What are the fundamental leadership capabilities that are needed for an era of exponential technology and AI innovation?

This is not all about AI this is all about generation change. So leadership should think about both. Employee first , Customer second.

Ability to adapt to ever changing technology landscape and open to learning new AI skills and tools. Critical thinking and clarity of thoughts on value delivery are really important.

1/ Skills management for your org.
2/ Conflict resolution- as people skills become more important
3/ Critical thinking
4/ change management

The most critical leadership capability for the AI era is transitioning from deterministic to probabilistic thinking. Traditional organizations were built on predictable, controllable processes. AI demands leaders who can make decisions with statistical confidence rather than certainty, build systems that embrace variability, and develop teams comfortable working with probabilistic outcomes.

Curiosity to learn all that is evolving in this space, in tandem with empathy to support education, transition of skills, and general guidance to your team members. There are different starting points and you need to meet people where they are and create an achievable bridge to cross with them. Also, have a north star where you want to be in a year from now, and communicate it widely and with passion. Energy and optimism is very contageous! :)