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In the age of AI, leaders should look to Da Vinci

By Fabio Moioli
April 2026
| 0 min read

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Key takeaways

  • Effective leaders need a fluency in AI tools while also being able to strengthen the human capabilities that give technology purpose and direction.
  • Being able to look at a complex business problem and instinctively know what to select from a vast, hybrid tool kit is now a defining leadership skill.
  • Progress should remain human-centred: Use AI to remove menial work and elevate uniquely human skills such as ethics, mentorship, negotiation and creativity.

Growing up in Italy, one does not simply learn history; one lives inside it. The ghosts of the Renaissance are woven into the architecture of our streets and the cadence of our conversations. But for me, the most enduring lesson of my heritage has always been the figure of Leonardo da Vinci.

We tend to remember Leonardo as two distinct people: the artist who painted the ‘Mona Lisa’, and the scientist who sketched flying machines and anatomically perfect hearts. But this distinction is a modern invention, and a dangerous one. To Leonardo, there was no line where ‘art’ ended and ‘science’ began. His genius was not that he was an artist and an engineer; it was that he refused to acknowledge the difference.

Today, as I read the World Economic Forum’s ‘Future of Jobs’ report, I am struck by how far we have strayed from this integrated wisdom. The report — and the global conversation surrounding it — presents a fractured view of human potential.

We are told that as artificial intelligence conquers the ‘hard skills’ of logic and analysis, humans must retreat to the safety of ‘soft skills’ like empathy, motivation and self-awareness. We are building a future based on a binary choice: Be the machine, or be the feeling human who opposes it.

I believe this separation is over. The era of the specialist is fading, and we are witnessing the rebirth of the ‘Renaissance Manager’.

The mistake we make in modern leadership is assuming that emotional intelligence (EQ) and artificial intelligence (AI) are opposing forces. We view EQ as the antidote to the coldness of technology. But in the coming decade, this siloed thinking will be a liability.

Just as Da Vinci used the science of geometry to perfect the art of perspective, today's leader must use the science of large language models to scale the art of human connection.

The Renaissance Manager understands that in a digital world, technology is the medium through which empathy is delivered. Consider a modern customer service leader. If they possess high empathy but lack technical fluency, they might personally comfort one unhappy client, but they will fail to implement the AI-driven systems that could prevent frustration for 10,000 others. Conversely, a technical leader without deep emotional intelligence might optimise a workflow for speed, inadvertently stripping away the human touch points that build brand loyalty.

True competence now lies in the synthesis. Just as Da Vinci used the science of geometry to perfect the art of perspective, today’s leader must use the science of large language models to scale the art of human connection. The barrier between the two is an illusion.

Leonardo had a motto: saper vedere, or knowing how to see. He believed that the ultimate skill was not just looking at the world, but understanding the deep, interconnected layers beneath the surface.

For the modern manager, saper vedere is the ability to look at a complex business problem and instinctively know which tool to select from a vast, hybrid tool kit. It is the wisdom to say, ‘This strategic pivot requires the raw computational power of an AI agent to analyse the data’, while simultaneously recognising, ‘But this organisational announcement requires a vulnerable, unscripted town hall meeting to address the fear in the room.’

This selection process is the defining act of leadership. It requires a person who respects the algorithm enough to use it and respects the human spirit enough to protect it. It is not about knowing how to code; it is about knowing how to orchestrate. It is about viewing your organisation not as a factory of workers but as a studio of artisans, some silicon, some carbon, working in concert.

Actions for leaders

  • Reject the false split between ‘hard’ AI skills and ‘soft’ human skills: Effective leaders must integrate technology and empathy, just as Da Vinci integrated art and science.
  • Consider ‘saper vedere’ (knowing how to see): Develop high-quality judgment to choose when to use AI’s computation and when to lead through human presence.
  • Keep people at the centre: Use AI to remove drudgery and elevate human creativity to build a future that is both data-rigorous and human-centric.

Ultimately, the Renaissance Manager knows that despite the dazzling capabilities of our new tools, the subject of our work remains people.

The ‘Future of Jobs’ report correctly identifies that motivation and social influence are paramount. But the Renaissance perspective adds a layer of sophistication: We do not just lead people; we curate the environment in which they thrive.

We do not need to choose between being data-driven or human-centric. We can be both.

A leader with a Da Vinci mindset uses AI to strip away the drudgery, the rote reporting, the scheduling, the data entry, that suppresses human creativity. They view technology not as a replacement for their team but as a lever to elevate them back to the status of craftsmen.

By removing the ‘robotic’ tasks from human plates, we are not making humans obsolete. Instead, we are freeing them to do the work that actually requires a heartbeat: negotiation, ethical reasoning, mentorship and creative conceptualisation.

There is a famous drawing by Leonardo, the ‘Vitruvian Man’, which shows a man standing in two superimposed positions, inscribed in a square and a circle. It is a study of proportions, but it is also a symbol of humanity at the centre of the universe, bridging the earthly (the square) and the divine (the circle).

This is the blueprint for our future. We do not need to choose between being data-driven or human-centric. We can be both. We can be rigorous in our logic and boundless in our empathy.

The future of work will not be won by those who hide from the machine, nor by those who surrender to it. It will be won by those who have the courage to treat AI as Da Vinci treated his paintbrush: as a powerful tool to express a deeply human vision. The separation is over. It is time to design the future with both hands.

 

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