Leadership in the Age of AI: Mastering Presence When Performance Isn't Enough

Leadership in the Age of AI: Mastering Presence When Performance Isn't Enough
Andrew Sillitoe Leadership Educator and CEO ConfidantI

I help leadership teams stay human in an increasingly automated world.

My journey started on roller skates—street hockey led me to become Head Coach for Team Great Britain Inline Hockey, where I learned a critical lesson: tactics weren't enough. When everything was on the line, my players didn't need another strategy. They needed me to be fully present.

That insight launched me into consulting with global organisations—Pfizer, Ericsson, BBC, AXA—coaching C-suite executives across continents.

On paper, I'd made it. But the higher I climbed, the further I drifted from what mattered most.

I was teaching presence while being completely absent from my own life.

The breakdown that followed became the breakthrough. I rebuilt from the ground up, and through that process, nine timeless traits emerged—not from theory, but from necessity:

Inner Foundation: Presence, Clarity, Stillness
Relational Leadership: Listening, Discernment, Conversation
Sustainable Impact: Integration, Service, Renewal

These aren't productivity hacks. They're survival skills for leaders navigating the age of AI.

Because here's what I've learned working with leadership teams around the world: AI will handle the optimisation, the analysis, the efficiency. But it will never sit with someone in grief. It will never feel when something's off in a conversation. It will never tell you what your life is actually for.

The leaders who thrive in this new era won't be the ones who out-think the machines. They'll be the ones who out-human them.

I now work from Prague, bringing these principles to leadership teams who are asking the same question I asked in JFK Terminal 4 when I realised I hadn't spoken to my children in days:

Who am I when I'm not performing?

If your leadership team is navigating the tension between performance and presence, between AI-driven efficiency and human connection, between outward success and inner sustainability—let's talk.

Because you can't sustain what you can't embody.


What I bring to leadership teams:

  • Executive coaching and leadership development
  • Team retreats focused on sustainable performance
  • Frameworks for leading with presence in the age of AI
  • Integration of high performance with human wellbeing

Let's connect if you're interested in:

  • Bringing sustainable leadership practices to your organization
  • Executive coaching for senior leaders
  • Speaking engagements on leadership in the age of AI
  • Leadership team retreats and development programs