269. Disruptive Leadership in the Era of Digital Change with Kumar Parakala

Kumar Parakala delivers a timely wake-up call for leaders stuck in outdated models amid the rise of AI and digital disruption. Drawing from his experience building billion-dollar digital businesses and advising prime ministers, he argues that rigid hierarchies and authoritative styles are no longer effective. Instead, leadership today demands empathy, agility, and a clear sense of purpose.

Kumar boldly states, “AI will take your job,” but urges leaders to see this as evolution, not extinction. His seven principles for disruptive leadership—like embracing purpose, challenging norms, and practicing radical accountability—offer a roadmap for staying relevant in a fast-changing world.

Most importantly, Kumar emphasizes that human skills like empathy and connection will be more valuable than ever. As machines handle complex tasks, true leadership will be measured not by titles, but by impact. His message is clear: lead the change or be left behind.

🌐 Connect with Kumar:
• Website: https://kumarparakala.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kumarparakala/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kumarparakala/

📚 You can purchase Kumar's book on Amazon:
• Lead to Disrupt: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637352611/
• Luminary Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637352018/

Transcript

Mick Spiers: 0:01

What does it take to lead in the age of digital disruption? How do you balance innovation with humanity in the fast paced world of technology, and what can we learn from leaders who are shaping the future of business and government? I have the privilege of speaking this week with someone truly exceptional, Kumar Parakala has not only led multi billion dollar businesses in the digital space, but he's also advised to top ministers, premiers and heads of state on some of the most pressing issues of our time, from digital disruption to national security. We dive deep into how technology is reshaping leadership and the skills leaders need to thrive in this rapidly changing world. I can't wait to share this conversation with you. Let's get into it. Hey everyone, and welcome back to The Leadership Project. I've got a very special treat for you today. I'm deeply honored to be joined by Kumar Parakala, Kumar has led multiple multi billion dollar businesses in the area of digital and digital disruption. He's also advised to prime ministers and premiers on topics as diverse as digital disruption, artificial intelligence and even national security. He was one of the founding members of KPMG, multi billion dollar digital practice, and the President of GHD digital, another multi billion dollar digital practice. So we couldn't be better placed with someone with the experience of what it takes to build successful businesses in the era of digital disruption. He's also a best selling author, including his latest offering, which is called lead to disrupt. And he has a concept that he wants to share with us today, that our conventional approaches to leadership just will not work in today's modern world, and we need to start changing the way that we lead, which is perfectly aligned to what we talk about here on the show. And I don't want to waste any more time than to get into this content. So Kumar, I would love it if you would say hello to the audience, and I'd love to hear a little thread of what in your background inspires you so much in this digital world you've had an incredibly successful career already, but what motivates you to keep going, getting out of bed each day and driving towards this new crazy world that is changing in front of our eyes at a speed that we just can't fathom anymore.

Kumar Parakala: 2:37

Thank you, Mick, and it's a privilege to be on your very successful podcast The Leadership Project. And you know, every day you need to be passionate about the day and how you're going to spend your time productively. What really gets me out of the bed, and it's a great question, is the impact that many people who are in leadership positions like myself can have on a large number of people, the positive impact. And just the other day, I was at a very, very large conference of 5000 people, and they were talking about all these challenges and all these issues, and I said to them, we're all leaders here. And there's a small group of leaders, 20 people, who've kind of got together to discuss about what should we be doing? And they're talking about they should do this, and somebody else should do said, I said, No, the world is changing very fast. The needs are huge. We need to take responsibility. We as leaders, need to drive the agenda. And that's what really gets me out of the bed the evolving world. The pace, at the change is happening, the new needs, the new betterment of our people, at the same time, the challenges that are emerging, but also the opportunities that are out there. So those are the sorts of things that go through my mind every day, and I'm excited to just get out and engage with these opportunities.

