AI is helping top performers become even better at what they do.
But not just because they’re automating more tasks or getting more work done in less time.
A recent Harvard Business Review essay, “What Top Performers Do Differently with AI—and Why They See the Biggest Benefits,” reveals the larger picture.
Top performers, or “high-agency individuals” as I like to call them, are using AI to think, learn, explore possibilities, develop strategies, and improve their judgment.
They’re not simply using AI to do their work for them. They’re using it as a springboard to become even more effective at what they do best.
For them, AI is an amplifier.
The Individual Is the Difference
The HBR researchers discovered that top performers use AI differently.
They are self-directed learners who experiment, test ideas, compare results, and continually improve how they work.
Instead of treating AI as an automation tool, they use it as a thinking partner. They use it to challenge assumptions, help develop strategies, prepare for difficult conversations, and evaluate new ideas and future possibilities.
AI doesn’t do all the thinking. The individual directs the process.
The individual isn’t blindly parroting AI output.
That’s why natural strengths are so important.
Each of us has natural ways of working when we are free to be ourselves. These are our natural strengths.
Those strengths influence how we approach opportunities and challenges.
When we work in alignment with our natural strengths, we operate with greater effectiveness, less friction, more energy, and less tendency for burnout.
“A person can perform only from strength.”
— Peter Drucker, Managing Oneself (1999).
AI creates new possibilities for extending those strengths.
AI doesn’t create the strengths. It amplifies what is already there.
Widening the Gap
One common perception of AI is that it levels the playing field.
But the researchers found that although AI benefits workers across performance levels, the largest gains were experienced by top performers in the sales organizations studied.
Those top performers weren’t just automating routine tasks. They were leveraging AI to engage in higher-value activities.
They learned, experimented, strategized, and identified opportunities.
They gained effectiveness, not just productivity.
“The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers.”
— Richard Hamming, Numerical Methods for Scientists and Engineers (1962)
Determining what deserves our attention, what opportunities are worth pursuing, and which outcomes are desired requires human judgment.
But AI doesn’t just amplify. It also widens gaps.
Combined with human agency, strategy, and judgment, AI amplifies the strengths of the individual.
When the individual abdicates those essential roles, AI fills the void, and the gap widens.
Things Worth Amplifying
As an AI advocate with a humanities degree, I’m particularly interested in the intersection of AI and human thinking, agency, and judgment.
The more capable AI becomes, the more important human agency and judgment become.
Peter Drucker called for individuals to know their strengths and take responsibility for managing themselves long before generative AI appeared.
Since AI is an amplifier, Drucker’s call takes on new urgency.
We now have access to tools that dramatically extend what individuals can accomplish.
The greatest benefit of AI isn’t automation alone. It’s the opportunity to amplify the strengths of the high-agency individual.
Winning isn’t something we outsource.
AI can provide possibilities, information, analysis, and assistance.
But we must decide what winning means, which opportunities are worth pursuing, and what actions to take.
AI is an amplifier.
What Are You Amplifying?
Something to think about…
Are you using AI primarily to automate repetitive tasks, or to become more effective in your high-value activities?
Which of your natural strengths could AI help you amplify?
How could you use AI to exercise greater agency, strengthen your judgment, and pursue the opportunities that matter most to you?
Research by Christopher Stanton, Justin Shriber, and Simon Rudat, “What Top Performers Do Differently with AI—and Why They See the Biggest Benefits,” Harvard Business Review, October 8, 2026. https://hbr.org/2026/10/what-top-performers-do-differently-with-ai-and-why-they-see-the-biggest-benefits
Understanding your own natural strengths is essential for top performers in the Age of AI. The Kolbe A™ Index identifies your strengths and how you naturally take action. I am a Kolbe Certified Consultant. Message me if you’d like to learn more.