The AI Paradox

AI is no longer at the margins of work—it's at the core. From recruitment to performance reviews, from automating tasks to generating insights, AI systems are transforming how we work. Yet the more AI advances, the more essential human competencies become.

While many conversations nowadays focus on technical upskilling and AI literacy, these are not the most pressing challenges. The deeper transformation we face is human: How do we, as professionals and leaders, think and act strategically in a world that is volatile, complex, and automated?

In this article, I make the case that strategic human capabilities—not just technical skills—are key to thriving in the future of work. And that we need to start treating strategic thinking as a baseline competency, not a leadership luxury.

This view aligns with recent global research. For instance, the World Economic Forum (2025)1 forecasts a sharp increase in demand for self-management, cognitive, and leadership skills, alongside technology use. Meanwhile, McKinsey (2021)2 underscores the accelerating need for workforce adaptability, and the OECD (2019)3 positions transformative competencies like agency, responsibility, and reflective thinking as central to 21st-century learning.

AI is amplifying this need. It is automating routine tasks and surfacing new uncertainties—, forcing professionals to re-evaluate what makes their contribution truly valuable. The emerging answer is this: human strategic capability—the ability to understand complexity, create direction, align others, deliver under pressure, and evolve.

Strategy is a Human Skill—Not Just a Corporate One

We live in an age of accelerated disruption. AI is one driver, but it's not alone. Economic instability, geopolitical shifts, climate crises, and changing workforce expectations are all reshaping work at every level. The context in which people operate today is more complex, faster-moving, and less predictable than ever before.

In this environment, traditional expertise and technical proficiency—while still important—are no longer sufficient. What’s needed is the ability to anticipate change, make informed judgments amid uncertainty, influence diverse stakeholders, and shift direction when necessary. These are not just leadership qualities. They are foundational competencies for anyone operating in dynamic systems.

Strategic competency involves seeing patterns, asking the right questions, and discerning where to focus effort. It also includes choosing when not to act, identifying leverage points, and understanding timing and context. Crucially, it bridges insight and impact—it is both analytical and pragmatic.

Importantly, strategy competency is not the same as hierarchical authority. Employees at any level can display strategy competency. In fact, some of the most valuable contributions come from individuals closest to the problem, who spot opportunities, navigate tensions, and propose timely adjustments. 

In short, strategy is not a plan. It is a way of thinking and acting. When distributed broadly, it becomes a muscle that organizations can rely on in turbulent times. And as AI continues to automate routine tasks, this muscle—strategic human capability— will only grow in importance.

The Big 5 of Strategy: A Framework for the AI Age

To meet this need, we at Strategy.Inc developed the Big 5 of Strategy: a research-based competency framework that defines what it means to be strategically competent—for anyone, at any level. The framework rests on two fundamental dimensions:

• Thinking vs. Doing: Are you more oriented toward analysis and understanding, or action and implementation?
• Stabilizing vs. Transforming: Do you focus on maintaining continuity, or enabling change and innovation?

Together with a third dimension—Learning and Renewal—these form a dynamic model of strategic human performance, comprising five core strategy competencies:

1. Grasp the Present — Make sense of complex, changing environments.
   This involves gathering and synthesizing information, identifying patterns, interpreting signals, and applying structured thinking. Grasp is about clarity in ambiguity.
2. Shape the Future — Design value-creating strategies and direction.
   Shape enables vision and intentionality. It means imagining possible futures, spotting leverage points, and translating insight into coherent strategy.
3. Move the System — Mobilize and align others to act.
   Move is the social dimension of strategy. It includes building alignment, negotiating interests, inspiring confidence, and navigating conflict between various stakeholders.
4. Deliver the Results — Execute decisively amid constraints.
   Deliver requires action planning and follow-through. It means converting plans into outcomes, adjusting course, and maintaining momentum despite competing demands.
5. Adapt to Change — Learn continuously and renew over time.
   Adapt is the capability to learn proactively and faster than the environment changes. It relies on reflection, humility, and the ability to course-correct based on feedback.

Together, these competencies define a modern strategic mindset: one that is analytical, creative, relational, action-oriented, and deeply learning-driven. And unlike traditional strategy training, the Big 5 offers a behavioral, flexible, and scalable framework for individual growth.

How the Big 5 differs from other Frameworks

The world of professional development and HR is filled with frameworks—from personality models to leadership assessments. Many, such as MBTI, DISC, CliftonStrengths, Korn Ferry competencies, OCEAN, and Hogan, have provided valuable insights into individual traits, interpersonal styles, and leadership behaviors.

The Big 5 of Strategy is complementary to these tools, but distinct in focus. Rather than centering on personality preferences or broad potential indicators, it zeroes in on the strategic behaviors that drive impact in dynamic, uncertain environments.

Unlike MBTI and DISC, which emphasize personal style, or OCEAN and Hogan, which focus on stable personality traits, the Big 5 is grounded in observable competencies that can be cultivated through deliberate practice. CliftonStrengths and Korn Ferry are closer in orientation—they also offer developmental pathways—but the Big 5 differs in its specific attention to how people understand, shape, and execute strategy in today’s global conditions.

In short: 

• Behavior, not traits—what people actually do under complexity.
• Integrative—linking cognitive, social, and action-oriented skills.
• Research-backed—predictive of career success and applicable across roles.

For HR professionals, this means the Big 5 provides a targeted, practical, and scalable approach to developing one of the most critical capabilities in the modern workforce.

In doing so, it provides a practical foundation for building strategic capacity at scale.

