Who Am AI? Reimagining Human Potential and Leadership in The Age of AI

Today, we’re not facing a technology or resource problem; instead, we find ourselves in a serious leadership crisis. For the past decade given my work as a curator of the future, I have witnessed firsthand how AI along with other disruptive technologies have begun to reframe the future of being human, which requires better leadership and understanding of how we can harness our limitless human potential. In this context, the question “Who am AI?” emerges as a provocative rethinking of the ancient query “Who am I?”—a question rooted in Eastern Indian philosophy. Focused on inner transformation, the question is timely and necessary here and now.

 

 

The Audacity of Leadership in the Age of AI

The question Who Am AI? is integrating our most authentic and integral best self with useful exponential technologies, offering humanity an opportunity to redefine personal growth, meaning, and success in life. AI isn’t just a tool—it serves as a catalyst that can help us optimize for longevity, purpose, and abundance.

 

As we step into an era dominated by disruptive innovation, the conversation around Artificial Intelligence (AI) is growing at an exponential pace our need to preserve our authenticity and integrity is more vital than ever before. Who Am AI? Seeks to integrate the best of both these worlds through four core pillars rooted in the ancient wisdom of our Vedic scriptures.

 

SEVA: which is living a life of service

SANGHA: building fellowship and strengthening community

SADHANA: Pursuit of self-mastery and realization

SWADHARAMA: following the noble and dutiful path

From Personal Achievement to Collective Prosperity

 

As a child, I frequently asked myself, who am I? And what is my greater purpose in life as a human being? This focus on self-worth rather than just net worth positioned me as an outlier in a society that often equates success with academic achievement, material wealth and status. Audacious leadership is rooted in building moral courage, authenticity, and integrity in service to a cause greater than oneself. In an era defined by the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, groundbreaking AI-based twin protocols such as DigitalDeeepak.ai and scientific AI platforms like Millionways are emerging as powerful tools for human beings to unlock our leadership potential through optimal mental health and well-being. Well-designed AI serves not only as a guide but also as a supportive companion, better known as your digital twin on the journey to becoming audacious leaders.

 

As Sam Altman from OpenAI recently shared his vision to create the ultimate AI-based executive assistant, I liken this vision to Jarvis from the movie Iron Man. In the age of artificial intelligence, individuals from diverse backgrounds can harness their true human potential through an innovative AI-based digital twin protocol to develop their best selves and match their signature strengths to empower their teams and communities. This advanced algorithm can be designed to guide and support aspiring audacious leaders on their transformative journeys, empowering them to embrace their audacity and drive meaningful change.

 

My own pursuit of leadership took on a new calling when I returned to India in 2010 to work on a global health initiative with Harvard’s School of Public Health as one of the co-principal investigators at UCSF. There, in the trenches in the slums of Mumbai, I witnessed life at the very edge of survival. I saw people go without even the bare necessities of life like food, water, and electricity for days on end. I watched as families lost loved ones to preventable diseases. And yet, amid this overwhelming adversity, these communities displayed extraordinary fortitude and resilience. They did not just survive—they learned to adapt and live with grace and compassion by fostering an ethos of shared purpose and collective prosperity.

 

These attributes struck me at my core: these people embodied deep authenticity and integrity while harnessing the courage to live a life true to themselves with dignity and courage, even when deprived of life’s essentials. I am not saying it was perfect, far from it. But these communities turned poverty into shared wealth and hardship into community-driven strength. They were able to forgive, adapt, and move forward despite overwhelming odds. This, to me, is the essence of being human and becoming an audacious leader over a lifetime. And it provided a clear lesson: leadership isn’t just about who you are or where you come from—it’s about being loved, respected, and honoured by the community you serve.

 

The Role of AI for Self-Transformation

Research shows that the pursuit of a bigger house, a faster car, or a higher paycheck offers only temporary satisfaction, leaving many of us stuck on a never-ending hedonic treadmill. Historian Yuval Noah Harari suggests that AI will drive more change in the next 50 years than we have seen in the last 5,000. This level of transformation is integral to human experience when there is about to be a major paradigm shift, but it also demands that we reimagine what it means to be human and how to live a meaningful and purpose-driven life. To do so we must focus on inner transformation that requires a tremendous amount of grit, steadfast commitment, and self-discipline.

 

AI’s peril is often viewed as a double-edged sword with AI’s promise. Who Am AI? suggests a different narrative: AI could be a force for positive transformation addressing the greater good for humanity, when wielded thoughtfully with intentional design and implementation AI can focus on elevating human potential rather than replacing it. Studies have shown that when we connect deeply with others and give of ourselves in service, we not only improve the well-being of our communities but also achieve a deeper sense of fulfilment and happiness for ourselves. Here, AI can be a powerful ally in building the audacious leadership protocol and platform that creates an algorithm that strives to help us succeed in life.

 

At this point, AI isn’t just a machine learning algorithm or a collection of data sets—it has the potential to augment human ability and consciousness. We’re now at a tipping point where AI can help unlock the best in us by enhancing our capacity for empathy, creativity, and connection. When communities work together, AI can act as a facilitator, enabling us to transcend individual limitations and evolve into something greater—a superorganism, where the whole is more powerful than the sum of its parts.

 

The true power of AI lies in its ability to help us evolve not just technologically, but also spiritually. As Deepak Chopra elucidates in his new book Digital Dharma when AI is integrated effectively with human consciousness, it can enable us to better serve ourselves as well as our communities, turning the focus beyond just individual achievement and success towards collective well-being and flourishing.

 

A Call to Action for Audacious Leadership

So, where do we go from here? Life itself is rife with chaos and uncertainty—yet fear, left unchecked, can prevent us from seizing the transformative opportunities AI offers.

 

The people I met in the slums of Mumbai faced overwhelming adversity, yet they made the conscious choice to live with purpose, hope, and dignity. They chose to focus on what they could give, rather than what they lacked. In the same way, we as a global society must choose to embrace AI not as a threat, but as a tool for transformation. By integrating AI with our consciousness, we can unlock our full human potential as a species to finally use this disruptive technology to lift these underserved communities out of poverty.

 

As we come together at the 79th UNGA Summit of the Future, we must not forget our shared responsibility to help the billion people who are underserved and still suffer in our world. If we choose love over fear, abundance over scarcity, and joy over suffering, we can work towards achieving tangible outcomes using AI that benefit humanity and our planet.

 

As the African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Who Am AI? is the framework that gives us the chance to do both—to move faster and further than ever before. As audacious leaders, we should make serving our communities without fear or favour our highest priority. Especially as we step into a brave new era where AI and being human will become one to usher in a new reality, and where we decide Who We Are by the actions we take as audacious leaders in our lifetime.

 

Kunal Sood is an award-winning disruptive innovator and social impact strategist. He founded We the Planet, Audacity and X Impact Group. He also serves as the Chief Impact Officer at the Chopra Foundation and Director of Social Impact at Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism (CCARE). He is a TED Resident, Tribeca Disruptor Fellow, and Global Ambassador for Singularity University and the Nonviolence Foundation. He sits on the advisory board of Climate Cardinals and Conrad Challenge.