AI Won't Replace CIOs. It Will Expose the Ones Who Can't Lead People
CIO, Thursday, October 1st, 2026
An executive coach argues AI is raising the bar on people leadership for CIOs faster than many can adapt.
Executive coach Kyle Elliott, who works with many CIOs, CTOs and engineering VPs, writes that AI has added work rather than freeing leaders for coaching, because agents create another layer to supervise and new decisions such as token budgets, and he cites Microsoft and Deloitte research showing leaders feel overloaded and unable to keep up with demand.
Drawing on interviews with executives at Dice, TransUnion and Xero, he recommends preparing key messages for hard conversations, asking more questions, protecting thinking time and treating coaching as a skill that improves with practice.
His conclusion is that difficult conversations are core leadership work, not an interruption.