Leaders’ Competencies and Skills in the Era of Artificial Intelligence: A Scoping Review

The era of artificial intelligence (AI) is challenging for company leaders who have to systematically observe the evolving digital environment, as well as to adopt and effectively implement new technologies within their organizations. Effective deployment of AI in a company requires full commitment of the management staff, as it plays a crucial role in shaping employee behavior. As a result, the connection between AI and leadership has increasingly been a subject of academic inquiry, although it has not yet been sufficiently examined. Therefore, the aim of this article is to determine the competencies and skills required for leaders in companies that implement AI. To fulfill this purpose, a scoping review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR checklist and diagram flow. The study, conducted in March 2025, involved a review of articles relevant to the research topic that were indexed in the Web of Science, Springer Nature Link, and Scopus databases. The review was limited to open-access articles available in English. Out of the initial 463 articles, 28 studies were qualified for full-text review, of which 17 were selected for detailed assessment. The research led to the identification of a set of 15 competencies and skills considered essential for leaders tasked with AI implementation. The proposed recommendations are meant to improve the development of competencies and skills of leaders involved in decision-making related to AI technology implementation in companies. The findings of the study may enable more effective utilization of AI by prompting changes in leaders’ behaviors.