Mick Spiers: 4:01

Yeah, really interesting, Kumar. I'm picking up three very specific threads here that I think we need to talk about. So the word impact, there is no denying that the world is different today than before, and it's changing all the time. So the digital disruption that's happening on the world the impact is there. The next word was responsibility, and that came through loud and clear. And then the word leadership. And what I'm trying to put a thread through here, Kumar, is that there's going to be some positive impacts out there, but if we're not careful, if we don't lead with intention, there's also going to be some unintended consequences that we didn't think about some ethical responsibilities around the leadership of this digital disruption that's happening. So I want to start with a positive though. Where do you see the largest positive impact on the world in terms of what's available in today's digital technologies?

Kumar Parakala: 4:59

Yeah. This is a great question. So you know, when you look at the last, I don't know, 2000 3000 years, up until 200 years back, we didn't have the industrial revolution. We had the farming and we had the society organized in a certain way, and that required a certain type of so called political and business leadership. In the last 200 years, we had the Industrial Revolution, and that has fundamentally changed the hunting, farming society into a more industrially advanced society in the last 200 years. Now, what we are seeing in the last few years, maybe a couple of years is a new revolution called the AI of artificial intelligence revolution, where for the first time, the capabilities of a machine are going to far exceed the capabilities of one individual. There's a doctor, lawyer, engineer, whatever it is. So we are going through a very pivotal moment in the human history that the machines that we have invented, we have created, a lot more capable than we are on an individual level. So the question that we need to answer is, in that new world, and it's just not digital, just not technology, every single industry is going to get impacted. So in that new world, what kind of leadership is needed? Because the last 200 years and before that, the religious institutions around the world dictated okay, how the values should be and how leaders should behave. And some of the most successful leaders we have seen have come from very good religious background. They've been pastors and, you know, all those but that whole system is disrupting. New philosophy is evolving, and my book is all centered around this new philosophy that is very much needed. So just to answer your question, we, at the beginning of this new era, need to actively engage to determine what kind of leadership is needed, which is going to be very different from the last 200 years and the last 1000 years. I think it's very exciting for me, and that's what I would like to share with your audience as well, is that if they believe they're a leader, they need to, they need to embark on the journey as well.

Mick Spiers: 7:24

Yeah, I think you're hitting on something very interesting here, and I do want to come back to some of the changes that we need in leadership as we go through the conversation. The thread I'm picking up though, Kumar, is that the new technology that we have access to now is potentially going to be more powerful than any individual could have done any or even our cultures could have done in the past. So the potential there to solve problems is immense. It's incredibly immense, but it also is changing the very fabric of society, culture and values. It's it's democratizing that leadership at the moment, where everyone has a voice, and if we don't funnel that with some level of intentional leadership, where we stop and think, hang on a second before we go too much further. What do we want this to look like? It might be a runaway train that gets away on us.

Unknown: 8:19

It may be one of the train or a few of them will dictate how the rest of the world should be, and those few may have this lot of money, lot of technological capability, all those sorts of things. So I think we just need to be very, very careful about this new era. But also, we as leaders have a responsibility to say, hey, look, we need to have equity in the voice from all cross sections of the society to evolve this new leadership model that is very much needed.

Mick Spiers: 8:51

Yeah, very good. So that's where I want to go. I want to go there next is, how do we get those ethical guardrails in place? Now, as I can't believe I'm going to reference Spider Man here and Stan Lee, but with great power comes great responsibility, and people in leadership have got that responsibility. And I'm going to put it to you, Kumar, that some of the things that we're seeing in the world today were unintended. I'm going to give people a bit of benefit of the doubt here. I do not think the fathers of social media intended to create the world that they've created today, that in fact, I'm going to say it was the very opposite. They intended to create create a connected world, and we've created a divided world. We've created a world of algorithmic bias. We've created a world where your very news feed can be manipulated by people for, I'm going to say, potentially profit or malicious intent sometimes, but we have created a bit of a monster here. So how do we get the benefits of this technology? We don't want to walk away from what it's capable of a positive impact, like you said before. But how do. Put the ethical guardrails up that it doesn't become something that we regret later.

