Essays, books, and keynotes on artificial intelligence, leadership, and resilience, written from Reykjavík.https://gislio.com/en-ushttps://gislio.com/writing/resilience-strategic-advantage-2/https://gislio.com/writing/resilience-strategic-advantage-2/Why the ability to change your mind is worth paying for.Fri, 16 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTResiliencehttps://gislio.com/writing/infrastructure-we-keep-promising-ourselves/https://gislio.com/writing/infrastructure-we-keep-promising-ourselves/Why the humanitarian reset needs shared digital public infrastructure, and an invitation to help build itSat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTHumanitarian Technologyhttps://gislio.com/writing/asimov-didnt-solve-ai-safety-he-showed-us-why-its-hard/https://gislio.com/writing/asimov-didnt-solve-ai-safety-he-showed-us-why-its-hard/A machine can follow its rules and still produce an unintended outcome.Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/slowdown-everyone-agreed-missing-half-world/https://gislio.com/writing/slowdown-everyone-agreed-missing-half-world/Over the weekend, something rare happened in the artificial intelligence industry. Three of its most competitive and often openly antagonistic leaders said the same thing on the same day. Dario Amodei of Anthropic published an essay(https://darioamodei.com/post/we-must-pace-the-frontier) arguing...Sun, 13 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/introducing-atlas/https://gislio.com/writing/introducing-atlas/For the past couple of months, I have been writing about a single idea: that AI does not replace leaders; it exposes them. Several of you have asked the obvious next question. If AI exposes an institution, how do you actually see what it is exposing before the technology forces the issue?Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/announcing-ai-fluent-nation/https://gislio.com/writing/announcing-ai-fluent-nation/After hearing numerous national leaders talk about the challenges of preparing their countries for the age of AI, I decided to leverage key insights from The AI Fluent Leader and provide guidance at the national level. Thus, The AI Fluent Nation was born.Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/ai-does-replace-leaders-exposes-them/https://gislio.com/writing/ai-does-replace-leaders-exposes-them/Most of the conversation about artificial intelligence is about what the technology can do. I want to make the case that this is the wrong conversation for a leader to be having, and that the right one is more uncomfortable.Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/three-questions-test-ai-architecture/https://gislio.com/writing/three-questions-test-ai-architecture/On Monday, I argued that almost every institution has an AI strategy, and far fewer have a coherent one, and that the work of the Architect imperative is to ensure the coherent strategy exists in writing for the institution itself, not just for the audience the published strategy is written for....Wed, 13 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/augment-ninety-second-tour/https://gislio.com/writing/augment-ninety-second-tour/The AI Fluent Leader(https://amzn.to/42a98Yz) is built on a working framework called AUGMENT. The book gives a framework, a chapter for each of its seven imperatives, and develops each one at length. For readers who arrived at this writing after the launch, and for readers of the book who want a...Wed, 06 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/conversations-launch-surfaced/https://gislio.com/writing/conversations-launch-surfaced/My newest book, The AI Fluent Leader(https://amzn.to/42a98Yz), was published on Thursday. Four days in, the most useful thing I can do this morning is not promote it. The most useful thing I can do is read what the senior leaders who picked it up have written back to me, and tell you what I am...Mon, 04 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/when-institutions-buy-time-cannot-afford/https://gislio.com/writing/when-institutions-buy-time-cannot-afford/The EU's AI Act delay is not a regulatory story. It is a leadership story.Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/second-coming-of-age-humanitarian-leadership/https://gislio.com/writing/second-coming-of-age-humanitarian-leadership/From Appeals to Architecture — Why Resilience Is the New CredibilityMon, 20 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTHumanitarian TechnologyCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/announcing-my-new-book-ai-fluent-leader/https://gislio.com/writing/announcing-my-new-book-ai-fluent-leader/Been spending a lot of time working on AI for the past month. Will be sharing more on that over the coming weeks. One reason for this is that I wanted to understand how I could have augmented my previous roles using AI. Another reason is that we are living through times of great disruption, and...Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/leadership-age-systemic-disruption/https://gislio.com/writing/leadership-age-systemic-disruption/For much of modern history, leaders could focus on managing change within relatively stable systems. Markets shifted gradually. Political conditions evolved over decades. Technology advanced in cycles that allowed organizations time to adapt. Leaders could build long-term plans with a reasonable...Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/why-most-ai-strategies-fail/https://gislio.com/writing/why-most-ai-strategies-fail/Over the past two years, artificial intelligence has moved from a technical curiosity to a central topic in boardrooms around the world. Executives who once viewed AI as a distant technological development are now asking urgent questions about how it will reshape their organizations. Boards are...Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/resilience-strategic-advantage/https://gislio.com/writing/resilience-strategic-advantage/For many years, resilience has been treated as a personal quality. It is often described as the ability to endure difficulty, recover from setbacks, and keep going when circumstances become hard. When we hear the word resilience, we tend to think about individual strength. We imagine people who...Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTResiliencehttps://gislio.com/writing/why-ai-expose-shallow-strategy/https://gislio.com/writing/why-ai-expose-shallow-strategy/For many years, organizations have operated under strategies that were not as strong as they believed. In stable environments, weaknesses in strategy can remain hidden for a long time. A company can grow as the market expands. An institution can maintain its position because competitors move...Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/reskilling-workforce-enough/https://gislio.com/writing/reskilling-workforce-enough/Across industries, there is growing agreement that artificial intelligence (AI) will transform the nature of work. As a result, organizations are investing heavily in reskilling their workforce. Employees are learning how to use new tools, analyze data, and collaborate with increasingly capable...Sat, 07 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/ai-does-replace-leaders-exposes-them-2/https://gislio.com/writing/ai-does-replace-leaders-exposes-them-2/Artificial intelligence will not replace leaders. But it will expose them.Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI and Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/crisis-leader-new-revised-edition/https://gislio.com/writing/crisis-leader-new-revised-edition/In a world increasingly shaped by disruption, uncertainty, and “permacrisis,” the ability to lead through chaos is no longer a niche skill; it is a core leadership imperative.Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/why-crisis-leaders-must-vulnerable/https://gislio.com/writing/why-crisis-leaders-must-vulnerable/The Marble Statue MythFri, 22 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/how-to-build-rapport-fast-in-a-crisis-situation/https://gislio.com/writing/how-to-build-rapport-fast-in-a-crisis-situation/When the room is hot with fear, your most powerful tool is not a perfect plan or a heroic speech. It’s rapport,  the felt sense that “you see me, you hear me, and I can trust you enough to move with you.” In The Crisis Leader, I argue that rapid rapport is the gateway toThu, 21 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/the-leader-who-had-no-title-influence-from-the-ground-up/https://gislio.com/writing/the-leader-who-had-no-title-influence-from-the-ground-up/Crises have a way of reordering the world’s assumptions. Systems that look strong on paper bend under pressure; ten-step plans collapse under the weight of reality; job titles lose their magic. And yet, in the middle of all that, something remarkable happens: people with no formal authority...Wed, 20 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis LeadershipResponsibilityhttps://gislio.com/writing/storytelling-crisis-how-inspire-through-vision/https://gislio.com/writing/storytelling-crisis-how-inspire-through-vision/Sirens don’t move people. Stories do. When uncertainty spikes and information fragments, a clear, human story becomes the operating system of a response. It explains reality without euphemism. It gives meaning to sacrifice. It turns scattered effort into coordinated momentum. In The Crisis...Tue, 19 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/talk-straight-listen-first-role-honest-communication/https://gislio.com/writing/talk-straight-listen-first-role-honest-communication/In a crisis, information is oxygen. When people can’t breathe, they can’t think; when they can’t think, they can’t act. That is why the most decisive advantage a leader can create in the first hours and days of disruption is an honest, rhythmic flow of communication: clear words going out, real...Mon, 18 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/building-trust-first-24-hours-crisis/https://gislio.com/writing/building-trust-first-24-hours-crisis/Trust is the speed at which people will follow you into the unknown.Sun, 17 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/power-influence-times-chaos/https://gislio.com/writing/power-influence-times-chaos/When the sky falls in, people don't instinctively run to the org chart. They run to the person who calms them, the one who acts, the one they trust. In crisis, influence, not title, becomes the most valuable currency. Organizations built on authority can stagnate under pressure; networks built...Sat, 