CEOs and founders
Leading at the intersection of AI, people and performance, and deciding what the organization has to become.
Unlearn faster. Build trust. Drive impact.
Rewired Leadership is Mark Zides' playbook for leading when AI changes everything. Its argument: the leaders who thrive will be the ones who can unlearn faster than the world changes. It is the framework underneath every Z.Advisors engagement.
The argument
What the book says.
Four lines from the book, each of which changes what a leader is actually responsible for once AI is doing part of the work.
- AI will not replace leaders. It will expose them.
- Leadership isn't about knowing more. It's about unlearning faster.
- Leadership is no longer a role. It is a system.
- Trust is not a value. It is a system output.
In more detail
The four ideas.
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01
AI will not replace leaders. It will expose them.
Organizing information, coordinating routine work and relying on how it was done last time are exactly what agentic AI does well. What is left for the leader is judgment, and every outdated habit shows.
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02
Leadership isn't about knowing more. It's about unlearning faster.
The hardest habits to drop are the ones that made you successful. The book calls them success traps, and treats unlearning as the highest-leverage habit a leader has.
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03
Leadership is no longer a role. It is a system.
Clarity, decision design, judgment allocation, trust architecture and adaptive correction: the five parts of the Rewired Leadership operating system.
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04
Trust is not a value. It is a system output.
Trust is designed, not hoped for. Guardrails replace permissions, mistakes become data, and truth travels faster than fear.
Endorsements
What leaders say about it.
“If you’re a leader, talent strategist, or HR executive staring down the barrel of the AI revolution, Rewired Leadership is the wake-up call you didn’t know you needed.”
“Mark brings rare credibility from decades in boardrooms and high-growth environments, pairing practical frameworks with hard-earned judgment and humility.”
“As a friend and colleague of Mark Zides, I’ve watched this framework begin to elevate teams and outcomes in real time. It’s a must read.”
Leadership isn't about knowing more. It's about unlearning faster.
The core message of Rewired Leadership™
Who it is for
Written for the people carrying it.
CHROs and people leaders
The book's CHRO Playbook: building the AI-ready organization through talent, structure and incentives.
Boards and sponsors
Judging whether a leadership team can carry a transformation before funding one.
Every leader whose job is changing
Anyone who understands that the only way to master the future is to unlearn the past.
Applied, not just read
Every step of the path is built on it.
The assessment scores against its model. The programs teach it. The coaching uses its language. The redesigns follow its CHRO playbook. See the five steps.
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Start here 01 · Uncover AI Readiness Assessment Where every engagement can start. Start with the assessment
- 02 · Develop Leadership Development If the gap is how your leaders lead. Explore →
- 03 · Coach Executive and Team Coaching If one leader, or one team, needs to move first. Explore →
- 04 · Design Talent and Performance Architecture If your people systems reward the old job. Explore →
- 05 · Build Learning and Enablement The delivery layer under all four. Explore →
Speaking
Bring it to the room.
Sessions for leadership offsites, board days and portfolio events. Tell us the room and what you need it to leave with.
Keynote
Leadership offsites
A single session on what changes about the leadership job when AI changes everything.
WorkshopLeadership teams
Working through your own decisions and habits, not a case study.
Board dayBoards and sponsors
What to look for when judging whether a team is ready to lead through AI.
PortfolioPE portfolio events
One session across several management teams at once.
Topics
What a session covers.
Drawn from the book, shaped to the room.
- Why AI will expose leaders, not replace them
- Unlearning faster
- Designing for speed, judgment and trust
- The CHRO Playbook for the AI-ready organization
- Leading Gen Z in the agentic era
- The 90-Day Leadership Rewire
The author
Written by an operator.
Mark Zides has spent more than 35 years helping organizations change how work gets done, at the intersection of HR, talent, leadership and AI. He is the founder of Z.Advisors, a TEDx speaker, and the author of The #PACE Process for Early Career Success.
- Founded
- CoreAxis, a learning and talent firm, acquired in 2022.
- Ran
- Luminoso, an AI company that came out of the MIT Media Lab, as CEO.
- Wrote
- Rewired Leadership (2026) and The #PACE Process.
Get the book
Unlearn faster. Build trust. Drive impact.
Available in paperback and as an ebook. Rewired Leadership: When AI Changes Everything. Unlearn Faster. Build Trust. Drive Impact.
“As a friend and colleague of Mark Zides, I’ve watched this framework begin to elevate teams and outcomes in real time. It’s a must read.”
Of The Day Press · 2026 · Foreword by Michael Glass
Before you get in touch
Questions about the book.
Anything not covered here, ask directly.
Yes. Rewired Leadership was published in 2026 by Of The Day Press, in paperback and as an ebook. It is available on Amazon.
Yes. Sessions run for leadership offsites, board days and portfolio events. Tell us the room and what you need it to leave with.
It is the curriculum behind the leadership development programs and the model behind the AI readiness assessment. Both are run on your own leaders and your own decisions, not delivered as a generic course.