Kumar Parakala: 10:05

Yeah, great question. Mick, I mean, one of the things I'm going to say very loud and clear is what you are creating, whether you're creating a devil or you're creating an angel, is all dependent on you as a human being, on how you leverage it and how you use it. So you have the same power to have the so called angelic impact as you have the impact of a devil in some of these inventions that are coming through. So it's all completely very much relate to how humans use these systems and how they leverage them, but very importantly, I wrote this book to first of all, provide some insights on the challenges of the traditional leadership models which we have known for the last 200 years, and motivate the readers to embrace new principles and new behaviors. Mick, so that they can then start thinking about how to adapt to the new world, I've offered some practical strategies to navigate through what is looking like a highly dynamic, uncertain business world and social world as well. So for example, we can see our life every day we are going up and down. The stock market prices will be up or they will be down, tariffs will be up or down. War will be now stopping or starting again. All these every day is a different day, and that is having a huge impact on the minds of the people and the confidence of the business. So how do you kind of navigate through this ever changing world? That's the second reason I wrote the book. The third one is to ask the leaders who have spent their entire life in one industry, one organization, 30, 40, years, they have risen to the top. They become CEOs. They become chairman, they become executive, ask them to think outside the box. And it may be a little bit paradoxical to say, Hey, you are running these big companies. Think outside the box. My experience of dealing with many of them is that the more they are in those roles for longer time, the more narrow their thinking becomes, and therefore their ability to adapt to new ideas, new ways of thinking that they've achieved material success, they've achieved financial success, they tend to be dismissive. So I'm asking leaders senior levels to be very open about what's out there, but also leaders at all different levels to be also very open. And you know, last but not least, the reason I've written the book is to challenge leaders to continuously learn and evolve, fostering their personal growth. It is easier said than done. I know so many leaders I've engaged with. They hardly spend any time other than the corporate mandated training that is delivered to them in packages by consultants. They don't spend time self exploration or learning more. So just how do you evolve yourself as a leader, as an individual? So that's, that's, those are some of the reasons why I have written this book, and from that perspective, Mick, I'm very keen for us to have this interaction and this dialog in terms of, you know, what is needed.

Mick Spiers: 13:29

Yeah, really good, Kumar, so I, I tend to agree that yesterday's thinking has got got us to where we are today, and it's not going to serve us well into a future that is changing every day. Now, you're right. I i Turn on the news and I go, I don't even think I'm shocked anymore by anything I see on the news. I just know that I'm going to be shocked generally. I mean, so it's like, what's going to be the surprise packet in the news, in the news today? So it is changing and disrupting all the time, and yesterday's thinking is not going to cope with that. Our models of leadership, whether we've learned it by osmosis and mimicking leaders before us, or the corporate programs, they definitely need to pivot. So where do we start with that camera? If someone's listening to this show and they've been following let's call it a conventional model of leadership, how does someone take the first step to go well, I need to keep an open mind here, and I need to start changing the way that I lead.

