In this Siemens Xcelerator Industry Thought Leader interview, futurist Gerd Leonhard explores the accelerating tension between technological progress and human values, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence, industrial innovation, and leadership responsibility. Leonhard argues that AI should be understood first and foremost as a tool for augmentation, not replacement. While automation has a role, he cautions that its impact is often overstated. The real opportunity lies in using AI to enhance human capabilities—through cognition, augmentation, and virtualization—rather than pursuing a narrow cost-cutting agenda that removes people from the system entirely. Efforts to replace human judgment, creativity, and empathy, he warns, lead to brittle organizations and soulless outcomes.

From digitally accelerated turbine development to the structural shifts needed to close hydrogen’s cost gap, this year has shown decisive movement in how clean hydrogen is designed, deployed, and scaled. There has been, and continues to be, a deeper rethinking of infrastructure, policy, and industrial value chains.