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Most organizations are treating AI like a technical problem. Buy the tools, run the training, deploy the pilots, declare progress. That approach works when the problem is clear and the solution already exists. AI is not that. It changes what expertise means, who holds authority, how work gets defined, and what people believe they are good at. Those are adaptive challenges, and they require learning, not implementation. Ronald Heifetz drew the line between technical and adaptive work decades ago, and the distinction has never mattered more. Average corporate tenure on the S&P 500 has fallen from 33 years in 1965 to a forecast 12 years by 2027. The status quo is no longer a safe harbor. It is an accumulating risk, and in an AI-driven market it accumulates fast.

 

This session gives project leaders a practical framework for leading through that reality. You will learn to diagnose whether the AI challenge in front of you is technical, adaptive, or both, and why misdiagnosing it is the most common reason change efforts stall. You will work through the loss people actually experience when AI enters their work: loss of competence, status, certainty, identity, and belonging. Resistance is not irrational, it is loss aversion, and it is measurable. You will practice the four moves adaptive leaders make, including regulating the level of tension so your team stays in productive distress instead of sliding into avoidance or panic. You will leave with a self-assessment on unlearning, because what made you effective before AI does not guarantee your effectiveness after it.

David Mantica serves as Managing Director for SoftEd US. Fueled by his passion for developing empowered knowledge workers, he helps companies develop their teams through training and coaching, equipping them with today’s critical skills needed to work effectively in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. Drawing from his experience in successfully building a B2B training firm, growing it from scratch to $13M in seven years. David speaks and shares his insights and tactics on the impact of technology on leadership and management. His work at SoftEd helps organizations not only cope but thrive even with the ever-changing demands and complexities of modern business.

With over 30 years of experience and more than 1000 speaking engagements, he inspires better work practices in marketing, product management, project management, software development, executive management, and other key areas of technology and business operations. David’s home base is Raleigh-Durham, NC. From here he provides consulting to business owners here and worldwide. Driven by his love for helping people grow while maintaining their mental health, he also mentors several rising executive leaders, providing pro bono career coaching services that utilize his career insurance methodology. David is well known for his Manticaisms, a unique ability to refine or as he might say butcher the English language. His playful demeanor and style attracts and humanizes us all.