As artificial intelligence reshapes how organizations handle information, the deeper challenge is how we think and decide together in its presence. This Knowledge Café explores why AI does not replace Knowledge Management, and why Conversational Leadership now matters more than ever.
Knowledge Café
Conversational Leadership in the Age of AI
Date: Wednesday 15th April 2026
Time: 14:00 to 15:30 BST (London time)
—it might still work for you if you’re open to an early start or a late night.Host/Speaker: David Gurteen and John Hovell
Location: Online Zoom Event
Price: Free
Introduction
This event is part of a series of online Knowledge Cafés on Conversational Leadership, held on Zoom.
Each Café explores a theme drawn from my online blook on Conversational Leadership.
Ahead of each Café, I may invite you to read one or more related posts from the blook to help prepare for the conversation.
If you’re new to the Knowledge Café concept, please note that this is a participatory event, not a webinar.
Theme: Conversational Leadership in the Age of AI
Artificial intelligence is transforming how organizations access, process, and synthesize information. It can outperform many traditional Knowledge Management systems in storing, retrieving, and recombining content at scale. Yet the original ambition of Knowledge Management was never simply better storage. It was better judgment in complex situations.
AI changes the terrain of knowledge work because it can now participate in our thinking. It reframes questions, proposes connections, and influences what appears plausible. But it does not carry responsibility for consequences. That remains human.
As AI strengthens the informational backbone of organizations, the real work shifts toward interpretation, alignment, and ethical action. The challenge is not technical capability but conversational capability. How do we question AI outputs, surface assumptions, and remain accountable for decisions?
This Knowledge Café explores why Conversational Leadership becomes central in AI-saturated environments, and how we can think well together, human to human and human with machine.
John and I will speak about the Café’s theme and pose a question to initiate the conversation. Then, in Café style, we will divide into small groups for three rounds of discussion, followed by a whole-group conversation.
Reading Material
If you have time, please read this post from my blook. It provides helpful background for our conversation, though it’s not required.
Upcoming Events
Event: What Is the Impact of Anthropomorphising AI? Tuesday 22nd September 2026 14:00 to 15:30 GMT+1 (London time) - AI increasingly speaks to us in ways that feel remarkably human. Treating it as a person may change how we… 
Event: Gurteen Knowledge Café Workshop Tuesday 20 October 2026, 14:00 to 18:00 BST (UK time) - Organizations rely on meetings and workshops to think together, explore issues, and make sense of complex situations. Many sessions drift… Image Credits: Midjourney
()This coaching supports you in leading as a practice: initiating conversations that matter, deepening connection, and making space for reflection where it's often missing.