The evolution of leadership for healthcare organisations in the era of Agentic AI
Leadership is entering a new era, shaped by the rise of agentic AI systems capable of taking initiative, making decisions, and collaborating alongside human teams. This shift is profound in healthcare, where complexity is high, the stakes are critical, and the demand for safe, efficient, and personalised care continues to grow.
The UK Government is increasingly adopting AI to make healthcare safer, faster, and more personalised to individual needs. From diagnostics and clinical decision support to operational optimisation and patient communication, AI is becoming embedded across the healthcare system. As these technologies grow more capable, sometimes matching or even exceeding human performance in specific tasks, the role and responsibilities of healthcare leadership are fundamentally changing.
To keep pace, healthcare leaders must evolve. They must be adaptive, forward-thinking, and equipped to cultivate environments where humans and AI work together effectively and ethically. But what does this transformation look like in practice, and how can healthcare organisations begin building this new model of leadership today?
How humans and agentic AI can lead together
Agentic AI delivers its greatest value when it augments human leadership and that starts with effective skills management: understanding what skills exist across the workforce, where gaps remain and how those skills are deployed. With accurate skills data and visibility, leaders can determine where humans and intelligent systems can operate together at their best, relieving administrative burden, synthesising complex data, supporting clinical decision‑making, and delivering real‑time operational insight. This enables leaders to focus on higher-value responsibilities, such as supporting staff under sustained system pressures and leading change with clarity and confidence.
However, realising this partnership requires more than technical deployment. Leaders must ensure AI is used ethically and transparently, aligned with clinical standards and organisational values. For healthcare professionals to trust these systems, AI must demonstrably enhance safety, improve workflows, and uphold the principles that underpin the NHS and the wider care system.
Digital fluency, therefore, becomes essential. Leaders need to understand how AI systems operate, how to interrogate their outputs, and how to integrate insights into safe, patient-centred practice. Equally important is emotional intelligence: the ability to guide teams through uncertainty, address concerns around autonomy and workload, and ensure staff feel supported, rather than replaced.
When human judgement and machine capability are combined thoughtfully, leaders can build healthcare organisations that are more resilient, responsive, and focused on delivering truly personalised care.
The rise of “power skills” in healthcare
As healthcare systems increasingly recognise that their only sustainable competitive advantage lies in their people and how they lead, “power skills” are becoming essential. These human capabilities enable connection, resilience, and collaboration, particularly in overstretched, high-pressure environments.
While many healthcare leaders bring deep clinical or operational expertise, the true differentiator today is their ability to inspire, motivate, and guide teams through uncertainty and change. NHS trusts, integrated care systems, and care providers are placing greater value on leaders who can adapt quickly, solve problems creatively, communicate with clarity, and collaborate effectively across professional pathways and settings.
Key power skills for today’s healthcare leaders include:
- Effective communication: enabling safe, coordinated care through clear messaging, actively listening to staff and patients, and ensuring that insight flows across clinical, operational, and digital teams.
- Problem-solving: helping teams to navigate clinical and operational complexity by identifying challenges early, coordinating resources effectively, and driving improvements that enhance both patient outcomes and staff experience.
- Adaptability: supporting individuals and teams to respond confidently to rapid change, from new technologies to evolving patient demand, while sustaining motivation, wellbeing, and continuity of care.
- Critical thinking: strengthening clinical and organisational decision-making through rigorous analysis, sound judgement, and accountability, particularly when integrating AI-generated insights with professional expertise.
These skills are neither instinctive nor easily mastered. They require deliberate practice, reflection, and continuous development. Investing in leadership development is no longer optional, but essential for healthcare organisations seeking to remain resilient and responsive.
Building a culture of continuous learning
In the healthcare industry, leadership skills are often underinvested in, and many leaders feel unsure of how to best leverage AI. To thrive, healthcare organisations must foster a culture of continuous learning where leaders and teams are supported to grow, adapt, and evolve as technology advances and patient expectations change. This requires a dual focus: investing in upskilling and reskilling for new digital capabilities, while also strengthening the human-centred capabilities that remain fundamental to safe, compassionate care, including communication, adaptability, and ethical judgement.
Scenario-based learning, already a cornerstone of clinical training, becomes even more critical in this context. Through realistic simulations, multidisciplinary exercises, and digital learning environments, staff can practice working alongside agentic AI, test new workflows, and develop the power skills required to manage complexity and uncertainty. These experiences build confidence, encourage reflection, and enable teams to translate learning into meaningful improvements in real clinical and organisational settings.
Equipping healthcare leaders for AI-enabled care
As agentic AI becomes embedded across healthcare, expectations of leaders are evolving. Success in this new landscape depends on leaders who can combine technical understanding with human capabilities. It is no longer enough to know how to use AI, healthcare leaders must understand its wider implications, communicate transparently about its role, support teams through change, and consistently model empathy, integrity, and emotional intelligence.
While AI can enhance decision-making, reduce administrative burden, and surface insights at speed, it cannot replace the human qualities that define exceptional care, including trust-building, compassion, nuanced judgement, and relational leadership.
Power skills remain the backbone of effective leadership in healthcare and the foundation of a strong “skillforce”, where human expertise is augmented by AI capabilities and governed by skills. By equipping leaders with both digital fluency and strong human capability, healthcare organisations can ensure that AI strengthens culture, improves workflows, and creates time for what matters most: delivering high-quality, patient-centred care.
About the author
Leena Rinne is the vice president of leadership, business, and coaching solutions at Skillsoft. Her responsibilities encompass strategy formulation, operational execution, product roadmap management, and coordination of go-to-market motion. With extensive experience in consulting and partnering with leadership teams across industries globally, Rinne brings a depth of expertise in leadership development, strategic alignment, and organisational effectiveness. As two-time Wall Street Journal best-selling author and an engaging and insightful speaker, Rinne has presented at numerous international conferences, including PCMA, SHRM, ATD, and the World Business Forum (WOBI). Her background in facilitating transformational leadership experiences has made her a trusted advisor to executives and organisations worldwide. Rinne is deeply committed to the transformative power of leadership and learning in motivating individuals, enhancing team performance, building effective cultures, and driving sustainable organisational results.
