LEADERSHIP IN THE AGE OF GENERATIVE AI: RETHINKING LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES, EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT, AND ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION
Keywords:
Generative artificial intelligence, Leadership competencies, Employee engagement, Organizational transformation, Human–AI collaboration
Abstract
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is reshaping organizational leadership by transforming decision-making, knowledge work, employee roles, and approaches to organizational change. This narrative review examines how GenAI is redefining leadership competencies, influencing employee engagement, and enabling organizational transformation in contemporary business environments. The review synthesizes literature published between 2020 and 2024 across leadership, artificial intelligence, human resource management, human–AI collaboration, and digital transformation. The synthesis indicates that effective leadership in GenAI-enabled organizations requires an integrated competency portfolio encompassing AI literacy, strategic judgment, adaptive learning, human-centered leadership, and ethical governance. GenAI can strengthen employee productivity, autonomy, learning, and creativity; however, poorly managed implementation may generate distrust, job insecurity, technostress, reduced autonomy, and resistance. Leadership therefore plays a central role in translating technological capabilities into employee engagement through transparent communication, participatory implementation, reskilling, and responsible governance. An integrative framework is proposed linking GenAI adoption with evolving leadership competencies, employee engagement, and organizational transformation while recognizing contextual influences and feedback mechanisms. The review concludes that sustainable GenAI-driven transformation depends not merely on technological adoption but on leadership capable of balancing innovation, human agency, organizational adaptability, and responsible AI use.
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References
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50. Xu, S., Stienmetz, J. L., & Ashton, M. (2020). How will service robots redefine leadership in hotel management? A Delphi approach. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(6), 2217-2237.
2. AlNuaimi, B. K., Singh, S. K., Ren, S., Budhwar, P., & Vorobyev, D. (2022). Mastering digital transformation: The nexus between leadership, agility, and digital strategy. Journal of Business Research, 145, 636-648.
3. Bankins, S., Ocampo, A. C., Marrone, M., Restubog, S. L. D., & Woo, S. E. (2024). A multilevel review of artificial intelligence in organizations: Implications for organizational behavior research and practice. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 45(2), 159-182.
4. Benbya, H., Pachidi, S., & Jarvenpaa, S. L. (2021). Special issue editorial: Artificial intelligence in organizations: Implications for information systems research. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 22(2), 281-303.
5. Budhwar, P., Chowdhury, S., Wood, G., Aguinis, H., Bamber, G. J., Beltran, J. R., Boselie, P., Cooke, F. L., Decker, S., DeNisi, A., Dey, P. K., Guest, D., Knoblich, A. J., Malik, A., Paauwe, J., Papagiannidis, S., Patel, C., Pereira, V., Ren, S., … Varma, A. (2023). Human resource management in the age of generative artificial intelligence: Perspectives and research directions on ChatGPT. Human Resource Management Journal, 33(3), 606-659.
6. Budhwar, P., Malik, A., De Silva, M. T. T., & Thevisuthan, P. (2022). Artificial intelligence-Challenges and opportunities for international HRM: A review and research agenda. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33(6), 1065-1097.
7. Chowdhury, S., Budhwar, P., & Wood, G. (2024). Generative artificial intelligence in business: Towards a strategic human resource management framework. British Journal of Management, 35(4), 1680-1691.
8. Chowdhury, S., Dey, P., Joel-Edgar, S., Bhattacharya, S., Rodríguez-Espíndola, O., Abadie, A., & Truong, L. (2023). Unlocking the value of artificial intelligence in human resource management through AI capability framework. Human Resource Management Review, 33(1), 100899.
9. Duggan, J., Sherman, U., Carbery, R., & McDonnell, A. (2020). Algorithmic management and app-work in the gig economy: A research agenda for employment relations and HRM. Human Resource Management Journal, 30(1), 114-132.
10. Dwivedi, Y. K., Kshetri, N., Hughes, L., Slade, E. L., Jeyaraj, A., Kar, A. K., Baabdullah, A. M., Koohang, A., Raghavan, V., Ahuja, M., Albanna, H., Albashrawi, M. A., Al-Busaidi, A. S., Balakrishnan, J., Barlette, Y., Basu, S., Bose, I., Brooks, L., Buhalis, D., … Wright, R. (2023). 'So what if ChatGPT wrote it?' Multidisciplinary perspectives on opportunities, challenges and implications of generative conversational AI for research, practice and policy. International Journal of Information Management, 71, 102642.
