Meet your new boss: AI in the C-Suite

You’re walking into a boardroom meeting where the head of strategy is not a seasoned executive but an AI-powered entity. It analyses vast datasets in real time, makes sharp decisions, and never takes a day off.

Science fiction? Not quite. Companies are already experimenting with AI in leadership roles, and it’s prompting an urgent discussion: could AI eventually replace human executives?

Blue Tokai’s AI-driven chief listening officer

Like most companies managing a distributed workforce, Blue Tokai faces an all-too-familiar challenge: keeping employees engaged, collecting real-time feedback, and reducing turnover without overwhelming HR.

Nikki, however, is designed to lighten the load, free up employees to focus on higher-value tasks, and offer leaders deeper insights into their teams.

Vishal Chopra, CEO of Umwelt.AI, sees the bigger picture: “With Nikki, our AI chatbot, Blue Tokai can leverage real-time sentiment analysis to gain deeper insights into employee experiences, proactively address concerns, and create a supportive work environment.”

It’s a glimpse into the future of AI-driven HR, where intelligence platforms are no longer just a back-office tool but a strategic force shaping workplace culture.

Also Read: A bigger threat to your job than AI

Klarna’s AI gamble: Disruptor or job killer?

While Blue Tokai sees AI as an enabler, Klarna is taking a far more radical approach – AI as a workforce replacement.

The fintech company known for its ‘buy now, pay later’ model has slashed its headcount by 22% over the past year, shifting much of its workload to AI. Yet, its business keeps booming, with a valuation north of US$14 billion.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna’s outspoken CEO, doesn’t mince words about AI’s disruptive potential:

“To me, AI is capable of doing all our jobs, my own included,” he said in a tweet. “Because our work is simply reasoning combined with knowledge / experience. And the most critical breakthrough, reasoning, is behind us.”

His statement sounds almost dystopian, but it’s backed by Klarna’s numbers. The company’s AI assistant, built on OpenAI’s ChatGPT, has already replaced 700 full-time customer service agents. And, as Siemiatkowski suggests, this is just the beginning.

Also Read: AI anxiety among Southeast Asian workers

AI in the C-Suite: A pipe dream or inevitable reality?

For years, the conversation about AI replacing jobs has focused on routine tasks. But what happens when AI starts climbing the corporate ladder?

Former MIT AI Lab Director Anant Agarwal suggests that 80% of a CEO’s job could be automated, leaving only the most strategic decisions to humans.

This isn’t just theoretical, either. A 2023 edX survey of 500 CEOs found that nearly 49% believed AI could automate most or all of their responsibilities – a figure that dwarfs the 20% of IT workers who felt similarly about their own roles.

In fact, AI-led leadership is already being tested. In August 2022, Chinese gaming company NetDragon Websoft appointed an AI-powered humanoid robot as CEO, claiming it would enhance efficiency and drive innovation.

Yet, not everyone is convinced. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, a leading voice in AI, argues that while AI can take over 20% to 50% of many jobs, it’s the humans who wield AI effectively that will thrive.

Huang sees AI as an amplifier of human capability – not a replacement for leadership instincts, emotional intelligence, and the ability to rally a team around a vision.

The AI executive: friend or foe?

AI being assigned executive roles is no longer a sci-fi concept. It’s an active experiment in today’s corporate world. From Blue Tokai’s chatbot-driven HR evolution to Klarna’s AI-first workforce strategy, the landscape is shifting fast.

Yet, despite AI’s ability to crunch data and automate decisions, it lacks the charisma, intuition, and strategic storytelling that define great leaders. AI can draft reports and analyse trends, but it can’t inspire a boardroom, negotiate a high-stakes deal, or turn a vision into reality – at least, not yet.

For now, the real question isn’t whether AI will replace the C-suite – it’s which leaders will harness AI most effectively. Because while AI may not be your next CEO, the executives who ignore its potential might not be around much longer.

And, in the battle between humans and AI, the winners won’t be the ones who resist the change – but the ones who master it.