Kumar Parakala: 14:26

Yes, absolutely. What I would say is, before we embark into what we should be doing, let me just quickly cover a few areas where the traditional models have become very outdated and we recognize that, then we can change that in our business world. So the first one is the vision, you know, the vision that businesses are creating their business as usual visions, you know, I want to have 10% more profit or 10% more and they're very, very operational visions that they don't do anything. They've been doing that for many. Many years. So basically, companies and the leaders who are leading them need to change their vision, finite mindset. We've been in the industry. We've done this for a long time. I'm the leader of the industry. I've seen everything come in the last 30 years. Being dismissive is very finite mindset, because AI is not something that has that anyone has seen before. So these wars that we are going through in our lifetime, the sicknesses that we went through because of COVID, those are all unprecedented experiences during our lifetime. So I think we need to have a more from a finite mindset to an infinite mindset. You know, there's a lot of hindrance to innovation. Every time there is a cost cutting that happens, innovation goes out of the door. So again, if we don't innovate, if we don't change in every way possible, including leadership, how do we so look at the hindrances for innovation and empathy. You know, COVID really taught me to be a lot more empathetic with people and my own staff and everyone else, it was a big lesson for us, because we may live or may not live tomorrow as a result of this unknown pandemic, which we never ever thought of. So it made people really question the purpose of their lives. So the empathy deficiency, and people are now going back to that empathetic state, lack of empathetic state before, COVID after three years, as they were before. So they need to start looking at these again, agility and hierarchical organizing. These are all areas in the current models that we need to look at. So what I'm saying is that when you look at some of these things. They work very, very well for the era of industrial revolution, standardization, thinking in a certain way, training people and Mars to deliver outcomes. They all work very well. They will not be working very, very well going forward. So going forward, we need to think about a disruptive leader who is going to take from the current state of where we are to where we need to go. The disruptive leader is challenging the current state, the status quo and so on so forth. So what do they need to do? They need to challenge. They need to help others thrive and learn and then show resilience and move forward. So for that, for those outcomes, there are in the book, we I've recognized seven principles, by the way, one is to have a disruptive mindset, and that means, you know, when things are happening in a certain way for a very long time, is that the best way to do it? Because, for example, everybody is very familiar with writing PowerPoint slides, and where the traditional PowerPoint slide, you make the PowerPoint slide, somebody else checks it, and then somebody else, and then you go to the client and you present them. Now that is what the traditional model has been for the last 20, 25 years, as of two months back. You don't need to do anything. You type up your text and you put it in this app, and it will generate all the PowerPoint slides, taking internal and external data, much better than most of the experts can ever do with insights. So there's a good example where I say, Hey, do I have the mindset to look at some of those kind of things? Or would I continue to use, continue to use those PowerPoint side? I mean, I'm just giving you an example. So first is, develop a disruptive mindset. The second one is, have a higher purpose that is also disruptive, that is going to have a huge impact on the world, huge impact on the people in a positive way. The third one is challenge yourself every day and get out of your comfort zone. Overcome that inertia. And the comfort zone is when people do certain things for a very, very long time. They get used to it. They want to stick to it, but that we got to get out of some of those things. The fourth one is build relationships that you have never thought of building, because this new world has new stakeholders, young and old and experienced and not so experienced, who are required in you. So build these relationships which you never thought about. The fifth one is disrupt the status quo. And the next one, which I've paid some attentions after COVID, is making sure that you're not complacent. And you have this you're dealing with your mental fragility. You have mental resilience. You're able to do because mental health is becoming a huge issue for many people, so you've got to pay attention to that. So conquer complacency and mental fragility. Last but not least, be very accountable as a leader to your stakeholders. I call that radical accountability. These are seven principles that I've explained in my book. With some examples and how I've applied is my philosophy.

Mick Spiers: 20:04

This is really powerful, Kumar, and I'm taking a lot of key messages away here. First of all, our traditional approach to vision or strategy needs to change. It's just not going to work. The idea of having a five year strategy or a 10 year strategy, no one knows what the world looks like five years from now, the idea of an infinite mindset, instead of a finite mindset, we need to stop pigeon holing ourselves and imagine a new reality in terms of what's going on. I love what you said about empathy, that if I borrow some words from Simon Sinek here, that all businesses are people businesses. And if you don't understand people, you don't understand business. So if you just go down a rabbit hole of everything is digital, that's also not going to work. There's the intersection of of humanity together with technology, is where the The secret lies. And then when I listen to everything you're saying about your seven elements here to me, I wrap it up as disrupt or be disrupted, but to do so with vision and purpose, right? So there was a thread there in your second point about making sure that it's purpose driven. Don't just disrupt in a chaotic way. Disrupt because you're trying to have a positive impact on the world, but get out of your comfort zone, because what worked yesterday will not work today. To get out there and disrupt or be disrupted, or you're going to be the one that is yesterday's thinking, you're going to become irrelevant faster than ever before if you're not getting out of your comfort zone and disrupting, but disrupting with purpose. How does that sit with you?

