The future organization: humans at the heart of AI-transformation

EY AI week sparks a bold question: how do we keep humanity at the center while technology accelerates? Four leaders share their vision.

In brief

• Four leaders share how to keep humanity at the heart of AI-driven transformation.

• AI can accelerate progress, but imagination, empathy, and conscience remain essential.

• The future belongs to organizations that use AI to amplify and not replace human strengths.

EY AI week is more than a showcase of innovation, it’s a wake-up call. Artificial intelligence is everywhere, rewriting the rules of business, leadership, and culture. Yet amid the excitement, one question dominates: what remains human or is it AI versus humans? In our inspiring panel discussion, four influential voices shared their perspectives on balancing progress with purpose: Rina Joosten-Rabou, CEO of Pera; Isabel Moll, CEO BeNeLux at Dell Technologies; Anna van den Breemer, Partner and AI Transformation Lead at EY; and Maarten Lintsen, HR Director at EY Netherlands. Together, they explore how organizations can embrace AI-driven innovation while keeping humanity at the heart of transformation.

Together, they tackle the hard questions everybody thinks but remain silent about: Are we still hiring people? It’s the real question whether it’s AI versus humans or humans empowered by AI? AI can do incredible things, but it cannot care, imagine, or act with conscience. It cannot lead with empathy or create meaning. And these qualities define the future organization. So how do we shape culture, leadership, and identity in a world where algorithms influence everything?

The challenge: humans using AI

Maarten Lintsen sets the tone: it’s not AI versus humans, but humans using AI. That distinction matters. Organizations face urgent questions: how will the workforce look in five years? What skills will matter? Can we keep culture alive when algorithms drive decisions? These aren’t abstract concerns, they shape strategy today. AI accelerates processes, predicts outcomes, and personalizes experiences. But it cannot replace imagination, empathy, or ethical judgment. These human qualities are the differentiators in an AI-driven world.

Human uniqueness: what AI can’t replicate

Rina Joosten-Rabou brings a decade of experience in narrow AI models—systems trained for specific purposes like predicting job success. Her mission: remove bias from hiring decisions. “CV’s predict only three percent of job success,” she explains. “AI can speed up screening, but accuracy comes from understanding skills and behaviors over time.” Anna van den Breemer adds that consciousness and decision-making remain irreplaceable. Machines process data, but leadership requires courage, the ability to act against the algorithm when necessary. Isabel Moll illustrates the limits of AI with a vivid metaphor: “Ask AI to create the perfect rainbow. It can’t. It reproduces patterns, but it doesn’t imagine. That’s where humans come in.”

Empathy by design

Anna shares a striking case from healthcare: patients reported feeling more empathy from AI-tools than from doctors. Why? Algorithms explained patiently, in simple words, and never rushed. “Our models can appear more empathetic than humans,” Isabel notes, “but only because humans trained them to be.” This paradox reveals a truth: AI amplifies what we teach it. Authenticity, however, remains human.

Culture under pressure: mechanical or meaningful?

Culture is how we create meaning together, through stories, values, and shared experiences. But what happens when algorithms shape interactions? Isabel Moll sees opportunity: AI can identify bias, personalize communication, and free time for creativity. At Dell Technologies, she witnessed a shift from a KPI-driven, validation-heavy culture to one focused on forward thinking. “Instead of constantly explaining past results, we now have time to design better strategies. AI gave us that space.”
Rina emphasizes that culture is vague and hard to measure. AI can help by detecting patterns: what drives innovation, what drives change and enabling data-driven interventions. “If we can’t measure culture, we can’t steer it,” she says.

Leadership: risk and responsibility

Leadership is the heart of transformation. Delegating AI decisions too far down creates risk. Recruiters optimize for speed, not strategic impact. “If leadership doesn’t own AI-adoption, companies will miss their goals,” Rina warns. Anna agrees: “Technology accelerates, but adoption lags. Leaders must create safe environments for experimentation. Without that, the gap widens, and organizations fail to realize AI’s potential.”Isabel adds another dimension: intent. “At Dell, we work with our leadership team on being intentional. Why do you want to be part of this movement? If you don’t step in, you can’t keep up.” Leadership in the AI-era means clarity of purpose, empathy, and courage to embrace constant change.