Why AI Strategy Is Now a Leadership Question — Not a Technology Question

By Christoph Burkhardt

AI Strategy Advisor | Founder, AI Impact Institute

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Many organizations still delegate AI to where it feels safest:

IT. Innovation. Digital transformation.

And that is precisely where the problem begins.

AI does not primarily change systems.

It changes decisions.

The moment AI:

• Influences priorities

• Normalizes recommendations

• Makes options visible or invisible

it is shaping strategy—whether intentionally or not.

Treating AI purely as a technical topic is a quiet abdication of leadership at the exact moment it is most needed: in setting direction, meaning, and accountability.

In 2026, AI strategy will be inseparable from leadership.

Not because leaders must understand every technical detail—but because they must define the boundaries within which decisions are allowed to happen.