Kumar Parakala: 21:44

No, I think those are all terrific observations. So I want to say two things. One is, in this new world, I have no doubt in my mind that humanness and human Centricity will be the heart of this digital revolution we are going through. There is no point in any advancements and any inventions and changes they don't have a positive impact on the human kind. Just about two weeks back here the South by Southwest Conference, which attracts about five to 6000 people. I was invited for a very small group of people discussing about the role of humanness in the new world of AI. And we concluded that the human Centricity now is required much more in this world of intelligent machines and whatever than ever before and again, when you say humanness, you need leadership that's in a humanness and leadership are interconnected, so you need more leadership. So that's one point I wanted to make. The second point I want to make is that a number of CEOs I'm talking to be going to release a paper very soon on the trends of professional services firms, including the consulting and technology services firms. And they are almost these firms are almost worth about a trillion dollars, and from a global revenue perspective, many CEOs of these companies are going through an existential crisis where they're either publicly or privately saying, within two years, if we don't change the way we are operating, within two years, we've been in the business 25, 30, years, but if we don't change the next two years, our value of Our business will be eroded by 40 to 50% so on one side, we have all these inventions happening. On the other side, we have people who are employing 1000s of people, and the leaders of those companies are recognizing the need to change now we as leaders need to come together and help balance. You know, how we leverage the invention, but at the same time, lead in a manner in which we continue to serve the people in our businesses, continue to serve the society. And I'm a very I'm absolutely against these large organizations who treat people like commodities, and get rid of 1000s of people when the stock price goes up, and then hire them back when the stock price goes down, or whatever, sort of the other way around. Hire people when the stock price is down and hire people when it's up. Treating people like commodities poor leadership. We are seeing that everywhere. I think we just need to. We just need to help people navigate through that as well.

Mick Spiers: 24:44

So one of the things I'm curious about there, Kumar, with this intersection and this humanness and all of the things that you're talking about here, and making sure we treat people like people, and that we succeed through our people, not at the expense of our people. Don't, don't treat them as numbers. So the other thing I've felt in the last, particularly the last decade, is a elevation, that that's what people are looking for in the world, that they want to do business, including spending their own money. They want to do business with companies that have these values, that have human values. So yes, we need to disrupt. But if we, if we're not doing it in a way that connects that humanness that you talk about with the technology, people are going to vote with their dollars. What I'm hearing is, it's not just about, what can this technology do and the art of the possible. It's if you don't bring the human connection along, people will turn their back on you, is that what I'm hearing?

Kumar Parakala: 25:42

Oh, absolutely, absolutely. I mean, in fact, there are 1000s of companies. We have the younger generation, young professionals who are one of the smartest people I've ever been interacting with. They challenge my thinking. When I talk to the younger people, I learn from them. They always give me a new perspective of looking at the world, our generation, that is generation of people who have worked for 25, 30 years. We are used to authoritative management styles, putting up with hierarchical structures, agreeing to people who are higher up, even though their values may or may not align to you. We have lived in a relatively very subservient culture, organizational culture. That's how we progress. Many of our leaders progressed in their careers, but you raise a very, very valid point, the new new leaders, new young professionals, are not going to put up with that kind of double standards and that kind of hypocrisy. They are looking for true meaning at work. They are looking for authentic leadership. They are looking for active engagement when you are a leader, when you are a CEO as equals. You know, I have, I've had situations where we get college graduates to come in, and, you know, I very quickly learned that I can't talk to them like a CEO talking to a entry level college graduate. You got to talk to them like you're equal. And then you say, Okay, what do you think I can do differently? And things like that. Actually, a young professional was my coach. You know, this person was only 22 years old and decided to become my coach. And so the point I'm making here is to retain people, to attract people, to show leadership. You need to change the way you have operated. My book talks about it. You've just raised it, and that is what we as experienced professionals need to reflect on and change and adapt as fast as possible.

