Business Transformation | 05.07.25
The Future of Leadership: Using AI to Transform How We Lead and Connect
by: David L. Zimmerman, MSc, CPC
Editor's Note: The following article is a summary of the author's 2025 BISA Annual Conference presentation "The Future of Leadership: Using AI to Transform How We Lead and Connect," co-presented by Scott Stathis, founder and managing director, Stathis Partners LLC; Donald Clark, Jr., regional manager, Wintrust Investments; and Alex Sarafianos, investment service sales executive, Regions Bank.
Leadership in financial services has always been demanding, but in today’s environment it has grown exponentially more complex. As leaders in banking, insurance and securities firms, we are expected to meet aggressive growth targets, navigate regulatory intricacies and adapt to rapidly evolving technologies; all while attracting, developing and retaining high-performing teams.
In this landscape, the ability to connect with people intentionally, meaningfully and consistently has become one of the most powerful, but paradoxically most neglected, levers for leadership effectiveness. This isn’t just a soft skill; it’s a strategic imperative. Today, the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and behavioral science is unlocking new capabilities for leaders to lead with greater insight, emotional precision and effectiveness.
This article explores how AI, when paired with psychometric tools like the REACH ecosystem that was demonstrated at BISA’s annual conference this year, is redefining what it means to lead in the modern financial services industry. It’s time we stop viewing AI solely as an efficiency enabler and start recognizing it as a catalyst for human-centered leadership.
Two Competing Spectrums: The Business of the Business vs. The Business of People
Leaders today operate across two competing spectrums:
1. The Business of the Business
This includes compliance, operations, partnerships, budgeting, marketing, legal reviews and risk management. These are the urgent fires, the things that blow up your inbox and fill your calendar.
2. The Business of People
This encompasses mentoring, recruiting, coaching, team culture, succession planning and performance development. These are the strategic multipliers that yield lasting value, but they rarely scream for your attention. They whisper. And because they whisper, they’re often deprioritized.
Despite the fact that most organizations allocate the majority of their budget to talent, compensation and benefits, the leadership moments that shape those investments are often reactive, inconsistent or underprepared. Consider how much energy is poured into preparing for audits or board meetings, yet how little is typically invested in preparing for a difficult coaching conversation or a recognition moment that could significantly elevate team engagement.
This is not a failure of intention. It’s a failure of design.
Where We Are Today: AI Embedded in Operational Tools
AI is not on the horizon — it’s already in the room. It’s embedded in customer relationship management (CRM) systems, virtual meeting platforms, note-taking software and budgeting dashboards. These tools help leaders perform routine tasks faster and more accurately. But they do little to change how we lead.
Why? Because speed is not the same as impact.
Operational AI enhances workflow. But leadership AI, done right, enhances connection. It helps us understand not just what is happening, but why it’s happening and how we can engage more effectively with the people behind the data.
This distinction matters deeply in people-intensive industries like financial services, where relationships drive retention, performance and loyalty.
Enter REACH: The Psychometric Ecosystem Built for Leadership Impact
REACH is an example of a psychometric leadership development platform that combines four primary leadership styles with 16 behavioral dimensions forming a nuanced portrait of how individuals lead, communicate and respond to their environments.
But its most powerful feature is the integration of AI. The REACH AI doesn’t just assess —it interprets, advises and gives you suggestions on steps to lead.
Imagine this scenario:
You’re preparing for a difficult coaching conversation with one of your advisors, John, who has been underperforming, disengaged and treating his team poorly. In the past, you might have relied on gut instinct, previous experience or generic scripts. Generally, “oh I know John…” and move on with the meeting.
Now, using REACH, you ask:
“Based on my behavioral style and John’s behavioral style, how should I approach this conversation about the way he has been treating his team to ensure its constructive, clear and connected?”
The AI analyzes both profiles and provides real-time guidance:
- Language choices that resonate with John’s communication style
- Emotional triggers to avoid
- Insights on how he processes feedback and change
- Guidance on pacing, tone and motivation cues
It’s not just about making the conversation easier. It’s about making it matter.
This level of insight can be applied across the leadership spectrum:
- Coaching plateaued high performers
- Navigating conflict among team members
- Giving feedback to someone with a very different style
- Preparing for succession conversations
- Announcing firmwide changes
The result? Leadership that feels less like guesswork and more like craftsmanship.
Moving From Transactional Efficiency to Relational Intelligence
Tools like REACH usher in a new era where leadership becomes less transactional and more relational. We move from managing people to understanding them.
Relational intelligence, a concept gaining traction in organizational psychology, refers to a leader’s ability to understand and adapt to the emotional and cognitive needs of others. AI, when paired with psychometric data, enhances this capacity.
With these tools, leaders can:
- Decode the “why” behind behaviors
- Reduce miscommunication and assumptions
- Improve trust and psychological safety
- Elevate engagement through recognition that aligns with personality
- Increase clarity and empathy in tough moments
Put simply, AI doesn’t make you less human. It helps you be more human, with greater clarity and purpose.
Leadership Optimization: Designing for the Moments That Matter
The future of leadership will be shaped by those who recognize that great leadership doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by design.
When we optimize our businesses, we look at workflows, costs, risks and return on investment. But when was the last time we optimized our leadership?
With AI-infused leadership platforms, we now can. Leaders can:
- Prepare for meetings with data-backed emotional intelligence
- Lead conversations with confidence and connection
- Build team cultures grounded in trust and understanding
- Develop personalized coaching plans tailored to individual growth patterns
This isn't about automating leadership. It’s about augmenting it. It’s about moving from intuition alone to insight plus intuition.
A Leadership Wake-Up Call: Are You Leading with Intention?
Here’s the challenge and the opportunity — ask yourself:
“Do I approach my leadership interactions with the same rigor and preparation that I apply to regulatory deadlines, growth strategies or technology investments?”
If not, you’re in good company. But that gap is where transformational leadership lives.
AI is not a threat to leadership. It’s the next great unlock. It’s the co-pilot that helps you navigate complexity with more foresight, empathy and effectiveness.
The leaders who will thrive tomorrow are those who learn how to lead with AI, not behind it, and certainly not in resistance to it.
Final Word: Lead Into the Future — Deliberately
This is your moment. The world of financial services leadership is undergoing a massive shift. Technology is rewriting the rules. Talent expectations are evolving. Complexity is compounding.
The one thing that will never change is the human need to be seen, heard and led with purpose.
AI gives us the tools. It’s up to us to rise to the moment. Sustainable business growth is not about your tech stack or product list; it’s about your people!
Let’s build leadership that’s more personal, more prepared and more powerful. Let’s lead forward — together.