful AI adoption depends on creating the conditions for leaders to learn, experiment, and help others navigate change.
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