Mick Spiers: 27:51

Yeah. Really good. So I'm hearing the element of how we treat people, and then to be able to articulate with them the reason why the company does what they do and they want it to be a meaningful purpose, one that has a social conscious, one that's solving the world's problems, not just, Oh, look at how much money we made. Money is okay and it's not. Money is not evil, and you need money to fuel the mission. But the mission is becoming more important than working working for that multi trillion dollar company, it's more important that.

Kumar Parakala: 28:24

Oh yeah, people are leaving right, left and center, these multi trillion dollar companies, if they you know, and they're ending up having substandard sometimes people who may or may not be, you know, that should be there. The good people are some of these big companies. Good people are leaving because there is a misalignment in values. And they're saying, hey, I'll go and work for a startup. Why do I need to put up with this? And maybe I need to take a $50,000 cut, but that's okay, but I'm leading my life, so it's a very different world where people won't compromise for a position or title or more money. These younger professionals are lot more authentic what I've seen than we ever have been when we were at their age.

Mick Spiers: 29:05

Yeah. Really good. Okay, so what does that mean like? So we've touched on this for a couple of times now. What does the future organizational structure look like? Kumar, so does the word CEO, President, Vice President, Junior vice president? Are these words going to go away, or what does the future leadership structure look like if it's not hierarchical, what does it look like next?

Kumar Parakala: 29:28

I think the future leadership structure is going to be flat and it is going to be very much purpose based. What purpose are you fulfilling? And so traditionally, you know, people have often, you know, we have these hierarchical structures. But if you look at, for example, Nvidia, one of the most valuable companies in the world, maybe not this week. But before this week, Nvidia has the CEO, Jason hang. Has got 60 direct reports, and he talks to them as their leader on as need basis. He doesn't have these long meetings. He doesn't have these business meetings. He doesn't take so what we are seeing, what the future leadership is going to be, very much flat structures. The second thing is, in organizations you may or may not have career roles. So for example, if you are a Chief Human Resources Officer, you may not be a Chief Human Resources Officer for rest of your life. In my view, leaders will go through and personally, I've experienced that multiple career changes during their life. You won't you won't simply stick to one career. You will have multiple careers. So that's the second and you need to be prepared for that. The third thing is that anybody who is a leader needs to have the finger on the pulse as far as the followers they want to engage with, and that requires empathy, humility, ability to communicate all those sorts of things, very different kind of skills. So again, that's something Mick, I would like to say people need to very much think about, and then all the six or seven things I've mentioned in my book about higher purpose and challenge the status quo and creating the value, and all those sorts of things they found. But these are all the sorts of things I think the new leadership model for me is a very exciting horizon for existing leaders to explore and also new leaders to explore. Say it's going to be a leveling field going forward, where the leadership skills required to do a job may not exist in those who may have 3040, years of experience, there may be just people who may have five or six years experience who could be better leaders, and let's all be ready for that world as well.

Mick Spiers: 32:03

So it is a new paradigm, but I'm loving to hear that the element of human skills are going to be the constant there. The ones that are going to truly thrive are the ones with human skills. I want to address the fear, though, Kumar, because there's going to be some people listening to the show. There are people that fear this new world. There's going to be some that fear the technology, fear that AI is going to take their job instead of augment their job. Then there's going to be others that this is a challenge to their very identity that they're if they've worked for 30 years and they've worked really hard to try and build this career, and they've attached their identity to being the vice president or whatever the case may be, in this flat structure, it's going to be a challenge to their ego and a challenge to their identity. So how do we address those two things, the fear that AI is going to take my job, or the fear that I'm my identity and my ego is not intact at the other end of this journey, if I don't go with it.

