With AI transformation being a key focus for organisations, maximising the opportunities lies in understanding the leadership requirements and the approach to people engagement. Derwent explored this critical topic with senior executives in Sydney last week at our AI and The People breakfast event, examining three areas shaping the future: How people functions can support AI transformation. How AI is reshaping people management and operations. How leadership and team recruitment criteria are evolving in an AI world. The panel discussion delivered practical insights on how leading organisations are navigating AI workforce transformation, including the real changes, challenges, and opportunities they're experiencing. We heard from Peter Tonagh , Chairman at Quantium, and Catherine Walsh , Group Chief People Officer at Qantas, who shared their perspectives on leading AI transformation we’re still learning to understand ourselves. Highlighting that as leaders we cannot wait for certainty, or we will remain behind. We must adapt to lead through more ambiguity than we have faced before. Key Themes & Takeaways The Leadership Imperative : AI represents a fundamental leadership moment defining competitive advantage, with success being 80% about people and 20% about technology. Discussion emphasised leaders must reimagine value creation, shift from the "department of no" to AI-enablers, and take a holistic approach addressing mindset, skillset, and toolset together. Leaders must become 'Chief Excitement Officers' providing permission with guardrails while managing cognitive load impacts within their organisations, recognising that employees will use AI regardless of policy and that organisations not offering AI tools will lose talent. Strategic Implementation and Human-AI Partnership : The conversation outlined starting everything with AI as the default approach, focusing on capability over tools and customer benefit through clear use cases as competitive necessity. Successful implementation augments human judgement with AI enhancing HR practices including performance management and coaching with examples of enhanced performance reviews and recruitment outcomes. Leaders must become conductors of human-AI teams through effective engagement, setting direction and making judgement calls while ensuring AI amplifies capabilities, maintaining oversight while AI tools help leaders become better coaches, and addressing bias as a user problem requiring active correction. Future Talent Strategy and Trust Evolution : Critical attributes for AI-ready talent emerged as curiosity, critical thinking, persistence, agility, and optimism, challenging myths about graduates who are actually more AI-attuned than before. The conversation addressed balancing innovation with care, building trust through transparency, and ensuring continuous evolution while maintaining human connection as irreplaceable. Discussion emphasised continuous tool evolution requiring adaptable capabilities, documenting and sharing learnings, and ensuring people develop judgment to question AI appropriately. These insights underscore the critical need for Australian business leaders to embrace AI strategically while overcoming conservative risk tolerance. The conversation provided a comprehensive roadmap for organisations navigating AI transformation, from immediate implementation challenges to longer-term competitive advantages that will define future success. Our thanks to Lindsay Every , Group Managing Partner at Derwent for hosting this panel discussion, and to our guest speakers and attendees for their valuable contributions. Continue the conversation We'd love to hear your perspective on this topic! For further insights or to explore how Derwent can help you or your organisation, connect with our team at sydney@derwentsearch.com.au . To express your interest for future Derwent events, please reach out to us at events@derwentsearch.com.au

On Wednesday 25 June, Derwent was delighted to host a breakfast event in Perth to discuss "Building Resilience for Organisational Excellence” . The event bought together over 50 senior HR leaders, offering a unique opportunity for professional development and networking. The session explored the question: How do we help leaders and organisations build resilience to deliver sustainable success? Today's business environments are more complex, and conventional notions of leadership are no longer fit for purpose. The challenges for leaders in 2025 are not just about making the right moves, but the ability to make them under extreme uncertainty – political and international tensions, market volatility, the ongoing evolution of AI, technological advancements, and shifting customer expectations. Layered into this are greater expectations and focus on regulatory changes, sustainability, transition to net zero and psychosocial safety – all while remaining focused on strategy, budgets and creating long-term value for shareholders, customers, teams and other stakeholders. We were joined by Ben Pronk , co-author of The Resilience Shield and a specialist in Risk, Resilience and Leadership in high pressure situations, and Megan McCracken , experienced Executive, Board Member and Leadership Coach. Ben and Megan shared their perspectives on: What makes a resilient leader? What are the signs of organisational resilience – green flags, red flags? How can we improve resilience in organisations to achieve better outcomes? What are the key considerations for talent – current and future? Some key themes