Navigating AI’s Rapid Evolution: Why Leaders Need to Keep the Human Conversation Alive

In this episode of the Leaders Who Coach™ Podcast, I speak with Darcy Peters, Senior Customer Advocacy Manager at Buffer, about leadership, remote teams, AI and the discipline of staying human when everything is moving quickly.

Darcy brings a fascinating mix of experience: leadership in the US Marine Corps, entrepreneurship, customer advocacy, remote team leadership and now the fast-moving world of AI. What comes through so clearly is her people-first approach. Even with new tools, new systems and new ways of working, the human connection still matters.

Perhaps even more now.

Leading with humility, even when you hold the title

Darcy shares a powerful reflection from her time in the US Marine Corps. As a young officer, she was technically the person in charge, but many of the people she led had far more experience than she did.

That required humility.

It meant understanding the role she held, while also respecting the expertise around her. She may have known how the organisational pieces were meant to fit together, but others knew the detail, the lived experience and the realities of the work.

That connects beautifully with coach-leadership. Because leadership is not always about being the person who knows most. Often, it is about creating the conditions for the right people to contribute what they know.

Remote teams still need real connection

Darcy describes Buffer as a globally distributed, remote team, where connection has to be created with intention. There are asynchronous conversations, Slack messages, Zoom calls, customer insights, weekly prompts and simple check-ins that help people stay connected as humans, not just as colleagues moving work forward.

That matters.

Because in remote teams, connection does not happen accidentally in quite the same way. Leaders need to create rhythms where people can share what they are noticing, what feels difficult, what customers are experiencing and what may need more attention.

Sometimes that starts with someone saying:

  • “I don’t know if this is anything, but I noticed…”

And that small observation can open up something important.

AHA moment: AI is moving conversations from approval to masterminding

One of the strongest insights in this episode is how AI is changing the way people bring problems into conversations.

Darcy explains that team members are no longer always waiting for a meeting to raise a question from scratch. Instead, they may use AI to explore the problem first, test some thinking, identify gaps and arrive with possible options.

That changes the conversation. Instead of starting from approval, the conversation can start from masterminding. The person is not simply asking, “Can I do this?”

They are bringing context, options and early thinking to the table. They may have explored an ideal option, a middle-ground option and a minimum viable option, which allows the conversation to move faster and become more useful. That is a significant leadership shift. It means people can arrive with more confidence, more preparation and more ownership.

Keep the brain switched on

AI can be incredibly useful, but Darcy is very clear that leaders and teams still need critical thinking.

The tool may offer ideas.
It may organise information.
It may help someone get unstuck.
It may speed up a workflow.

But it is not the final authority. There may still be missing context, blind spots or questions that only another human in the team can raise.

That is why coach-leadership matters in AI-enabled work. Leaders need to help people challenge the output, notice the gaps and ask:

  • “What else might be true?”

  • “What has not been considered?”

  • “Where could this break down?”

  • “What human judgement still needs to sit around this?”

The technology may support the thinking. But it should not replace discernment.

AI can create focus, but it can also create distraction

There is a lovely honesty in the conversation about how exciting AI can be.

There is always something new to test.
Something else to build.
Another possible improvement.
Another rabbit hole.

Darcy describes the need to keep coming back to the work that has already been agreed. The priorities still matter. The quarterly or half-year planning still matters. The commitments the team has made still matter.

That does not mean there is no room to experiment. It means experimentation needs a place. Leaders need to help people stay open to new possibilities without losing focus on what they have committed to deliver. That is not always easy.

It requires discipline from leaders and from team members.

Shared learning reduces the fear of not knowing

One of the most encouraging parts of Buffer’s approach is the way learning around AI is shared. Darcy talks about team members helping each other, sharing skills, creating common ground, offering training and forming an AI champions network where people can ask questions, explore ideas and learn together.

That is important because AI can easily trigger the feeling that everyone else is ahead.

People may feel they should already know more.
They may feel embarrassed to ask.
They may feel pressure to look more confident than they feel.

A shared learning culture changes that.

It makes it safer to say:

  • “I don’t know.”

  • “Has anyone tried this?”

  • “Can someone help me think this through?”

That kind of openness is not a nice extra. In a fast-changing environment, it becomes essential.

Coaching skills help leaders listen for the knots

Darcy shares that she uses coaching skills most in one-to-one conversations and reflection spaces with team members. Those conversations create room to ask what someone enjoyed, what they are proud of, what felt successful, what has been challenging and what support might be needed. In a fast-moving environment, people can easily move past the small clues.

They might say, “I got stuck there,” and then carry on. A coach-leader notices that.

They slow the conversation down and ask:

  • “You mentioned you got stuck there. Can we come back to that?”

That is often where the useful conversation begins. Because under the pace, productivity and problem-solving, there may be a knot. A pressure point. A moment where someone felt unsure, frustrated or less confident than they wanted to admit.

Leaders need to listen for those moments.

Growth plans need care and accountability

Towards the end of the conversation, Darcy reflects on one of her biggest growth moments as a leader: supporting people who are struggling to meet the expectations of their role. Her approach is both caring and clear.

It is about seeing the person beyond the surface. Understanding what they are passionate about. Helping them see their own value. And at the same time, creating a tight feedback loop around what is holding them back. That is such an important balance.

It is not all soft and fluffy.

People still need clarity.
They still need feedback.
They still need accountability.
They still need to understand what is required of them.

But if someone feels terrible about themselves, it becomes much harder for them to grow. So the leader’s role is to hold both: belief in the person and honesty about what needs to change.

Final reflection

This conversation with Darcy is a reminder that AI may be moving quickly, but leadership still asks something deeply human from us.

It asks us to listen.
To notice what people are not saying.
To create connection in remote teams.
To help people think before they ask for approval.
To encourage experimentation without losing focus.
To make learning safe when nobody has all the answers.

AI can help people move faster.But leaders still need to create the conditions for people to move wisely. And in a world where the tools are changing all the time, that ability to stay grounded, connected and curious may be one of the most important leadership skills we can practise.