AI doesn’t replace leaders — it expands their capacity

We recently witnessed this transformation in a privately held infrastructure company in India. What unfolded in one executive committee meeting illustrates how AI can awaken the imagination, shift entrenched mindsets, and unlock new avenues for growth—even in seasoned executives.

The problem: rising costs, flat revenues

This company builds and operates toll roads typically under 25-year government contracts. Its revenues depend on the growth in traffic and on the ability to increase prices. The price increases were linked to a government-determined formula and were insufficient in the face of double-digit increases in labor and material cost (largely imported bitumen and fuel).

In an executive committee meeting, the COO proudly presented his achievements: We reprioritized the asset repair strategy to be within 3% of the allocated budgeted costs mitigating abnormal material costs increases. Further, as benchmarked amongst top 5 asset management firms in the country, we are amongst the best management. Yet we plan on reducing the full-time employees base from 3,800 to 3,400 over the next 2 years, even while managing an expanded road network.

By conventional standards, this was excellent operational management. He expected recognition.

But the founder-chairman, a seasoned entrepreneur with a passion for technology, took a longer view. He acknowledged the COO’s efforts, then calmly laid out the challenge:

“At this trajectory, in a market subdued on growth due to geopolitical volatility, costs will outpace revenues. We need a fundamentally different approach.”

The mood in the room shifted. The COO, a veteran of several successful companies, crossed his arms slightly—a subtle signal of defensiveness.

The intervention: bringing AI into the room

At this critical moment, the chairman—an avid user of ChatGPT—made an unconventional request:

“Let’s open ChatGPT. Type in these prompts: Find new ways to monitor highways. Suggest innovative methods to collect tolls. Identify faster, more reliable road repair strategies. Propose fresh approaches to ensure motorist safety.”

Some executives hesitated, unsure of what to expect. But within minutes, AI generated thought-provoking information: Drone and satellite-based road monitoring. Predictive analytics for traffic flow and accident prevention. AI-driven toll collection systems. Global case studies of companies deploying such innovations. Lists of vendors with their capabilities and locations

The room began to buzz.

The COO’s transformation

The COO spoke first, his voice tinged with surprise:

“I never imagined drones or satellite imagery could detect issues in real time—or that AI could direct crews to the shortest route, capture before-and-after repair data, and even predict potential failures.”

His posture changed. No longer defensive, he leaned forward, engaged and energized.

“We can do this,” he said, his voice rising with conviction. “This could deliver major cost reductions, faster responses, and higher safety standards.”

Sensing momentum, the chairman acted:

“Within two weeks, let’s schedule a two-day workshop. Bring in vendors to show what’s possible, what investments are needed, and what outcomes we can expect.”

Two months after the cross-functional workshop, the company piloted test runs of not only drone-based road scanning and monitoring but also similar dash cam enabled pilots running closer to the linear highway assets. It had created a comprehensive repository of defects culled out from the prevalent concession agreements, the codal provisions and best practices observed on the highways.

Predictive AI was then able to run scans on the highways, reconcile defects with this repository list at 95% accuracy and provide an exhaustive list of defects with probable treatment to the maintenance head. All within 36 hours of ground scans!

This gave a head start to the teams in actual preemptive repair execution on the ground, saving valuable manhours of efforts. HR came back and said it provided a clear purpose to them, of an L&D opportunity to reskill and retrain specific sets people on that which is most needed. Contracted labor requirements are projected to fall by 18%.

More importantly, the accuracy and turnaround time for actual fault detection is completed within three days. Incident response times for physical rectification is pegged to drop by 40%. Client satisfaction improved by immediately mobilizing preemptive rectifications on the ground, providing a better travel experience to motorists.

The COO, once skeptical, became an AI champion. At the next leadership offsite, he reflected:

“AI didn’t give me the answer. It gave me back my curiosity—and my courage to try something different.”

The broader lesson for leaders

This story highlights an important truth: AI’s greatest power lies not in replacing human judgment but in amplifying it.

When used well, AI acts as a cognitive multiplier: Expanding imagination: Surfacing possibilities leaders hadn’t considered. Sharpening judgment: Providing patterns and insights beyond human capacity. Increasing capacity: Allowing leaders to process more scenarios, faster.

But AI also requires something from leaders: the humility to ask, the curiosity to explore, and the courage to act on what it reveals.

Four ways leaders can expand their capacity with AI

1. Frame the Right Questions Move beyond operational checklists. Ask broader, situational questions that provoke exploration: “What’s a radically different way to achieve this?”

2. Engage AI as a Thought Partner Use tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity not to find answers, but to surface options, challenge assumptions, and scan global best practices.

3. Encourage Team Discovery Invite teams to use AI collectively. This shifts the culture from passive reporting to active cross functional exploration.

4. Act Quickly on Insights Don’t let curiosity stall. Move rapidly from ideas to pilots, testing what AI-inspired thinking can deliver.

Conclusion: AI as a human multiplier

AI, applied thoughtfully, does more than boost organizational productivity. It expands human capability: enabling leaders to think bigger, decide faster, and act with greater confidence.

This isn’t about technology supplanting human intuition. It’s about technology helping leaders become more than they were yesterday.

The question for every executive is this:

What capabilities in your team could AI help unlock?

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.