A major new study has identified AI fluency, the role of geopolitics and leading across generations as some of the key skills needed for executives to successfully navigate the “messy future” facing the world over the next decade.
Over 70 Australian and global leaders and executives contributed to the 2025 Skills Horizon report which identifies the skills leaders should develop to meet and lead through a “decade of disorientation”.
It is the first report in an annual series published by Sydney Executive Plus, an executive and leadership development initiative from the University of Sydney Business School.
The report identified eight skills which need “urgent attention”.
- AI Fluency – This is the ability to understand, engage with and leverage artificial intelligence technologies practically and effectively for your organisation.
- Generative AI for personal productivity – As a forward-thinking leader, you need to know what Gen AI can do for you. You need to understand what its limitations are and how to prompt, and interact, with it effectively.
- Productive work communities – Post-Covid work hasn’t been the same. Diverging expectations of where, when and how to work persist. While employees want individual flexibility, many leaders champion the importance of in-person mentoring and ideas exchange.
- Geopolitics in business – The global balance of power is shifting and the way governments yield economic tools is increasing. The question of what comes next remains an open one.
- Net zero transition – In response to the growing evidence and awareness of the effects of climate change, businesses globally are adopting net zero emissions goals.
- Leading across generations – Researchers were surprised by how many leaders told us about the growing challenges and difficulties with managing intergenerational difference. Your ongoing challenge as a leader is to create environments in which you can cultivate diverse perspectives across generations, without conflicting expectations causing chaos across age groups.
- Humanities thinking – To complement your analytical acumen, consider what the humanities have to offer. Interpretation, sensemaking and imagination. Crafting narratives with analogies, metaphors and counterintuitive examples. The ability to learn from history, change your mind confidently and find solutions in unexpected spaces. All these techniques are part of humanities thinking.
- Quantum literacy – Quantum computing and quantum technology are still emerging topics on the horizon but here’s a need to get your head around quantum early. Soon enough, you’ll find yourself in conversations where it comes up, exploring questions like: What will quantum mean for AI? Will it break encryption? Which industries will benefit most? Which ones will be disrupted? What should we know today, and when should we prepare for quantum’s arrival?
Associate Professor Sandra Peter, co-director of Sydney Executive Plus said: “Leaders can no longer rely on a stable business environment. Instead, they will need to build the capability to deal with a messy and complex world.
“No matter the industry or level of seniority, the next 10 years will be the most disorienting in a leader’s career. They could also become the most impactful.
As we enter this decade of disorientation, business leaders have five messy shifts to worry about: values, technology, accountability, trust, and energy.
Professor Kai Riemer co-director of Sydney Executive Plus, said that the research made clear that leaders can navigate these changes through a flexible lifelong learning strategy.
“There are four areas of skills convergence leaders will need to master: they need to fluently speak the language of tech; they need to solve problems of scale; they need to work across differences in the workplace; and they need to think through complexity.”
“The right skills mix can help a leader face and move through what’s to come with clarity and confidence,” said Professor Riemer.
The 2025 Skills Horizon report explores 36 skills overall, which range from the urgent to the unexpected.
Clear concerns among the leaders who participated in the report included geopolitics, energy transition, and rapidly changing technology like artificial intelligence. But surprising skills also emerged as relevant to the future, such as humanities thinking and quantum fluency.
Interviews were conducted with leaders across business, government, academia, defence, culture and the arts, including former prime ministers, global and Australian CEOs, army generals, government secretaries, head chefs, and NGO and charity leaders.
The report is designed to be a dynamic guide for business leaders to use for skills assessment and as a catalyst for innovation, growth and futureproofing.
