Great organisations matter, and lasting impact happens across systems.
Liz Dean, Principal Consultant in our Not for Profit Practice, in conversation with Sarah Luxford, Partner in our Digital, Data & Technology practice, explore together why curiosity is becoming a critical governance skill, how organisations can build confidence and capability in an increasingly digital world, and what leaders must do to balance innovation, accountability and human connection.
The challenges facing communities today are bigger than any one organisation can solve alone. Rising demand, growing inequalities, financial pressures and increasingly complex health and care needs require a different kind of leadership. One that looks beyond organisational boundaries and focuses on collaboration, outcomes and collective impact. In this edition of ‘Changing Systems’, we explore the leadership capabilities organisations need to thrive in an era of rapid technological change. While technology is often viewed as a solution in its own right, real impact comes from something deeper: leaders who are curious, adaptable and capable of bringing people, organisations and systems together around a shared purpose. From boardroom digital fluency and AI governance to workforce capability and innovation in health and care, this conversation explores how digital transformation can help organisations deliver better outcomes, provided people remain at the centre of the conversation. Together, we explore why curiosity is becoming a critical governance skill, how organisations can build confidence and capability in an increasingly digital world, and what leaders must do to balance innovation, accountability and human connection.
Liz: What’s the biggest leadership challenge facing organisations in an age of rapid technological change?
“The pace of technology is now outstripping the pace of organisational learning, and that’s not a technology challenge. It’s a leadership challenge.”
Sarah: Organisations are dealing with rising demand, constrained resources, workforce pressures and, at the same time, extraordinary technological change. One of the biggest challenges is that the pace of technology is now outstripping the pace of organisational learning. New tools, platforms and capabilities are emerging constantly, but many organisations are struggling to keep pace in terms of leadership understanding, workforce capability and governance. This makes the challenge fundamentally about leadership. Organisations cannot simply recruit their way through change. The skills they need are evolving too quickly. Leaders need to be curious, adaptable and comfortable saying, “I don’t know, help me understand.” Increasingly, leadership is about creating the conditions where others can bring expertise and insight to the table. The ability to learn, ask good questions and lead through ambiguity is becoming just as important as technical expertise. Organisations need to invest as deliberately in leadership capability as they do in technology itself. While significant resources are often dedicated to technical teams, leaders and boards now need the confidence, understanding and judgement to navigate an increasingly digital world.
Liz: What does effective leadership look like when nobody has all the answers?
“Leadership today is less about having the answer and more about creating the conditions for others to find it.”
Sarah: Earlier in our careers, we are often rewarded for having the answers. As we move into more senior leadership roles, success becomes less about being the expert in the room and more about creating the conditions for others to succeed. The strongest leaders are deeply curious. They are prepared to ask, “Who knows more about this than I do?” and then give those people the space to contribute. Technology, AI and society are changing too quickly for any one individual to keep pace with everything. Good leadership today requires judgement, learning agility and the confidence to draw on expertise from across an organisation. Those qualities can be harder to identify than technical competence or sector experience, but they are often the attributes that determine success. Increasingly, organisations are looking for leaders who can learn through uncertainty rather than simply rely on past experience.
Liz: Why must digital fluency now become a boardroom priority?
“Every seat around the board table needs digital fluency, but at least one seat needs genuine digital depth.”
Sarah: Boards are sometimes portrayed as barriers to digital progress, but that is rarely the reality. Most boards want to lead effectively. The challenge is that they are not always given the confidence, capability or information they need. Every board now needs a degree of digital fluency. Digital, data and AI are no longer specialist topics that sit with a single executive or committee. They affect strategy, risk, governance, service delivery and organisational sustainability. Increasingly, effective governance depends on a willingness to learn. Boards do not need all the answers, but they do need the confidence to ask the right questions, challenge assumptions and develop their understanding of emerging technology. Organisations often focus on recruiting a digital trustee, but that is only part of the solution. Every trustee needs sufficient digital confidence to participate meaningfully in discussions around risk, innovation and organisational strategy.
Liz: How can organisations build the capability they need for the future, not just today?
“The question isn’t who should we hire. The question is what capability do we need to deliver better outcomes.”
Sarah: The starting point should always be outcomes, not technology. Too often organisations ask, “Who should we hire?” rather than, “What capability do we need to achieve our goals?” Once the desired outcomes are clear, leaders can decide what capability needs to be built internally, what can be shared and where external expertise may add value. Leaders must think beyond traditional recruitment and take a broader view of capability. Organisations need to consider where expertise already exists, what can be developed internally and where interim, fractional or specialist support is most appropriate. We can’t recruit our way through every challenge. We have to build capability as deliberately as we buy it. For many organisations, the immediate challenge is ensuring the foundations are right. Strong governance, good-quality data, robust infrastructure and organisational understanding matter more than chasing the latest technology trend. Importantly, this is no longer just about IT teams. Technology is becoming everyone’s responsibility.
Liz: In an AI-enabled world, what makes organisations truly indispensable?
“Information may become easier to access, but human insight, lived experience and community connection remain irreplaceable.”
