What OD Practitioners Said About Professional Confidence in the Age of AI
Professional Confidence in the Age of AI: Organisation Development practitioners around Australia weigh in
In May 2026, New Work Consulting facilitated an online roundtable for Organisation Development Australia, drawing on findings from the Australian Leadership Study, Professional Confidence in the Age of AI. Practitioners from across internal and external OD roles came together to examine what AI’s acceleration means for employee confidence, professional value, and organisational trust.
The discussion surfaced some of the most pressing questions facing OD professionals right now: where confidence is eroding, what clients will still need from humans when information is no longer a differentiator, and what it means to lead effectively in this environment.
The summary below captures the key themes from two structured discussions and is available to download as a PDF.
At a glance:
- Identity uncertainty is a live issue. Employees across organisations are asking: who am I in this role, and am I redundant? Leaders don’t yet have clear answers.
- AI is accelerating output and, in many organisations, bypassing the human work that makes teams function well together.
- The burden is shifting from production to discernment. Thoughtful, selective communicators are the ones holding ground.
- Relationship intelligence is emerging as the primary professional differentiator as information becomes commoditised.
- What clients will still seek from humans is not information — it is the capacity to make sense of their own situation, including the things that perfect information cannot see.
- OD professionals who cannot clearly articulate their own value proposition are in the same position as the employees they are trying to support.
- Organisations have a responsibility to communicate strategic clarity around AI, or they will lose the confidence of their people.