Kumar Parakala: 33:01

Yeah, very good questions, and I'll be very direct with you, Mick. I have no doubt AI is going to take your job. The business startups that I'm currently supporting and investing and all they are creating this agentic AI bots that are geared to replace certain type of professionals, project manager, product manager, engineers, whatever it is lawyers that's going to happen. Okay, if you're in any profession, AI will be there, but you cannot run away from AI. The job that you're doing today will be taken over by AI, but you need to be prepared for the job tomorrow, and the only way you can do that is by actively engaging with this innovation and change, being at the forefront, being on the bus, and adapting what technology and innovation is Bringing in in a manner in which you are leading the change and not following it. So my advice is, the longer you sit on the sideways, the greater this chance that you somebody else will the machines will take over your job and you will have nothing to do. But the faster you jump in and engage. You can actually drive the agenda in a manner in which you create opportunities for yourself. So that's the first advice. Mick, sorry, what was your second question? Please?

Mick Spiers: 34:35

Yeah, so the second one was about the challenge to identity and egos. You know, if I've worked my career to get to the VP level, but now it doesn't exist anymore. It's a flat structure and, oh, might even be the expert in yesterday's technology, and I, that was a badge of honor for me. So there's going to be some people that their whole identity starts getting challenged here.

Kumar Parakala: 34:55

Oh, big time. And even for people like me, sometimes very challenging is that. You know you are a president of a business or a CEO of a business, and suddenly you get out and you don't have that title anymore. You are known most of the time as a senior leader based on the title. But that is changing, and very quickly, I've come to the conclusion is that a true leader has no title, and that's for everyone, and your relevance as a leader is completely dependent upon the positive impact and the value you can add to the lives of other people. If you can't do that, you can't be a leader in this new world. An executive managerial title of some sort does not make you an automatic leader. It makes you a manager, and that's what I've written in my book. I said the managers and leaders may not be the same. There are some very, very good managers, very bad leaders, so we just need to recognize the difference. Leadership is all about human heart. It's all about connecting with people. It's all about thinking about their well being, even though sometimes for what you may say, may not they may not like it, and helping them, influencing them in a manner in which you bring positivity to their lives and help them deal with the challenges that they're facing on a daily basis.

Mick Spiers: 36:27

So let me share what I'm taking away. I think this is our big call to action for everyone. You need to step into this as fast as you can. If you're stuck in the in the old thinking, you need to act, and you need to act straight away, or you will be left behind. The things that I'm taking away here, Kumar is the awareness. So we've been having this conversation for a few years now about, will AI take my job? I'm hearing from you, it will take your job. The job that you do today doesn't exist tomorrow. So start getting ready for a new future. The idea that you might work for the same company for 30 years is also dead. Get ready that your career is going to be dynamic. You won't do the same career for 30 years because that career won't exist. That company may not exist. Companies don't have the same longevity that they used to have as well. So the sooner we move beyond that, or just some acceptance and awareness that's going to happen. Now, let's get on with it. And the let's get on with it. For me, Kumar, sounds like develop your human skills. That's the one that's going to be universally applicable no matter what happens in the world, and then get ready to work on that leadership element. But the leadership is not traditional management. It's going to be those that have got vision, those that have got agility, those that are about able to influence people, those that have empathy, those that can move with the times, or even shape the times are going to be the ones that are successful in the future. So your job today won't exist, but get ready for your job tomorrow and your job the day after that, which might be different again, and that's where you need to be to have those leadership skills of vision influence around a purpose. So I'm going to say influence and impact, coupled with empathy, is what's going to be your superpowers for the future. How does that sit with you?

Kumar Parakala: 38:17

Oh, that's you summed it up, very, very well, Mick, and I think everything that you have said is very much needed. And I would reiterate again that the human centric nature of our leadership requires to be considerably enhanced in this new world of AI, a lot of people think we don't need it. In fact, in my view, we need lot more human centricity, lot more humanness. And for us as leaders, we need to reflect on that and take that forward.

Mick Spiers: 38:45

Yeah, brilliant. I feel like I could talk to you for seven hours, and we still would only be scratching the surface, but I'll bring us to a close now. There's so many things that you've given us to think about, and there's a bit of, I've got to say, it's a bit of a stark reality. It's going to be a wake up call for many people listening to the show. If you're listening to this right now and you're scared of what Kumar say, you gotta you gotta step into that discomfort. Gotta lean into it. Step out of your comfort zone. Are you going to regret it later if you don't act now? So thank you so much, Kumar. I want to take us now to our Rapid Round. These are the same four questions we ask all of I guess. So, what's the one thing you know now? Kumar parikala that you wish you knew when you were 20?