11. Enholm, I. M., Papagiannidis, E., Mikalef, P., & Krogstie, J. (2022). Artificial intelligence and business value: A literature review. Information Systems Frontiers, 24, 1709-1734.
12. Feuerriegel, S., Hartmann, J., Janiesch, C., & Zschech, P. (2024). Generative AI. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 66, 111-126.
13. Gilli, K., Nippa, M., & Knappstein, M. (2023). Leadership competencies for digital transformation: An exploratory content analysis of job advertisements. German Journal of Human Resource Management, 37(1), 50-75.
14. Glikson, E., & Woolley, A. W. (2020). Human trust in artificial intelligence: Review of empirical research. Academy of Management Annals, 14(2), 627-660.
15. Hanelt, A., Bohnsack, R., Marz, D., & Antunes Marante, C. (2021). A systematic review of the literature on digital transformation: Insights and implications for strategy and organizational change. Journal of Management Studies, 58(5), 1159-1197.
16. Jarrahi, M. H., Askay, D., Eshraghi, A., & Smith, P. (2023). Artificial intelligence and knowledge management: A partnership between human and AI. Business Horizons, 66(1), 87-99.
17. Jarrahi, M. H., Newlands, G., Lee, M. K., Wolf, C. T., Kinder, E., & Sutherland, W. (2021). Algorithmic management in a work context. Big Data & Society, 8(2), 1-14.
18. Jöhnk, J., Weißert, M., & Wyrtki, K. (2021). Ready or not, AI comes-An interview study of organizational AI readiness factors. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 63, 5-20.
19. Keding, C. (2021). Understanding the interplay of artificial intelligence and strategic management: Four decades of research in review. Management Review Quarterly, 71, 91-134.
20. Kellogg, K. C., Valentine, M. A., & Christin, A. (2020). Algorithms at work: The new contested terrain of control. Academy of Management Annals, 14(1), 366-410.
21. Köchling, A., & Wehner, M. C. (2020). Discriminated by an algorithm: A systematic review of discrimination and fairness by algorithmic decision-making in the context of HR recruitment and HR development. Business Research, 13, 795-848.
22. Lebovitz, S., Lifshitz-Assaf, H., & Levina, N. (2022). To engage or not to engage with AI for critical judgments: How professionals deal with opacity when using AI for medical diagnosis. Organization Science, 33(1), 126-148.
23. Makarius, E. E., Mukherjee, D., Fox, J. D., & Fox, A. K. (2020). Rising with the machines: A sociotechnical framework for bringing artificial intelligence into the organization. Journal of Business Research, 120, 262-273.
24. Malik, A., Budhwar, P., & Kazmi, B. A. (2023). Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted HRM: Towards an extended strategic framework. Human Resource Management Review, 33(1), 100940.
25. Mariani, M., & Dwivedi, Y. K. (2024). Generative artificial intelligence in innovation management: A preview of future research developments. Journal of Business Research, 175, 114542.
26. Meijerink, J., & Bondarouk, T. (2023). The duality of algorithmic management: Toward a research agenda on HRM algorithms, autonomy and value creation. Human Resource Management Review, 33(1), 100876.
27. Mikalef, P., & Gupta, M. (2021). Artificial intelligence capability: Conceptualization, measurement calibration, and empirical study on its impact on organizational creativity and firm performance. Information & Management, 58(3), 103434.
28. Noy, S., & Zhang, W. (2023). Experimental evidence on the productivity effects of generative artificial intelligence. Science, 381(6654), 187-192.
29. Pachidi, S., Berends, H., Faraj, S., & Huysman, M. (2021). Make way for the algorithms: Symbolic actions and change in a regime of knowing. Organization Science, 32(1), 18-41.
30. Pan, Y., & Froese, F. J. (2023). An interdisciplinary review of AI and HRM: Challenges and future directions. Human Resource Management Review, 33(1), 100924.
31. Parent-Rocheleau, X., & Parker, S. K. (2022). Algorithms as work designers: How algorithmic management influences the design of jobs. Human Resource Management Review, 32(3), 100838.
