The Mindset for Navigating AI Transformation

Artificial Intelligence isn't just changing the tools we use at work; it's questioning our sense of self-worth. For many people, that's the real source of anxiety. Not necessarily the technology itself, but the uncomfortable question underneath it: where do I fit in this new world?

If you've worked in the same role for years, it has become part of your identity, and naturally, you have grown comfortable with it.

The pace of change and the uncertainty of AI's increasing capabilities leave us all wondering: what comes next? and what does it mean for me and my family?

Riding the Tech Industry Hype Cycles

The tech industry has been through many transformations before: web, cloud, mobile, microservices, etc. Each wave followed a similar pattern: resistance at first, rapid adoption, and eventually new roles for the people who embraced it by learning new concepts and adjusting their ways of working.

While the AI transformation is different, there are things we can learn from previous hype cycles. If most of your work is done on a computer, then your job is certainly changing whether you like it or not.

Your company or your boss aren’t imposing AI on you or your work by choice, this is how technology and the industry is evolving. These forces of transformation are bigger than any of us can control.

This doesn't mean we’re helpless. Acceptance of change, becoming AI literate and overcoming the urge to resist, are the first critical steps. The people that sail through periods of change have a distinct mindset compared to those who struggle to adapt.

So what separates the people who adapt from those who struggle? It’s not just a skills challenge, it comes down to the idea of “High Agency”. This is about human behaviour, not AI agents.

High Agency is the personal belief that you are empowered to enact change, and you follow through by taking action.

People with high agency create opportunities, solve problems proactively, and influence outcomes through their behaviours. With this mindset comes a sense of empowerment, determination, resilience, excitement, positivity, and work satisfaction.

Understanding your own level of agency requires a little self-reflection.

Gauging Your Level of Agency

There is no defined metric for a person's level of agency, but you can get a sense of it by reflecting on how you respond in various scenarios. Here is a simple framework to help you self-reflect. Each dimension represents a different aspect of high-agency behaviour:

Initiative & Ownership

When you see something that needs to be done, how do you respond?

Passive: waits for direction; avoids ownership
Reactive: responds when asked; takes limited initiative
Reliable: completes assigned work; rarely goes beyond what's asked
Proactive: identifies opportunities and risks early
Strategic: creates direction and mobilises others

Action & Problem Solving

How do you move things forward when obstacles appear?

Stalled: avoids action; blocked by problems
Dependent: needs help or advice to move forward
Steady: progresses with persistence
Resourceful: finds paths around obstacles
Relentless: creates solutions where none exist

Learning & Adaptability

How do you respond to change, feedback, and uncertainty?

Fixed: resists change; repeats mistakes
Hesitant: accepts change but struggles to apply it
Learner: adjusts when prompted
Iterative: experiments and improves continuously
Adaptive: reframes challenges and evolves consistently

Influence & Execution

How effectively do you turn ideas into outcomes with others?

Informational: shares information without driving action
Transactional: executes tasks but doesn't influence outcomes
Collaborative: communicates clearly and aligns others
Persuasive: builds support and drives progress
Catalytic: mobilises people and creates momentum

(Download as a one page pdf here: High-Agency-Self-Assessment-v1.0.pdf)

Adjusting Your Level of Agency

If your answers are a 4 or a 5, most of the time, you are likely a high-agency person.

We can’t be high agency all of the time, we all have off days, when we’re tired, stressed or struggling with personal or family issues.

Simply understanding what it means to be high agency helps you improve. Don’t try and change everything at once, pick one of the categories above each morning and try to adjust your behaviour in some way during the day. Over time it becomes a habit and you’ll do it subconsciously.

How does this help?

So why does this matter in the context of AI? Knowing what high agency behaviours are, and actively developing them, equips you mentally to deal with periods of change.

As AI becomes more capable, you:

continuously experiment and learn to use the tools as they evolve
treat AI as an assistant, drafting and exploring options, focusing your effort on judgment and decision-making
break complex problems and processes into steps that AI can execute
critically evaluate outputs rather than blindly trust them
take ownership of outcomes, even when AI is involved

Your Employment Prospects

You will also recognise when new roles emerge, such as: AI governance, AI security, or AI workflow designer roles, and position yourself as an early adopter.

None of this guarantees that your company won’t lay you off at some point in the future, but it does reduce the chance of it happening. And if it does happen, this mindset will make finding your next job easier.

For Managers

This topic of high agency can be introduced to a team or the whole company by senior management or by HR. Position it as a way for everyone to prepare for the inevitable change that is coming.

When things aren’t going well, we naturally tend to reflect outwards, at how others are behaving. With self-reflection, we also look inwards, and ask, “how could I have behaved differently in this scenario?”

It can then be incorporated into 1:1 meetings. If you have a software development team that follows agile practices, ask the team to reflect on the questions above before a sprint retrospective meeting.

I would strongly advise against adding scoring to the assessment questions above, this is a sensitive and complex topic for people, it requires human-to-human discussion, not being reduced down to a number.

Conclusion

Times of change can be stressful, but pretending it’s not happening or being frozen with fear aren’t going to help. Accepting and embracing change is a much more pragmatic approach.

The people who navigate this transition best will be the ones who take ownership, adapt early, and act decisively. That’s what high agency really means.

Becoming a high agency person is a personal choice that is within your control, now that you know about it, what will you do differently tomorrow?

Further Reading

Last updated: Apr 3, 2026