Book Review: The AI-Driven Leader

If The AI-Driven Leader by Geoff Woods is indicative of the literature we can expect from the AI-age, then humanity is in trouble.

As someone who works in marketing, I’ve heard The AI-Driven Leader referenced several times by other professionals. It’s being upheld as the “right” way to approach using AI in business. And I don’t disagree with the author’s overall premise or some of the specific advice.

However, it’s the quality of the writing and the book’s structure that greatly concern me.

Given the author’s full-throated praise of artificial intelligence, it’s not a stretch to imagine that he leaned heavily on some unknown LLM to write the manuscript. Unfortunately, this reliance on robotic writing highlights the book’s many glaring flaws.

A Decent Premise

Before I get too critical, I’ll give Woods credit for good intentions. The book’s central idea is this: use AI tools to enhance your own thinking and guide it towards better quality work.

He frames humans as “thought leaders” and bots as “thought partners”. More specifically, leaders can get AI to interview them to gain the right perspective and then leave the grunt work to the machines. This is genuinely helpful advice — although also, not the first time I’ve heard the idea. And certainly not…