I learned from the presentations by human resources development (HRD) experts and discussions with knowledgeable delegates during the Asia HRD Congress 2025 at University of Cyberjaya (UoC) that emphasized “A healthy connect between AI and EQ is necessary to progress and be successful in the corporate world. AI can be programmed to communicate with empathy, but its power as a tool remains limited by the ethical boundaries & emotional context we set for it. This puts communicators in a position to ensure emotional cues and empathetic behaviors AI is trained on align with human values." (https://hrdcongress.com)
I am convinced that, while AI can imitate certain aspects of human intelligence and in some cases surpass it, but it does not possess emotions & emotional intelligence like humans do. AI operates based on algorithms, probability and data but does not have personal experiences or subjective consciousness.
I remember reading Daniel Goleman's 1995 book ‘Emotional Intelligence' who introduced a whole new perspective on predicting and analyzing employee performance. The author, one of the world's leading EQ academics, had suggested that “There is far more to being successful than high level of cognitive intelligence.” He developed a performance-based model of EQ to assess employee and teams' levels of EQ, as well as to identify areas of improvement. (Goleman, Daniel (1995). Emotional Intelligence. New Bantam Books, 1995. Print.)
At the sidelines of the congress, I had the opportunity to engage with a young AI savvy delegate, Sanam Sandhu from Punjab who is a graduate student pursuing MBA program @UoC shared the competitor intelligence insights that could balance between AI and EQ to reshape how we work, communicate and lead. I agreed with him that the real challenge and opportunity lies in understanding where AI excels and where human skills must lead. For example, when AI flags a drop in team sentiment, but leaders don't engage with empathy or curiosity, the issue may deepen rather than resolve with EQ processes.
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