Can AI help leaders be more human?

With even more Teamgage customers using our built-in AI feature, Sidekick, we’re in a strong position to answer the question: can AI help leaders be more human?

And the answer is surprisingly, yes!

Every leader who has provided feedback on using Sidekick AI within Teamgage has rated the experience positively.

Because when AI is used in the right way, it doesn’t replace the human element, it enhances it. Let's discover more.

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AI in the workplace

When people think of AI in the workplace, some might picture cold automation, complex data or futuristic robots.

Others might see it as "just another tool" to help them write better work emails, generate thought leadership blog posts 👀 or create fun images like the recent "Action Figure" trend.

What’s easy to overlook is how AI can help leaders to lead more effectively, more compassionately and in a more human way!

In fact, AI is already helping thousands of leaders do just that.

It's giving them the tools to listen better, respond faster and build stronger connections with their teams.

But that doesn’t mean all of your options for using AI are created equal.

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Using AI in a safe way

It might be tempting to go straight to pasting your employee feedback into a tool like ChatGPT, but that approach does carry risks.

It may not be secure, it almost certainly lacks your full organisational context, and without best-practice prompts, the results can be hit and miss.

That’s why it’s always better in this context to use AI that’s built into a trusted platform, approved by your organisation and designed specifically to support leadership and team engagement. That way, you get meaningful insights and can take informed action without compromising your organisation's security or privacy.

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Faster visibility, more real conversations

That’s the real value of AI when it’s built into the right platform. It cuts through the noise, brings clarity and gives leaders back something they rarely have enough of....time!

So with Teamgage for example, AI can instantly and securely analyse ALL of your employee feedback, then highlight what’s really going on beneath the surface, so leaders can focus on what matters most.

This ultimately means less time trawling through data and more time having real, human conversations that matter!

It makes the days of painful, manual analysis of surveys seem like a real relic from the past.

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Spot what’s unspoken

Not everything makes it into a survey comment. Team members may feel uncomfortable articulating their concerns, or unsure whether their feedback will be heard. AI can help fill that gap.

By picking up subtle patterns and shifts in how employees are rating survey questions, AI can see when something’s off.

It can then help leaders spot the early warning signs, so they can start a conversation before a small issue becomes a big one.

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A fresh perspective

That same outside perspective can be just as useful when responding to employee feedback. AI can offer next steps and advice you might not have considered, especially when managers are too close to the issue.

We all know how easy it is to fall into the habit of giving the same old response to concerns, or none at all.

But that’s where AI can act like a breath of fresh air, cutting through bias and fatigue to suggest empathetic, constructive actions grounded in best practice.

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Empathy at scale

But AI certainly doesn’t replace emotional intelligence. It simply supports it for every one of your managers.

And with Teamgage, we like to think of it as their very own sidekick, helping each manager zoom in on areas within their team that really needs care and attention. We've mentioned it in numerous blogs before, but helping managers to "manage reality" with a little bit of help, is the key here.

It also gives senior leaders the confidence that issues at any level will be addressed in good time with empathy, supported by real, data-driven insights.

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A real-world example: clarity through confusion

As mentioned, Sidekick is Teamgage's very own AI tool.

It analyses real-time survey responses and then creates an easy to read summary, next steps and recommended actions at the click of a button.

In one recent example, Sidekick picked up a drop in a team's Communication scores and then linked this change to a range of comments about a new company-wide policy update.

"Using the AI capabilities in Teamgage alongside our real-time survey results, the platform flagged a communication issue linked to our recent policy update. Within seconds, it identified the likely cause, highlighted supporting employee comments (that we could validate), and suggested practical next steps, making it easy to take informed action straight away."

The insight prompted leaders to act quickly. They hosted informal sessions, explained the ‘why’ behind the change, and answered questions directly.

The result? Greater clarity, stronger trust, and a more connected team.

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Final thought

AI is not about replacing leaders. It’s about giving them better tools to lead.

When used well, AI makes it easier to listen, understand and respond with empathy.

And that’s what real human leadership looks like.

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