Leadership in the Age of Accelerated Everything

The world is changing faster than we realize.

We’re watching the AI landscape explode—language models, AGI, superintelligence, agentic workflows, embodied AI systems—and it’s easy to feel like we’re already behind. We hear this all the time from clients: “We know we need to act on AI, but we’re still figuring out how.”

Before diving into AI transformation, though, we have to work on knowledge management (see our previous post: We Are Our Own Biggest Barrier to AI Transformation). Knowledge management isn’t a software platform. It’s about how our minds work, how our workflows are structured, and how our organizations collaborate.

And the hard truth is: the human mind only has so much capacity for change.

In this post, we’ll explore why leaders need to move decisively when it comes to AI, but also empathetically—acknowledging the intense pace of transformation we’re all living through.

Our Capacity for Change Is Finite

Every person has limited cognitive bandwidth. Once we max that out creativity, collaboration, innovation, and stamina all begin to suffer.

Research on workplace AI tools and cognitive load shows a clear pattern: when people spend less time managing repetitive or administrative tasks, they free up capacity for more valuable work. Mental friction goes down, satisfaction goes up. But if change is too fast—or handled poorly—we don’t reap those benefits. We burn out instead.

And cognitive load doesn’t stay in neat little boxes. We don’t have one compartment for work, another for home, another for errands. It all blends together. If a person is spending too much energy figuring out how to navigate a new filesystem at work, or constantly context-switching between AI pilots, they’ll have less brainpower left for creativity, strategic thinking, or problem-solving.

The problem isn’t resistance. It’s overload.

The Past Five Years Have Reshaped Everything

Let’s take a breath and remember where we were in 2019.

Personally, I was commuting five days a week—45 minutes each way—to be in the office. New hire onboarding included a slide saying “Working from home is a privilege, not a right.” And yes, we were still using Skype for video calls.

Then came the pandemic. Suddenly, everything about how we live, work, and connect changed—overnight.

Do you remember this song? It captured a feeling so many of us were having

And those weren’t just emotional shifts. They were physical, too. According to Pew Research, 22% of U.S. adults moved—or knew someone who moved—due to COVID-19. Globally, the U.N. reported that international mobility slowed dramatically, with relocations upended by restrictions and economic uncertainty. Millions are still rebuilding local community, reestablishing school routines, restarting in-person rituals.

I would argue that we never had proper closure to the pandemic. 2021-22 was filled with memes of “I’ll know covid is over when there are free Costco samples again”, but when they came back we never paused to celebrate.

There was no final day when we said, “Okay, that’s it. The pandemic’s over.” Instead, the world just slowly moved on—without ever redefining what “normal” means now.

The Tech Changes Are Just as Massive

Technologically, the past five years have been a quantum leap.

We went from Google suggesting ends of sentences, to me literally speaking this blog outline into my phone while a conversational AI helps me flesh it out in real time.

Now? I ask 50 AI agents to each draft this post, simulate reactions from 200 hypothetical readers, and let the most resonant version rise to the top.

We jumped from targeting AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) to ASI (Artificial Superintelligence) in what feels like a blink. Sam Altman is talking seriously about the singularity--which used to be purely science fiction (his recent post is worth a read). We didn’t even pause to acknowledge—let alone celebrate—that we might’ve hit AGI-level behavior. The goalpost keeps moving.

If it feels like the technology world is accelerating under your feet, while you are still figuring out the layout of your new grocery store or trying out a new book club, you’re not alone.

The Next Five Years Belong to Bold AI Leaders

The companies that succeed in the next era won’t just “roll out Copilot.” They’ll rethink their core business functions through the lens of AI.

Some functions may not need overhaul. SaaS tools might cover what’s needed, or traditional workflows may still deliver. But even those systems will eventually be orchestrated by AI: scheduling, data flow, prioritization, coordination.

Even in highly regulated industries like healthcare, AI isn’t optional. It’s already here. The question isn’t if you adopt—it’s how well you lead through adoption.

But Bold Doesn’t Mean Reckless—Lead with Empathy

Now, let’s bring this full circle.

On top of pandemic trauma, social disruption, and cognitive overload, we’re asking people to reinvent how they work—all over again. It’s no wonder there’s resistance.

Let’s take a simple example. Imagine a small health clinic adds an AI chatbot to handle scheduling, billing, and intake. Fantastic efficiency gain. But now the front desk staff—who loved chatting with patients, building rapport—spend their day reviewing bot logs and checking dashboards. It’s a very different kind of work. Not better or worse—but different.

Here’s another one: At a mid-sized pharma consulting firm, analysts used to spend 2–3 hours doing deep literature reviews. Now an AI assistant does it in 30 minutes. It’s a win… until you realize those analysts also lost the learning curve, the expertise-building, the satisfaction of mastering complex content. The firm had to reimagine their roles: adding time for insight synthesis, mentoring, and client presentation, to keep the job fulfilling.

As a leader, you must act fast—but also see the human behind the role.

At Third Axis Consulting, We Lead Change with Empathy

Telling your team to adopt a new system, process, or knowledge platform isn’t just a tech upgrade. You’re asking people to think differently about their jobs.

That’s tough—and we help organizations face it head-on.

When employees fear AI will make them obsolete, we help leaders respond with transparency and clarity. When change feels abstract or overwhelming, we connect it to real problems and tangible wins—removing the parts of work people hate, not the parts that give them meaning.

If you haven’t yet, check out our post: Don’t Know Where to Start with AI? Begin with Your Worst Task. That’s our approach: solve real pain points first, then scale smartly.

AI transformation requires urgency. But the leaders who win won’t just be fast—they’ll be empathetic, too.

We’re here to help you become one of them.