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In the GenAI era, we’re outsourcing more than tasks – we’re outsourcing trust. This talk explores how to lead creatively and confidently when everything starts with a prompt.
This abstract has been created without relying on any GenAI tool. This was hard for me, I’m not a story teller, not a writer, I barely had conviction in what I had to say before GenAI came along. It’s been an incredible tool for me and countless others, It feels like my productivity shot through the roof, I had access to this wealth of knowledge, I felt like I had a voice – a seat on the table.
Over the last year, I’ve felt this voice get quieter.
In chasing speed, polish, accuracy, I’ve started to default to the tool – sometimes even before I’ve formed my own thought. “Hold on, let me prompt that”. For many of us, it’s become a way to delay decision-making, outsource confidence, and avoid the discomfort of trusting our own thinking. This talk is about exploring that tension: between the incredible power GenAI gives us, and the quiet erosion of the narrative conviction it can cause. For Engineering Leaders, this isn’t theoretical. We lead people. We make bets. We communicate vision. And when our sense of authority is blurred—by too many prompts, too much polish, or too much second-guessing – we risk leading from pre-defined templates instead of truth.
This talk invites us to take a pause, to sit with that moment where the answers aren’t clear yet, that thought isn’t fully refined yet. In a world where everyone has this tool, our advantage as engineering leaders is still the experience and perspectives we bring as individuals.
Key takeaways
- Recognize early signs of Gen-AI induced confidence erosion
- Rebuild your narrative and inner-clarity to enable high-stakes decisions as an Engineering Leader
- Discern when to prompt, and when to lead from conviction
- Apply simple techniques to model original thought and independent judgment