Sarah: One of the most interesting conversations taking place across the sector is around organisational purpose. Historically, many charities and mission-driven organisations acted as trusted sources of specialist information and guidance. Today, people can increasingly access information through AI tools and digital platforms. That raises an important question: if information is becoming more accessible, where does an organisation’s unique value lie? The answer lies in communities, relationships and insight. Organisations hold a unique understanding of the people they serve and the challenges those communities face. The lived experience, data and insight gathered through those relationships become increasingly valuable in shaping services, influencing policy and improving outcomes. The future value of many organisations may be less about providing information and more about understanding people.
Liz: How can technology help create better outcomes without losing the human touch?
“Used properly, technology doesn’t make us less human. It allows us to spend more time being human.”
Sarah: The greatest opportunities emerge when technology is focused on people rather than technology for its own sake. We are already seeing examples of AI supporting earlier cancer detection, helping identify risks sooner and enabling clinicians to spend more time with patients and less time on administration through technologies such as ambient note-taking. The NHS App is another example of how digital innovation can improve access to information while creating opportunities for more personalised and proactive care. Technology should help people spend more time doing human work. In healthcare, that means more time caring for patients. Across charities and public services, it means reducing administrative burden and creating more opportunities for meaningful interaction. Ultimately, the goal is simple: quicker, better and safer outcomes. Technology should never take us away from people. At its best, it creates more space for human connection.
Liz: How do leaders innovate responsibly in a world of accelerating AI?
“Leaders don’t need to become technologists, but they do need the confidence to ask the right questions.”
Sarah: Innovation and governance must go hand in hand. Healthcare and charity organisations handle highly sensitive information, which means governance matters enormously. Boards need enough understanding of AI and digital technologies to ask the right questions and provide effective oversight. Leaders do not need to be experts in technology, but they do need sufficient knowledge to understand risks, challenge assumptions and ensure appropriate safeguards are in place organisations adopt AI, accountability does not disappear. Responsibility remains firmly with leaders and trustees, making digital confidence and governance capability increasingly important.
Liz: What does genuine systems leadership look like in practice?
“Sometimes the best leadership decision is choosing future potential over familiar experience.”
Sarah: The easiest appointment is often someone who has done the job before. It feels familiar and appears less risky. However, increasingly organisations are asking a different question: what capabilities do we need for the future? That often opens opportunities for people changing sectors, stepping into their first executive role or taking on their first board appointment. These decisions matter because they strengthen the wider leadership pipeline rather than simply drawing from it. Systems leadership is about more than solving today’s problems. It is about making decisions that strengthen the wider ecosystem and create the conditions for long-term success.
Liz: Why is building leadership pipelines a systems issue, not just an organisational one?
“First-time leaders aren’t a risk to manage. They’re a pipeline to build.”
Sarah: There is often a temptation to recruit people who have done the role before because it feels safer and easier to justify. However, this approach alone can limit diversity of thought and reduce opportunities for future leaders to emerge. Organisations need to think about leadership as a pipeline to build rather than a resource to consume.Creating opportunities for first-time trustees, non-executives and executives not only benefits individuals, but also strengthens the wider system by broadening leadership pathways and bringing fresh perspectives into decision-making. Investing in future leaders is not simply a succession-planning exercise. It is a systems intervention.
Liz: How have the qualities required of leaders changed over the past decade?
“Curiosity, courage and connection are becoming the defining leadership skills of the AI era.”
Sarah: Leadership has become much more focused on community, collaboration and learning. Many leaders began their careers at a time when leadership was associated with certainty, expertise and control. Today’s environment is very different. The pace of technological change is transforming organisations, cultures and ways of working. Leaders need to be adaptable, willing to learn and comfortable navigating uncertainty. The leaders who create the greatest impact are often those who bring people together, encourage learning, share knowledge and help others navigate change successfully.
Liz: What will separate organisations that thrive from those that fall behind?
“The future isn’t about bigger technology teams. It’s about more digitally capable organisations.”
Sarah: Technology will become increasingly embedded across organisations rather than sitting within dedicated technology teams. One senior leader recently described a future where technology teams become smaller while responsibility for technology becomes much bigger. That is exactly where many organisations are heading. AI, data and digital tools will become part of every function, from finance and fundraising to operations and frontline services. The question will no longer be how many technology specialists an organisation employs. Instead, it will be what level of digital capability every employee needs. As AI takes on more routine tasks, leaders must also ensure people continue developing judgement, creativity, empathy and critical thinking. If we’re not careful, AI could take away some of the very experiences through which people develop judgement. The opportunity is not simply to do things faster. It is to create more capacity for higher-value thinking, stronger relationships and greater impact.
Liz: As you look to the future, what is the one lesson leaders cannot afford to ignore?
“We cannot automate our way out of developing people.”
Sarah: The pace of technology is outstripping organisational learning, and leaders need to close that gap. Digitally fluent boards are no longer a nice-to-have; they are essential. Leaders must also be prepared to invest in future talent. First-time trustees, first-time non-executives and emerging leaders should be viewed as part of the solution, not as risks to manage. Most importantly, while technology will continue to evolve, human capability remains the defining factor in organisational success. Judgement, empathy, curiosity and leadership cannot be automated.
If you are reviewing your board composition, planning for executive succession, strengthening your leadership pipeline or considering what capability your organisation will need in the years ahead, we’d be delighted to have a conversation.
Liz Dean and Sarah Luxford look forward to discussing how leadership can help your organisation navigate change, strengthen resilience and deliver greater impact for the communities you serve.