Above, Below, And AI
An independent study of the pressure on CEOs and senior leaders from the board, from their teams, and from AI.
First edition: UK and US. Survey open from November 2026. Report April 2027.
Opening
At the CXO Summit, the discussion was about the impact of AI on the future of work. On LinkedIn, the posts run on what makes a good leader and which traits make a toxic one. Both conversations come back to the same person: the CEO or senior leader standing at the point where the board, the team, and AI meet.
71%
stress risen
In DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2025, a survey of 10,796 leaders across more than 50 countries, 71% said their stress had risen since taking on the role, and 40% of those had considered leaving leadership to protect their wellbeing.
If you lead at that level, the weight arrives from every direction at once, and you carry it the way you've always carried things.
That shapes the calls you make, including the ones on AI.
When the board, your team, and AI all want something from you at once, what happens to you, and to the way you lead?
Above, Below, and AI measures where the pressure moves and who ends up checking the work AI speeds up.
It also asks what support leaders need and aren't getting, and where the load shows up once they leave work, at home, and in the body.
AI is still being rolled out, and its costs and returns are still being worked out.
The study looks at how leaders are making those calls while the answers are still coming in.
How the study works
The study combines a survey of senior leaders with confidential interviews, by video or in person, with leaders who want to take the conversation further.
The findings are set against major studies already published on leadership, workload, and AI, including DDI, Gallup, Microsoft's Work Trend Index, and the Chartered Management Institute, so the report shows where this picture aligns with the wider evidence and where it differs.
An advisory panel of neuroscientists and psychologists reviews the study's ethics and independently codes the interviews.
Who we want to hear from
CEOs, MDs and founders, C-suite leaders, and directors and heads of function, in organisations of every size and sector. The first edition centres on the UK and the US. Leaders elsewhere are welcome to take part, and we report their answers as a group once numbers allow.
The survey takes about 12 minutes.
What you receive
A reflection: the moment you finish.
A short read-back of your answers, with one takeaway question.
The report, before it’s public
The full findings in March 2027, ahead of publication.
The chance to join a findings roundtable
Small sessions in May 2027 where senior leaders discuss what the findings show. Places are limited and by invitation; you can register your interest at the end of the survey.
Confidentiality
Every response is anonymised and held confidentially under UK GDPR. The report names no individuals and no organisations, and any quote carries only a role level, an organisation size, and a sector.
Partner organisations never see individual responses. You can withdraw your answers at any point before analysis begins. Full privacy notice can be found here.
Partner with the study
Membership bodies and peer networks
Share the survey with your members. You'll receive an early findings briefing, credit in the report, and an offer to give a talk on the results.
Bring 30 or more responses from one sector, and you will also receive a summary for that sector.
Media partners
Carry the study to your readership and cover the findings when they’re published.
Academics
Join the advisory panel to review the method and the interview coding, with the option of a signed commentary in the report.
Sponsors
Organisations whose clients are senior leaders can sponsor the report, its launch and the roundtables from early 2027.
Every partner works to the same terms: the questions, the data and the findings stay independent, and no partner sees individual responses.
To talk about partnering, email hello@josephhh.com.
Beyond the first edition
What Leaders Carry is designed to run every year. Asking the same core questions annually turns a snapshot into a record of how the load on leaders shifts as AI settles into work, and each edition adds the countries where partners carry it.
Lead researcher
Joseph Hammond-Hagan is an executive coach based in London, working with senior leaders, MDs, CEOs, and founders across finance, law, education, technology, and social enterprise.
In 2022, he led original research on confidence and resilience among Black CEOs and founders in the UK.
Close
Add your answers to the first edition.