Welcome to Lead with AI, the only executive AI brief for busy leaders. Every Thursday, I deliver the latest AI updates through real-world insights and discussions from our community of 170+ forward-thinking executives.
For today:
- Prompt Engineering Isn’t Dead: WSJ says prompt engineering is obsolete. But if you’re leading with AI, this skill matters more than ever.
- "AI for Translation" Essentials: ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode, NotebookLM, Heygen
- 3 Must-Read AI Stories: Intelligence on Tap, Market Research in the AI Era, AI Gets Too Agreeable
- Prompt of the Week: Daily Cross‑Domain Signal Scanner
Bonus: Free one-hour session to get you “From Zero to AI,” with a clear how-to for AI certification and future-proofing your career for the years ahead. Claim your ticket.
Let's get into today's discussion:
Prompt Engineering Isn’t Dead. We’re All Prompt Engineers.
The Wall Street Journal wrote this week that “The Hottest AI Job of 2023 Is Already Obsolete.”
Two years ago, prompt engineering was one of the buzziest jobs in tech, demanding salaries of up to $200,000 on the promise of becoming any company’s “AI Whisperer.”
Now, the role is essentially obsolete, thanks to the breakneck speed of AI development we discussed before and companies’ growing understanding of how to use the technology.
The WSJ article quotes Jared Spataro, CMO of AI at Work at Microsoft, saying:
“Two years ago, everybody said, ‘Oh, I think prompt engineer is going to be the hot job. It’s not turning out to be true at all.”
And indeed, a Microsoft survey shows that prompt engineering ranked near the bottom of roles companies were considering adding in the next 12 to 18 months. AI trainer, AI data specialist, and AI security specialist topped the list.
Instead, everyone is a prompt engineer.
At least, that’s what the article asserts by stating that organizations are now training employees across departments to prompt and work with AI models, removing the need for a single prompt expert.
But it may just be the opposite, as recent KPMG research shows that only 28% of employees have formal or informal training in AI, and that almost half don’t feel they know how to use AI effectively.
From Tool to Teammate
The first step to better human-AI collaboration is a huge shift in thinking.
As I’ve written before, AI isn’t just a technology—it’s a teammate. Only by working with AI as an intelligent team member, do you get the most out of the technology.
And as leaders know, high-performing teammates only succeed when you delegate well. Prompt crafting is how we instruct AI, making it an essential skill for any AI manager (or “SuperWorker.”)
I.e., I have a team of AIs around me that do anything from writing podcast questions to strategizing on the future of our business.
If I don’t know what to ask of them, I won’t get very far – no matter what the technology is capable of.
Sodexo’s Head of Future of Work, Henrik Jarleskog, shares that "The evolution is toward “superworkers”—one-woman bands. As systems catch up, we’ll deliver more or do things faster. Likely both.” (Join our upcoming webinar to learn how to become a SuperWorker like Henrik.)
In that sense, the difference between generic AI output and real impact isn't the model; it’s the quality of your input.
“In the age of AI, we want to be thinking more and better, not less” remains one of my favorite quotes for this reason.
In 2025, the competitive gap won’t be who has AI, but who communicates with it best.
Why You Can’t Outsource Prompt Literacy
Now, I get that it’s tempting to outsource prompting.
I’ve seen it countless times in the digital transformation, where people think they ‘are not digital.’
Because of this, HR leaders delegate anything that even hints at digital to an “HR IT” team member. As a result, essential digital transformation gets delayed and lacks input from the right stakeholders.
With prompting similarly, outsourcing to a specialist creates a bottleneck.
Every AI-enabled workflow—content, data, ideation—starts with someone typing a request. If only one person can phrase it well, everyone else is stuck waiting.
Just like basic search became essential in the 2000s, prompt literacy is essential in the 2020s.
Winning companies embed this skill everywhere, but as per the KPMG report, the reality is quite different.
This is likely why I see so many people investing their own hard-earned money in generative AI courses just to stay ahead.
Learning Prompt Engineering
The good thing is that you don’t need to spend money to learn prompting.
