Why HR must lead AI implementation, not just support it

Holcomb, who has just signed a book deal on leadership in the AI era, said the mistake he sees most often among executives is treating AI as a separate problem from people leadership.

“You need to stop thinking about leaders, tools and artificial intelligence,” he said. “You need to start thinking about how you’re going to lead people, because if you lead people well, then you will be able to lead the machines and the tools well, because the principles are exactly the same.”

Piloting before rolling out

Coleman’s experience at Livium illustrates that approach in practice. She said the trigger for formal AI governance came in mid-2025, when staff had already begun using generative tools such as ChatGPT on their own initiative.

Rather than issue a blanket policy, Coleman said the business ran a structured pilot with a small group of users, tracking time saved on tasks and error reduction over several months before expanding access more broadly. The company now reports on AI use to its board every quarter.

Governance was built around the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ (AICD) eight elements of safe and responsible AI governance, developed with the University of Technology Sydney’s Human Technology Institute.