Amgen GM unpacks AI, cultural nuance and pressures reshaping leadership

The rules of leadership are being rewritten in real time as a complex national and geopolitical landscape continues to challenge the boundaries of decision-making.

For Keith Jones, Associate Vice President & General Manager Amgen ANZ, the shift is more than theoretical. After nearly two decades with Amgen, he has moved from the US to lead the ANZ affiliate, a transition that places him at the intersection of global strategy and local nuance.

Providing a fascinating platform for this senior leadership podcast series is University of Sydney’s leadership report, authored by Professors Sandra Peter and Kai Riemer. Their work maps the converging skill sets reshaping leadership – not as abstract theory, but as capabilities being tested in motion.

One of the report’s central ideas ‘speaking the language of tech’ becomes a focal point. The idea that organisations can “just add AI” and unlock transformation is challenged head-on. For Jones, the question is no longer whether to adopt these tools, but how the “tone at the top” models the behaviours to integrate them without amplifying complexity and unintended consequences.

“This can be a very scary concept for many of our staff in terms of what AI is and what it potentially could become. The mindset we’ve tried to embed is that we’re here to amplify human performance, not replace it,” Jones states, sharing examples of best practice.

Yet technology is only part of the equation. The report’s emphasis on ‘working across difference’ introduces a different kind of challenge, one that is less about systems and more about people.

“What separates the average from the very best leaders is their ability to customise towards what their people need of them,” Jones emphasises. “I like to use the phrase, ‘how well do you travel to other people’s neighbourhoods?'”

All of this unfolds against what has been described as a “decade of disorientation”. For the next generation of leaders, the path forward is anything but linear.

“Cut yourself some slack, give yourself some grace…understand how your own mind operates when it comes to adapting change,” he says, before unpacking the weight behind those words, a reflection forged through global experience and sharpened by the demands of leading in a rapidly shifting landscape.

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