A Strategic Use Case: The Big 5 in Action

Consider an HR director at a global manufacturing firm navigating the impact of AI-driven transformation. Automation was reshaping workflows, AI tools were being deployed in operations, and employee uncertainty was growing. Talent retention was down, leadership bench strength was unclear, and change fatigue was rising across teams.

Rather than launching another engagement survey, the HR director turned to the Big 5 of Strategy framework and its accompanying assessment to diagnose and strengthen strategic capacity across the organization—recognizing that long-term success with AI would depend not just on technical adoption, but on human adaptability and strategic alignment.

The HR team rolled out the Big 5 assessment to 120 managers across functions and geographies. The data revealed a pattern: while operational execution (Deliver) was strong, there were critical gaps in adaptive thinking (Adapt), strategic envisioning (Shape), and cross-boundary influence (Move)—all vital for leading in an AI-enabled world.

Using these insights, the HR team co-designed a targeted development track—combining workshops, peer dialogue, and on-the-job challenges aligned to the Big 5. They embedded the competencies into leadership models, 360s, and succession planning. Within months, teams reported greater clarity, ownership, and alignment in navigating AI-related transitions.

Most importantly, strategic capability became a shared language—used by managers and executives alike to frame decisions and lead change. What began as an assessment turned into a cultural shift: from reactive execution to proactive, future-ready leadership.

Evidence in Practice: What 1,200 Professionals Told Us

To validate the Big 5 framework, we conducted a large-scale study with over 1,200 professionals across roles and industries4. The results were striking.

First, we found that the Big 5 explain 47% of the variance in subjective career success. This means people who score higher on these competencies are significantly more likely to report feeling effective, influential, and fulfilled in their careers.

Second, we found clear developmental trends: executives score higher than managers, who score higher than employees. This pattern strongly reinforces the relevance of the Big 5 competencies: those who hold more complex, strategic roles demonstrate higher capability across all five dimensions.

Finally, the Big 5 outperformed several well-known models in explaining career success. While frameworks like OCEAN, Growth Mindset, Learning Agility, and years of experience all matter, none matched the explanatory power of the Big 5 of Strategy.

Implications for Organizations and HR

The shift toward strategic human competence carries broad implications not just for individuals, but for the entire HR function and organizational leadership.

First, it requires a fundamental rethinking of what constitutes talent. Traditional performance reviews and development plans often emphasize functional delivery or leadership potential, but may overlook a person’s ability to operate strategically across shifting contexts. The Big 5 framework offers a new lens through which to view potential—not just as raw ability, but as demonstrated adaptability, sensemaking, and initiative in complexity.

Second, learning and development strategies must evolve. Standard leadership programs, often based on static competencies or managerial behaviors, are no longer enough. Organizations need development experiences that foster exploration, ambiguity tolerance, collaborative problem solving, and personal reinvention—especially outside formal leadership tracks.

Third, workforce planning and succession management must incorporate strategic capacity. Instead of promoting based only on performance in stable roles, HR should ask: who is equipped to learn fast, handle paradox, and co-create future directions? These are the leaders who will thrive in tomorrow’s unpredictable terrain.

Finally, this shift requires a cultural reset. Strategic capacity grows best in cultures where experimentation is rewarded, failure is viewed as learning, and employees are trusted with autonomy. HR plays a central role in shaping these conditions—not through programs alone, but through systems of recognition, incentives, and accountability that align with strategic behavior.

From Insight to Action: What HR Can Do Right Now

The research points to a clear opportunity: building strategic capacity across the workforce.

Here are five steps HR can take:

1. Diagnose Strategic Readiness
   Use assessments to map where individuals and teams stand across the Big 5 competencies. Identify strengths and gaps.
2. Develop Strategically at All Levels
   Integrate Big 5 competencies into leadership and learning programs—not just for executives, but across levels and for early-career talent too.
3. Design for Learning and Renewal
   Build workflows and feedback loops that promote reflection, iteration, and growth. Strategy requires continual adjustment.
4. Empower Managers as Strategy Coaches
   Equip managers to recognize and cultivate strategic thinking in their teams.
5. Embed Strategy in Culture
   Make the language of the Big 5 part of how you evaluate performance, run meetings, and define success.

This is not about layering complexity onto existing HR practices. It’s about reorienting development around what matters most in a world of constant change.

The Strategic Human Advantage

AI is advancing fast. But our ability to use it wisely, align it with human values, and adapt to its impact—that is a strategic human skill.

Future success won't depend on being the most technically skilled, but on being the most strategically adaptive. Strategic thinking is no longer a 'nice-to-have' reserved for senior leadership—it is a foundational capability for navigating an AI-enabled world.

Organizations that cultivate these competencies will gain not just agility but coherence—able to align purpose with action, and adapt without losing direction. HR plays a central role in embedding these skills across the employee lifecycle, from hiring and onboarding to development and succession.

The message is clear: building strategic human capability is the most human way to future-proof your organization. And it's also the smartest way to ensure that technology serves your people, not the other way around. If we want a human-centred future of work, we must empower people not just to survive AI’s disruption—but to lead through it.

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References

1. World Economic Forum. (2025). The Future of Jobs Report 2025. https://www.weforum.org/publications/future-of-jobs-2025/
2. McKinsey & Company. (2021). The future of work after COVID-19. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/the-future-of-work-after-covid-19
3. OECD. (2019). OECD Learning Compass 2030. https://www.oecd.org/education/2030-project/
4. Kraaijenbrink, J. & Tiryaki, T. (2025). The Future of Skills: Comprehensive Research Report, Strategy.Inc (forthcoming)