32. Parker, S. K., & Grote, G. (2022). Automation, algorithms, and beyond: Why work design matters more than ever in a digital world. Applied Psychology, 71(4), 1171-1204.
33. Prikshat, V., Malik, A., & Budhwar, P. (2023). AI-augmented HRM: Antecedents, assimilation and multilevel consequences. Human Resource Management Review, 33(1), 100860.
34. Puranam, P. (2021). Human-AI collaborative decision-making as an organization design problem. Journal of Organization Design, 10, 75-80.
35. Qamar, Y., Agrawal, R. K., Samad, T. A., & Chiappetta Jabbour, C. J. (2021). When technology meets people: The interplay of artificial intelligence and human resource management. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 34(5), 1339-1370.
36. Raisch, S., & Krakowski, S. (2021). Artificial intelligence and management: The automation-augmentation paradox. Academy of Management Review, 46(1), 192-210.
37. Retkowsky, J., Hafermalz, E., & Huysman, M. (2024). Managing a ChatGPT-empowered workforce: Understanding its affordances and side effects. Business Horizons, 67(5), 511-523.
38. Robert, L. P., Pierce, C., Marquis, L., Kim, S., & Alahmad, R. (2020). Designing fair AI for managing employees in organizations: A review, critique, and design agenda. Human-Computer Interaction, 35(5-6), 545-575.
39. Rukadikar, A., & Khandelwal, K. (2024). Leadership development through self-upskilling: Role of generative artificial intelligence. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, 38(4), 27-30.
40. Seeber, I., Bittner, E., Briggs, R. O., de Vreede, T., de Vreede, G.-J., Elkins, A., Maier, R., Merz, A. B., Oeste-Reiß, S., Randrup, N., Schwabe, G., & Söllner, M. (2020). Machines as teammates: A research agenda on AI in team collaboration. Information & Management, 57(2), 103174.
41. Tinguely, P. N., Lee, J., & He, V. F. (2023). Designing human resource management systems in the age of AI. Journal of Organization Design, 12(4), 263-269.
42. Trunk, A., Birkel, H., & Hartmann, E. (2020). On the current state of combining human and artificial intelligence for strategic organizational decision making. Business Research, 13, 875-919.
43. Tschang, F. T., & Almirall, E. (2021). Artificial intelligence as augmenting automation: Implications for employment. Academy of Management Perspectives, 35(4), 642-659.
44. Van Quaquebeke, N., & Gerpott, F. H. (2023). The now, new, and next of digital leadership: How artificial intelligence (AI) will take over and change leadership as we know it. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 30(3), 265-275.
45. Verhoef, P. C., Broekhuizen, T., Bart, Y., Bhattacharya, A., Dong, J. Q., Fabian, N., & Haenlein, M. (2021). Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 122, 889-901.
46. Vrontis, D., Christofi, M., Pereira, V., Tarba, S., Makrides, A., & Trichina, E. (2022). Artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced technologies and human resource management: A systematic review. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33(6), 1237-1266.
47. Wamba-Taguimdje, S.-L., Fosso Wamba, S., Kala Kamdjoug, J. R., & Tchatchouang Wanko, C. E. (2020). Influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on firm performance: The business value of AI-based transformation projects. Business Process Management Journal, 26(7), 1893-1924.
48. Weber, E., Büttgen, M., & Bartsch, S. (2022). How to take employees on the digital transformation journey: An experimental study on complementary leadership behaviors in managing organizational change. Journal of Business Research, 143, 225-238.
49. Wijayati, D. T., Rahman, Z., Fahrullah, A., Rahman, M. F. W., Arifah, I. D. C., & Kautsar, A. (2022). A study of artificial intelligence on employee performance and work engagement: The moderating role of change leadership. International Journal of Manpower, 43(2), 486-512.
50. Xu, S., Stienmetz, J. L., & Ashton, M. (2020). How will service robots redefine leadership in hotel management? A Delphi approach. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(6), 2217-2237.
Published
2026-08-27
How to Cite
Dr. Ananya Mehta, Dr. Rahul Sharma, & Dr. Kavita Nair. (2026). LEADERSHIP IN THE AGE OF GENERATIVE AI: RETHINKING LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES, EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT, AND ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION. IJRDO - Journal of Business Management, 12(3), 42-60. https://doi.org/10.69980/bm.v12i3.6803
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Articles
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