In its 2025 Future of Jobs Report, the World Economic Forum documented the single largest and fastest-growing skills demand it has ever recorded. It was not for AI, data science, or another technical skill. It was for leadership. The perceived importance of leadership and social influence among global employers surged by an unprecedented 22 percentage points compared to 2023 data [1]. This is not a minor trend, it is a seismic shift in what organisations value.
This surge is happening at the exact moment that artificial intelligence is becoming ubiquitous in the workplace. This presents a paradox. As routine cognitive and manual tasks are increasingly automated, the demand for distinctly human capabilities, particularly leadership, is not just growing, it is accelerating. For HR and L&D directors, this is a critical signal. The question is no longer whether to invest in leadership development, but how to do so in a way that is measurable, effective, and aligned with the new realities of an AI-augmented workforce.
The Numbers Tell a Clear Story
The evidence for this leadership surge is compelling and comes from multiple, authoritative sources. The World Economic Forum’s 22 percentage point increase is the headline figure, representing the views of over 1,000 employers and 14 million workers globally. It places leadership firmly at the top of the strategic skills agenda, outpacing even the rapid growth in demand for AI and big data skills, which saw a 17 percentage point rise in the same period [1].
This global trend is acutely felt in the United Kingdom. A 2024 report from Skills England, the government’s own executive agency for assessing UK skills needs, identified a critical national shortfall. It found that management and leadership skills are difficult to find for 44% of all skill-shortage vacancies [2]. This is not just a future concern, it is a present and documented crisis impacting organisational effectiveness today.
Further research from IESE Business School, analysing 375 million US job postings, provides a direct link between this trend and technology adoption. The study found that for every one percentage point increase in AI adoption, there was a corresponding increase of 2.5% to 7.5% in total management vacancies [3]. Far from replacing managers, AI adoption appears to be intensifying the demand for them. The same study noted that companies adopting AI tend to offer higher salaries for these managerial roles, signalling the growing economic value placed on effective leadership.
| Source | Finding | Implication |
| World Economic Forum 2025 | +22 percentage points in leadership importance | Leadership is the fastest-growing human skill demand globally. |
| Skills England 2024 | 44% of UK skill-shortage vacancies lack leadership | The leadership gap is a documented national priority in the UK. |
| IESE Business School 2024 | 2.5% to 7.5% management vacancy increase per 1% AI adoption | AI adoption directly increases the demand for managers. |
Why AI Makes Leadership More Valuable, Not Less
The paradox of automation is that the more routine work is handled by machines, the more valuable the remaining human work becomes. AI is a powerful tool, but a tool needs a skilled operator with the judgment to direct it. As AI handles the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of many tasks, the uniquely human capability of providing the ‘why’ becomes the critical differentiator. This is why leadership, a capability AI cannot replicate, is surging in importance.
There are five core reasons for this phenomenon. First, AI requires human judgment about priorities. It can execute tasks with incredible speed and efficiency, but it is the human leader who must decide which tasks matter and align them with strategic goals. Second, managing hybrid teams of humans and AI systems is a more complex challenge, not a simpler one. It requires leaders who can orchestrate workflows and ensure that technology augments, rather than alienates, their human team members. Research from MIT Sloan highlights this, with 91% of data leaders citing cultural and change management challenges as the primary impediment to becoming data-driven, while only 9% pointed to technology itself [4].
Third, ethical oversight cannot be automated. AI algorithms, if not properly guided, can perpetuate and amplify biases at scale, as seen when a major company’s AI hiring tool was found to be discriminating against female candidates [3]. It requires human leaders to set the ethical parameters, monitor outputs, and make nuanced judgments that a machine cannot. Fourth, organisational culture, vision, and motivation remain fundamentally human domains. At a time when 61% of CIOs report having less time for strategic responsibilities [4], the need for leaders who can inspire and guide their teams is more acute than ever.
Finally, strategic vision requires human creativity. AI can analyse vast datasets to provide insights, but it is the human leader who must ask the right questions and formulate a creative vision for the future. As McKinsey projects an 11-14% growth in demand for social and emotional skills by 2030 [5], it is clear that the capabilities AI lacks are precisely the ones becoming most valuable. The Human Skills Index is designed to measure and develop these exact capabilities.
The Implications for Your L&D Budget
For HR and L&D directors, this data provides a powerful mandate for strategic action. The leadership surge is not a distant trend but an immediate pressure that has profound implications for budget allocation and development strategy. It demands a shift in how organisations approach leadership development, moving it from a ‘nice-to-have’ benefit to a core strategic imperative for AI readiness.
