I have been thinking a lot about agency lately.
Every day, we hear more about AI agents. Technology companies are racing to build systems that can make decisions, take actions, solve problems, and operate with increasing autonomy. The goal is clear: give machines more agency.
Yet amid all this conversation, I wonder if we are overlooking a more important question:
What about human agency?
At a time when we are focused on creating increasingly capable agents, many people feel less capable of influencing their own lives and work.
What is agency?
Agency is the belief that our choices matter and the willingness to act on that belief.
It does not mean controlling everything around us. It means recognizing that even when we cannot control circumstances, we can influence how we respond.
People with strong agency do not spend their energy wishing reality were different. They focus on what is within their control and take intentional action.
They move from being passengers in their lives to becoming active participants.
Why agency matters now
Periods of significant change often challenge our sense of control. Today’s combination of technological disruption, economic uncertainty and social change creates a similar dynamic.
When uncertainty increases, many people become reactive. They operate on autopilot, allowing habits, assumptions, emotions, and external pressures to drive their behavior.
Others become passive. They wait for someone else to provide answers, direction, or certainty.
Neither response helps us navigate complexity.
Agency does.
Agency allows us to move forward even when we do not have all the answers. It helps us adapt, experiment, learn, and respond intentionally rather than reactively.
In a world where change is constant, agency is becoming an organizational advantage, a leadership capability and a life skill.
What high agency looks like
High-agency people are not necessarily smarter, more talented, or more experienced. They simply approach challenges differently.
When they encounter a problem, they ask:
“What can I do?” Rather than: “Why isn’t someone fixing this?” or “Why is this happening to me?” They look for possibilities rather than obstacles. They take ownership without waiting for permission. They experiment, learn, and adjust. They recognize constraints without becoming defined by them.
Most importantly, they understand that while they may not control outcomes, they can always control their effort, mindset, and response.
Agency is not just something we develop in ourselves. It is something leaders can cultivate in others. Every interaction can either strengthen or weaken another person’s sense of agency. Leaders cultivate agency when they provide clarity, encourage thinking, treat mistakes as opportunities for learning, create ownership, and help people focus on what they can influence.
Reclaiming our agency
Perhaps the irony of the AI era is that while we are investing enormous energy in creating more capable agents, we have an opportunity to become more intentional about cultivating agency in ourselves.
Agency is not something we either have or do not have.
It is a practice.
It grows when we clarify what matters most. It grows when we align our actions with our values. It grows when we pause long enough to recognize that we have choices. It grows when we reflect on our experiences and learn from them. And it grows when we evaluate our impact and make adjustments.
The future will undoubtedly include increasingly intelligent machines. But our greatest challenge may not be teaching machines how to act.
It may be remembering that we can act too.
As AI becomes more capable, what do you think will be most important for strengthening human agency in ourselves and the people we lead?