Kumar Parakala: 39:26

Well, what I'm realizing now in the last decade or so is that the better you build relationships and connections with people, the more happier you will be in your life. It's not your technical skill, it's the ability to engage with other humans. We are fundamentally human beings to the core, and our relationships determine how happy and not happy we are.

Mick Spiers: 39:53

Ah, beautifully said. Yeah, love it. Okay, what's your favorite book? As an author yourself, what is your favorite book?

Kumar Parakala: 40:00

I loved reading one of my professor's books last year, which has a profound impact on my life. It's called from strength to strength by Arthur Brooks, who is the professor of happiness at the Harvard Business School. And he did very extensive research, I don't know, 2000 people or whatever, and concluded in his study, what really makes people happy, and the traditional things that we believe, like the traditional leader model, that we believe, make it make us happy, are not necessarily things that make us happy. And it's a very profound insight that I got from that book, and I've been since then, following that's, that's my favorite book for the time being.

Mick Spiers: 40:41

Yeah, yeah. Really good. This is a powerful realization as well. In fact, it's quite counterintuitive. The things that we were striving for actually do the opposite. They make us unhappy. Yeah, very good. What's your favoritequote?

Kumar Parakala: 40:55

My favorite quote for the last, I don't know, 30, 35, years, I've always been from the great philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the court has been, do not go where the path may lead. You Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Mick Spiers: 41:17

Yeah, and that is so consistent and congruent with everything we've discussed today. Kumar, I love it. And finally, how do people find you? If they if they're curious to know more, I'm sure there's going to be people that are worried and need to have a good guide. How do they find your book? How do they find you?

Unknown: 41:33

The best way is to get to me on LinkedIn. Kumar Parakala, LinkedIn, I'm very accessible on LinkedIn. You can send me emails, but I'm usually not very efficient in responding to emails, but connecting on LinkedIn, and then if further engagement is needed, we can set up a time or through my email address, and we can engage. But LinkedIn is my platform to go to.

Mick Spiers: 41:59

Wonderful Kumar, thank you so much for sharing your gift today, your gift of your wisdom, the gift of your time. There are so many great takeaways from today. I feel wiser for having do this, but you've also inspired me into action to make sure that I'm leaning into my own discomfort and getting out there and carving my own path in the world and leaving a trail behind me. Thank you so much, Kumar.

Unknown: 42:22

Thank you, Mick for the opportunity, and I wish you the very best. Thank you.

Mick Spiers: 42:26

What an amazing conversation with Kumar Parakala, after hearing Kumar's journey, what leadership lessons will you take with you? How can you start leading differently to adapt to the digital transformation happening right now? Hope you enjoyed today's conversation. His insights into digital leadership and the future of AI are truly eye opening as always. I'd love to hear your thoughts. What resonated with you the most? How are you adapting your leadership style to the digital age? Reach out to us on social media or leave a comment, and don't forget to subscribe, so you never miss an episode of the leadership project. Just a quick update that we have a format change that we've recently implemented, where I won't be doing the weekly recap show, but rather a monthly one. So each month I'll give you a solo cast where I reflect on the lessons that I've learned from the guests during that month. In the next episode, I'll be joined by Jones Laughlin, who's going to share with us about how we can harness the power of focus, which is absolutely something we all need as leaders in a modern world. Thank you for listening to The Leadership Project mickspiers.com a huge call out to Faris Sedek for his video editing of all of our video content and to all of the team at TLP. Joan Gozon, Gerald Calibo and my amazing wife Sei Spiers, I could not do this show without you. Don't forget to subscribe to The Leadership Project YouTube channel, where we bring you interesting videos each and every week, and you can follow us on social, particularly on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Now, in the meantime, please do take care, look out for each other and join us on this journey as we learn together and lead together.