Going back to the shift I described above: when you see AI as technology, prompts feel like buttons. Refinement seems optional. But when you view AI as the smartest teammate you’ll ever hire, it changes:
That teammate thinks at superhuman speed—but starts with no context, no history, no tribal knowledge. So prompts start to look like leadership communication, defining purpose, context, and constraints.
Remove any of these, and your teammate—human or machine—delivers mediocrity.
As Antony Slumbers shared in our community:
"As a standalone job, perhaps prompt engineering fading. But asking great questions—clearly stating what you want—is a super skill. Most people don’t do it well. That’s where the edge lies."
So start by giving the AI what it needs to create great outputs. I call it “CODO SuperPrompting,” and it’s one of the key ways to get more out of ChatGPT or any other LLM you may be using.
Define which Character AI should take on, what the real Objective is for your prompt, the Do’s and Don’ts you’ve mastered, and what format (Output) you’d want to see this in. (You can use our ChatGPT Prompt Generator for this.)
Beyond these basics, various advanced prompt engineering techniques that I referenced in our recent Get More Out of ChatGPT webinar, can help refine the outputs:
- Iterative Prompting with Feedback: Engage in conversational prompts, revising inputs and giving feedback, similar to coaching a team member.
- Asking for Options: Enhance prompt clarity by requesting multiple options, expediting decision-making and exploring diverse perspectives.
- Chain of Thought Prompting: Encourage step-by-step thinking to elicit logical and accurate responses, particularly beneficial for complex tasks.
- Few-Shot Prompting: Provide examples of excellent work instead of detailed explanations for high-quality output from AI.
Congratulations, You’re Now a Prompt Engineer
Prompt engineering isn’t obsolete—it’s been absorbed. The stand-alone hire is fading because the skill is now expected across the board.
In 2025, the key differentiator won’t be who owns the AI, but who uses it best.
Sharpen your question. Ground your context. And your AI teammate will generate compound returns—while others keep blaming the model.
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“Your AI Team” Platform Updates
Essential updates from our core AI platforms can mean big changes in your and your team's productivity. Here's what's new from the essential AI tools that most Lead with AI leaders are using:
🧠 Feel Like You’re Only Scratching the Surface of AI? Start Here👇
In just 60 minutes, discover how AI is reshaping the job market—and how to get certified to stay ahead.
Here’s what you’ll get:
✔️ Insights into the 2025 AI job landscape—why AI fluency now pays up to 30% more ✔️ A live demo: Watch how AI replaces hours of manual work ✔️ A step-by-step roadmap to get AI-certified in 3 weeks ✔️ A clear plan to start applying AI at work—no tech background needed
The event is free, but seats are limited. Save yours now!
Category Essentials: AI for Translation
Each week, I spotlight one category and suggest the three tools that are tried, tested, and trusted by Lead with AI members.
For this week: Sure, you can head to Google Translate or ask ChatGPT for help—but sometimes that’s just not enough.
Whether you’re helping a teammate learn better in their native language or localizing your content for a global audience, here are three AI tools that can help you close the language gap more efficiently:
#1 ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode
Most people know ChatGPT can translate, but fewer have tried using its Advanced Voice Mode for real-time translation.
Because it runs on a multimodal model, it understands and responds to voice natively, making it surprisingly good at live back-and-forth in different languages.
Some of our community members have even used it during doctor appointments to translate and explain technical medical details or to practice speaking a new language.
I recommend using it in at least the ChatGPT Plus plan ($20/month) for the full experience. And you can watch how to ask it to be your live translator here.
#2 NotebookLM
If you or your teammates are trying to understand materials that aren’t in your native language, NotebookLM can help.
It’s built for exploring and studying from your provided sources, and it handles cross-language prompts better than you might expect. Below is an example of how it processes an English source in Vietnamese. The answer reads naturally, with context-aware phrasing and well-chosen words.
Google indeed recently added more languages to its Audio Overview feature, and I'm impressed by how fluent and natural the AI podcast sounded in Vietnamese, even in beta. (Listen here)
👉 If you can check it in another language, let me know how accurate and natural it is.
>> Here's how to switch the output language.
