What TEDAI Vienna Confirmed: AI is not meant to replace Ingenuity, but to Amplify It.
One of the clearest takeaways I brought back from TEDAI Vienna was a radical shift in mindset.
The highest-level conversations about AI are no longer about code, algorithms, or the latest API. They are about human impact and leadership.
The fear of many SME directors is that AI will take control or force them to lay off staff. This is a logical concern if you only think of automation as replacement.
The Engineer vs. the Strategist
Think about this situation, very common in the legal or services sector:
You have a project manager or a lawyer who, due to their experience, is capable of making strategic decisions worth thousands of euros. However, that professional spends 40% of their week reviewing documents, comparing clauses, and creating drafts from scratch.
What is the problem? Their ingenuity and judgment are trapped by low-level work.
What resonated most with me in Vienna—and which is a critical point for my work with SMEs in Mallorca—is that AI does not replace your ingenuity. It comes to amplify it.
- Without AI: Your project manager takes 5 hours to prepare a key report.
- With AI: The AI tool generates 80% of the draft, synthesizes the data in 30 minutes, leaving the manager 4.5 hours to dedicate to critical thinking, personalizing the message, and making the correct strategic decision.
The AI did not make the decision; it gave the human the mental bandwidth to make it better and faster.
Putting the ‘Human’ at the Center of the Strategy
The future is not about ceding control to the machine, but about using these tools to unlock your talent’s potential.
When I design an AI Roadmap for a client, we always put the leader at the center:
- What High-Value (HV) decisions do you and your team make? (Those that require human judgment, empathy, vision.)
- What Low-Value (LV) tasks prevent you from dedicating yourself to HV tasks? (The repetitive tasks, synthesis, or detection.)
My focus is on using AI to absorb all those LV tasks, thereby freeing up your capacity for strategic work. This is not just efficiency; it is value creation and a way to retain your talent, giving them the opportunity to be truly strategic.
If you feel more like an administrator than a leader, it’s time to put AI to work so you can reclaim your time and your focus.