Could AI Replace CEOs? Lessons from Innovation Week Prague 2025

At Innovation Week Prague 2025, a distinguished panel of AI and leadership experts explored this provocative question: Could artificial intelligence replace human CEOs?

The discussion featured Avi Rosenblatt, co-founder of FutureEconom; Balazs Bakos, partner and Chief Product Officer at Armstrong Studio and creator of Verti; Jan Sedivy, founding director of the AI Center at Czech Technical University; and Abraham Maldonado, Official OpenAI Ambassador and co-founder of Create Labs.
The panel was moderated by Michael Londesborough, who guided a dynamic conversation on the strategic, ethical, and human dimensions of AI-driven leadership.

AI as a Strategic Co-Pilot

One of the most striking insights came from Abraham Maldonado, who described AI as a co-pilot capable of generating complex business plans from minimal human input.

“If you go to a technology right now and say, ‘Hey, I want to design a new platform to improve schools in Prague,’ that’s your one sentence. That’s all you contribute. But now, the AI system is going to say, ‘Okay, that’s a great idea. I’m going to write up a product design, a strategic plan for how to execute that.’”

Maldonaldo highlighted AI’s ability to follow through on execution with remarkable speed:

“All you’re writing is yes, right? Generates the wireframe. You want me to research the schools that it can impact? Yes. You want me to do that? Yes.”

Balazs Bakos, creator of Verti, an AI-powered venture studio platform, explained that while AI can combine existing knowledge in novel ways, it does not invent entirely new concepts:

“It is certainly putting certain steps or certain thoughts together, which may lead to creating something that the model didn’t see while it has been trained. But it doesn’t invent anything.”

Artificial intelligence can accelerate strategy development and project execution, but it still needs human vision to define direction and purpose.

Accountability and Ethics

As AI becomes embedded in executive decision-making, questions of accountability loom large. Who is responsible when AI-led decisions fail?

Maldonado addressed this directly:

“A lot of times when we blame, ‘Oh, AI said something racist,’ or AI did this… we’re blaming the AI instead of blaming the designers and the engineers that designed or were responsible for putting the guardrails in place.”

Avi Rosenblatt echoed this sentiment, underscoring the need for transparency:

“The accountability in my view doesn’t start with things when it goes wrong. It starts with how transparent you are. What you can get from that solution or from the system.”

The takeaway was clear: while AI can process data and generate insights, it cannot bear moral or legal responsibility. Ethical AI use depends on human clarity, oversight, and the courage to take ownership of results.

AI in Governance and Operations

AI’s transformative role is already evident in the public sector. Jan Sedivy offered a compelling example from his work with Prague’s city administration:

“We have 200 agents, and these agents are checking projects which were funded… like 50,000 PDF pages with regulations. They have to go through it. So we improve productivity and slash down the number of agents by 30–40 percent.”

This “human-in-the-loop” approach highlights a practical governance model for AI integration — one that boosts efficiency without removing human judgment. AI acts as a force multiplier, handling scale and speed, while humans retain control over interpretation and accountability.

The Limits of Machine Leadership

Despite AI’s speed and analytical power, panelists agreed that the core of leadership remains human. Emotional intelligence, empathy, and ethical discernment are still beyond the reach of algorithms.

An audience member raised a critical point:

“Being a leader means being able to lead a group of people. If a conflict arises within a team, that’s something only a human can resolve.”

The panel concurred. AI can mediate information, but not human emotion. Leadership, at its essence, involves guiding people — something no model can yet replicate with authenticity or nuance.

Humans and AI in Partnership

The discussion made one truth clear: AI will not replace CEOs in the foreseeable future. Instead, it will augment them.

From strategic planning to execution, AI can accelerate processes that once took weeks or months, freeing leaders to focus on what truly matters — vision, culture, ethics, and creativity. Yet, as Rosenblatt reminded, transparency and accountability must remain non-negotiable.

The future of leadership, then, is augmented leadership. In other words, the future of executive leadership lies in collaboration between humans and AI. Leaders who can leverage AI’s analytical and operational strengths while maintaining accountability, empathy, and vision will define the next era of business.

‍

Source:
Innovation Week Prague 2025 — Panel Discussion: “Replacing Leaders with Artificial Intelligence: Will AI Take the CEO’s Seat?”
Moderated by Michael Londesborough, October 10, 2025.

‍