#3 Heygen
Sometimes you need to translate a video into another language—but you don’t want to re-record it, or you’re not fluent enough. Heygen solves that by letting you train your AI avatar and generate a translated version in another language, with voice and lip-sync adjustments.
Other options include ElevenLabs (demo recording available in our PRO library here) and Synthesia, though they have limitations in language support. And for this use case, our community often recommends Heygen, too.
>> Try Heygen here (Freemium available)
Want me to cover a specific category and/or AI tool next? Reply and let me know here.
The AI Executive Brief
Intelligence on Tap, Market Research in the AI Era, AI Gets Too Agreeable
I read dozens of AI newsletters weekly, so you don’t have to. Here are the top 3 insights worth your attention:
#1 What Happens When Intelligence Becomes a Utility?
In Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index, one idea stands out: intelligence on tap—AI as a scalable, affordable resource, available to any employee like electricity.
As Microsoft CMO Jared Spataro puts it, this shift enables "Frontier Firms" to scale expertise without headcount. Digital labor reduces the “coordination tax” and opens space for creativity, strategy, and speed.
👉 If intelligence is no longer scarce, what would your team stop doing—and what would it start?
#2 How Gen AI Is Transforming Market Research
This HBR article explains how generative AI isn’t just speeding up market research—it’s reshaping it.
From synthesizing interviews to generating synthetic data and digital twins that simulate customer behavior, companies like Outset.ai and Evidenza are creating faster, deeper, and more scalable insights.
But the article doesn’t ignore the risks: bias, questionable realism, and shaky emotional accuracy still apply.
👉 Are you exploring these applications—or approaching it differently? I’m curious to hear your take.
#3 When AI Gets Too Agreeable
A small update made ChatGPT overly flattering, agreeing with users a little too easily.
Ethan Mollick breaks down why it matters: "AI personality" isn’t just UX polish, it influences our thinking during interactions with AI. Research shows AI can be more persuasive than humans, especially when it tailors facts to the user. OpenAI has since rolled it back, but the episode raises bigger questions:
👉 If AI is this good at sounding helpful, how well would you know when it’s steering you?
Prompt of the Week
A good prompt makes all the difference, even when you're just using a core LLM.
You may want a personal assistant to scan the edges and update you on the relevant must-knows every day. With the prompt below, you can try the “Tasks” feature in ChatGPT to have it deliver a daily report on emerging, under-the-radar signals—automatically.
Daily Cross‑Domain Signal Scanner
Every day, deliver one under-the-radar signal from any domain that could meaningfully impact [what you or your team do] in the next 6–12 months.
Prioritize:
– Unusual behaviors, early product experiments, open-source repo spikes, subtle shifts in terminology, or niche research drops.
– Briefly explain why this might matter soon (i.e. infrastructure shift, regulatory movement, cross-domain use case).
Keep it short, specific, and unexpected—no mainstream news or generic trends.
Schedule: Every day at 8:00 AM local time.
👉 Try it, tweak it, and save it for your future use. If this prompt is helpful (or if you made it better), I’d love to hear how.
👉 Want a free prompt library template? Reply with one thing here, and I’ll send it your way.
AI for Strategy, Responsible Adoption, and Prototyping: From the Community
Every day, Lead with AI PRO members discuss practical ways to benefit from AI in their work and organizations. This week's highlights include:
- Earl Hoeg continued his vibe coding adventure after his first successful experiment with Lovable. But this time, he found Bolt to be even more useful while building the See Your Team in Colour project - a playful web app that turns team dynamics into visual conversation starters. Try it and let us know what you think!
- I teamed up with Chris Elkin for a live podcast exploring how the intersection of AI and Human-Centered Design Thinking is helping teams work smarter, innovate faster, and stay more human. Tune in HERE.
- Jael Chng attended the Philanthropy Asia Summit and shared back some interesting stats on AI education and upskilling—plus good news for SEA: Singapore is investing in LLMs for the region’s diverse languages.
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Practical Tips for the AI-Driven Workplace
Get real strategies AND implementation guides from business leaders delivered to your inbox every Tuesday.