This presents a challenge. L&D budgets are under constant scrutiny, and overall training investment per employee has declined by 29.5% since 2011 [6]. Yet, the demand for the most complex and expensive capability to develop, leadership, is accelerating. The solution to this dilemma lies not in spending more, but in spending smarter, with a focus on measurable outcomes. Traditional approaches that rely on content libraries and measure success by completion rates are no longer sufficient. They teach knowledge about leadership but fail to develop or measure demonstrated capability.
To secure board-level buy-in, L&D leaders must frame leadership development as a direct investment in the organisation’s ability to leverage AI effectively. The business case is clear: the WEF’s +22 percentage point signal, coupled with Skills England’s 44% vacancy gap, proves that leadership is a critical bottleneck. Organisations that fail to build a robust leadership pipeline will be unable to manage the cultural and strategic shifts required for successful AI integration. The focus must shift to identifying and closing specific, measurable capability gaps at the department level. This requires moving away from unreliable self-assessments and perception-based 360-degree feedback towards objective, evidence-based measurement of leadership skills. By presenting baseline data on current leadership capability and a clear plan to improve it, L&D directors can make a compelling, ROI-driven case for investment in a Skills Hub Workforce that provides the necessary department-level analytics.
What Measurable Leadership Development Looks Like
To meet the demands of the AI era, leadership development must evolve beyond traditional methods. While courses and content have their place in building foundational knowledge, they are insufficient for developing the applied capabilities organisations now require. The key is to move from measuring what leaders know to measuring what they can do.
This requires a shift towards simulation-based assessment, which measures demonstrated capability by placing individuals in realistic scenarios where they must make decisions under pressure. This approach provides objective, evidence-based data on how a leader performs in situations involving strategic thinking, stakeholder management, and team motivation. It moves beyond the limitations of 360-degree feedback, which measures perception rather than performance, and self-assessment, which measures confidence rather than competence.
The Human Skills Index provides this measurement layer. It assesses leadership as one of eight core capabilities, validated by frameworks from the CBI, OECD, WEF, and Skills England. Through simulation-based scoring, it generates a 0-100 score that reflects an individual’s demonstrated ability to guide, motivate, and influence others. This provides HR and L&D directors with the measurable baseline data needed to identify specific gaps, tailor development interventions, and track progression over time. It is this focus on measuring what people do, not what they say they can do, that provides the board-ready evidence of L&D impact and ROI.
Where to Start
Navigating this new landscape requires a practical and phased approach. The first step is to establish a clear, measurable baseline of leadership capability across your organisation. This moves the conversation from vague concerns about skills gaps to a data-driven understanding of where the most significant needs lie. A pilot program, focused on a single department or team, can be a powerful way to demonstrate value quickly. By measuring a baseline, implementing targeted development, and then measuring progression, you can build a compelling internal case study for a broader rollout.
With this evidence in hand, you can build the board-level business case. The argument is simple and powerful: the world’s leading authorities on skills and employment have identified leadership as the most rapidly growing capability need. Our own data shows where our specific gaps are. And we have a proven, measurable method for closing them. This is not another training initiative, it is a strategic investment in our organisation’s readiness to compete in an AI-augmented world.
The leadership surge is a definitive signal that organisations cannot afford to ignore. The question is no longer whether to invest in leadership development, but how to do so in a way that is measurable, scalable, and delivers a demonstrable return. The organisations that get this right will be the ones that thrive in the coming decade.
See How It Works
Want to see what measurable leadership development looks like in practice? Book a demo to explore how the Human Skills Index measures leadership capability across your organisation, with department-level analytics you can put in front of your board.
References
[1] World Economic Forum. (2025). The Future of Jobs Report 2025. https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/
[2] Skills England. (2024). Driving Growth and Widening Opportunities.
[3] Giné, M., Alekseeva, L., Azar, J., & Samila, S. (2024, November 14). AI is increasing demand for managers — and changing their skill sets. IESE Insight. https://www.iese.edu/insight/articles/artificial-intelligence-demand-human-skills/
[4] Hoque, F., Davenport, T. H., & Nelson, E. (2025, April 9). Why AI Demands a New Breed of Leaders. MIT Sloan Management Review. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/why-ai-demands-a-new-breed-of-leaders/
[5] McKinsey Global Institute. (2024). A New Future of Work.
[6] Department for Education. (2023). Employer Skills Survey.