and takeaways included: High functioning organisations are characterised by “agreeable disagreement”, where healthy conflict is fostered and a culture of “ritual dissent” is the norm. The relationships between Chair, Board and CEO play an important role in cultivating a resilient culture. They “set the tone to do the things they are here to do”. Decisions should have a strong link to the purpose and vision of the organisation. The adoption of personal mindfulness practices offers a huge opportunity to enhance performance through some relatively simple changes in approach. This is supported by scientific data and an important practice to share with leaders. Psychosocial safety has a significant impact on organisational resilience. Organisations that prioritise psychosocial safety are better equipped to navigate challenges, adapt to change and maintain high performance levels. Personal traits for resilience include internal calm, curiosity, self-efficacy, and courage to respectfully challenge – importantly, these traits can be cultivated and taught. Businesses that continue to invest in personal and organisational resilience and leadership through the cycles are the most likely to have sustainable success. We extend our thanks to Eliza Alford , Principal HR & Legal, and Mike O’Sullivan , Managing Partner, for hosting the event. A special thank you to our guest speakers, Ben and Megan, and to all attendees for contributing to such a valuable and engaging discussion. If you’re interested in learning more or attending a future event, get in touch with us at events@derwentsearch.com.au

With AI transformation being a key focus for organisations, maximising the opportunities lies in understanding the leadership requirements and the approach to people engagement. Derwent explored this critical topic with senior executives in Sydney last week at our AI and The People breakfast event, examining three areas shaping the future: How people functions can support AI transformation. How AI is reshaping people management and operations. How leadership and team recruitment criteria are evolving in an AI world. The panel discussion delivered practical insights on how leading organisations are navigating AI workforce transformation, including the real changes, challenges, and opportunities they're experiencing. We heard from Peter Tonagh , Chairman at Quantium, and Catherine Walsh , Group Chief People Officer at Qantas, who shared their perspectives on leading AI transformation we’re still learning to understand ourselves. Highlighting that as leaders we cannot wait for certainty, or we will remain behind. We must adapt to lead through more ambiguity than we have faced before. Key Themes & Takeaways The Leadership Imperative : AI represents a fundamental leadership moment defining competitive advantage, with success being 80% about people and 20% about technology. Discussion emphasised leaders must reimagine value creation, shift from the "department of no" to AI-enablers, and take a holistic approach addressing mindset, skillset, and toolset together. Leaders must become 'Chief Excitement Officers' providing permission with guardrails while managing cognitive load impacts within their organisations, recognising that employees will use AI regardless of policy and that organisations not offering AI tools will lose talent. Strategic Implementation and Human-AI Partnership : The conversation outlined starting everything with AI as the default approach, focusing on capability over tools and customer benefit through clear use cases as competitive necessity. Successful implementation augments human judgement with AI enhancing HR practices including performance management and coaching with examples of enhanced performance reviews and recruitment outcomes. Leaders must become conductors of human-AI teams through effective engagement, setting direction and making judgement calls while ensuring AI amplifies capabilities, maintaining oversight while AI tools help leaders become better coaches, and addressing bias as a user problem requiring active correction. Future Talent Strategy and Trust Evolution : Critical attributes for AI-ready talent emerged as curiosity, critical thinking, persistence, agility, and optimism, challenging myths about graduates who are actually more AI-attuned than before. The conversation addressed balancing innovation with care, building trust through transparency, and ensuring continuous evolution while maintaining human connection as irreplaceable. Discussion emphasised continuous tool evolution requiring adaptable capabilities, documenting and sharing learnings, and ensuring people develop judgment to question AI appropriately. These insights underscore the critical need for Australian business leaders to embrace AI strategically while overcoming conservative risk tolerance. The conversation provided a comprehensive roadmap for organisations navigating AI transformation, from immediate implementation challenges to longer-term competitive advantages that will define future success. Our thanks to Lindsay Every , Group Managing Partner at Derwent for hosting this panel discussion, and to our guest speakers and attendees for their valuable contributions. Continue the conversation We'd love to hear your perspective on this topic! For further insights or to explore how Derwent can help you or your organisation, connect with our team at sydney@derwentsearch.com.au . To express your interest for future Derwent events, please reach out to us at events@derwentsearch.com.au