16 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis LeadershipResponsibilityhttps://gislio.com/writing/why-true-leaders-emerge-from-any-level-org-chart/https://gislio.com/writing/why-true-leaders-emerge-from-any-level-org-chart/Crisis has a way of exposing the truth about leadership. It strips away the safety nets of titles, hierarchies, and org charts, revealing who can truly step up when it matters most. Often, the people who lead most effectively in a crisis are not the ones with the corner office or the biggest...Fri, 15 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis LeadershipResponsibilityhttps://gislio.com/writing/what-crisis-leadership/https://gislio.com/writing/what-crisis-leadership/In moments of stability, organizations thrive on structure, predictability, and established processes. But when a crisis hits, those same systems can falter. That’s when the distinction between leadership and management becomes not only clear, but critical.Thu, 14 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/from-despair-action-leaderships-role-rebuilding-hope/https://gislio.com/writing/from-despair-action-leaderships-role-rebuilding-hope/“At times like this the game goes to the one with the loudest voice, but everyone wishes their mother was there.” – Captain Jack Harkness, TorchwoodWed, 13 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/three-levels-crisis-how-impact-leadership/https://gislio.com/writing/three-levels-crisis-how-impact-leadership/“Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; whenever there is opportunity, there lurks danger.” – Earl NightingaleTue, 12 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/chaos-factor-how-leaders-stay-grounded/https://gislio.com/writing/chaos-factor-how-leaders-stay-grounded/Chaos is the score upon which reality is written. – Henry MillerMon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/human-needs-shape-crisis-response/https://gislio.com/writing/human-needs-shape-crisis-response/In every crisis, beyond the logistics, strategies, and press conferences, there’s a quieter battlefield: the human mind.Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/what-crisis-why-leadership-matters/https://gislio.com/writing/what-crisis-why-leadership-matters/Crisis. The word alone evokes urgency, unpredictability, and disruption. Yet, behind every headline-grabbing disaster, behind every public meltdown or system breakdown, there lies a more profound truth: leadership is either what makes things better or what makes them worse.Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTCrisis Leadershiphttps://gislio.com/writing/digital-humanitarians/https://gislio.com/writing/digital-humanitarians/The landscape of humanitarian response has undergone a significant transformation in recent years due to the emergence of digital volunteers, often called digital humanitarians (Meier, 2015). These digital humanitarians are part of a volunteer-based movement that leverages digital tools, social...Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTHumanitarian Technologyhttps://gislio.com/writing/use-open-data-humanitarian-sector/https://gislio.com/writing/use-open-data-humanitarian-sector/Open data refers to information that is freely available, accessible, and reusable by anyone (Open Knowledge Foundation, 2016). Open data has revolutionized information dissemination across various sectors, including humanitarian response (Smith et al., 2023). Initially conceptualized to enhance...Thu, 30 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMTHumanitarian Technologyhttps://gislio.com/writing/humanitarian-remote-sensing/https://gislio.com/writing/humanitarian-remote-sensing/Remote SensingThu, 23 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMTHumanitarian Technologyhttps://gislio.com/writing/humanitarian-data-collection-methods-tools/https://gislio.com/writing/humanitarian-data-collection-methods-tools/Rapid information collection and dissemination are crucial in emergency responses, as responders often operate under immense time pressures and without a comprehensive understanding of the situation (Van de Walle & Comes, 2014). However, the desire for comprehensive data can result in collection...Thu, 16 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMTHumanitarian Technologyhttps://gislio.com/writing/data-driven-response/https://gislio.com/writing/data-driven-response/Historically, humanitarian responses were guided by humanitarians' experience, intuition, and on-the-ground assessments (IFRC, 2013). While effective to some extent, these approaches often faced challenges regarding timeliness, accuracy, and scalability (Meier, 2015). While sometimes valuable,...Sun, 03 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTHumanitarian Technologyhttps://gislio.com/writing/coordination-emergency-telecommunications/https://gislio.com/writing/coordination-emergency-telecommunications/The coordination of emergency telecommunications efforts plays a critical role in ensuring the continuity of communication when conventional systems fail (Lund, 2011; Olafsson, 2011; Steckler, 2013). The integration of emergency telecommunications into humanitarian response strategies has...Tue, 29 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMTHumanitarian Technology