JMU and Innovative Leadership Institute launch AI leadership study from 500 interviews

James Madison University’s School of Strategic Leadership Studies and the Innovative Leadership Institute are turning more than 500 recorded leadership interviews into research on how organizations create value from AI. The collaboration will present early findings at the International Leadership Association’s 2026 Global Conference in Toronto.

Why it matters: - The study aims to answer a practical AI question facing boards and executives: why some organizations turn AI into value while others create activity without results. - The research uses real-time leadership interviews, not retrospective accounts, which could produce more actionable evidence on decision-making under pressure. - The partnership links academic research with a large archive of senior-leader conversations.

What happened: - James Madison University’s School of Strategic Leadership Studies and the Innovative Leadership Institute announced a research collaboration on September 22, 2026. - The project will analyze more than 500 recorded conversations with senior leaders to study how they sensed change, made decisions and executed strategy around AI. - The research effort will be led by JMU SSLS and The Innovative Leadership Institute Think Tank™ through qualitative content analysis.

The details: - The interview archive includes conversations recorded since 2015 for Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future. - The podcast has reached listeners in more than 120 countries and is ranked by Listen Notes in the top 1% of podcasts worldwide. - Guests have included former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell, former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, the United Nations’ AI advisor, Ford’s former chief strategy officer and a three-time Fortune 500 chief information officer. - An additional 75 interviews from the International Leadership Association add scholars including Barbara Kellerman, Manfred Kets de Vries, Otto Scharmer and Mats Alvesson. - The project is part of Decision Velocity™, the ILI Think Tank’s 2026 research theme. - JMU SSLS will code every conversation that touches artificial intelligence. - The collaboration will look for the leadership practices that separate organizations that got real value from AI from those that only generated activity. - Under the collaboration, JMU SSLS becomes the institutional co-sponsor of the program. - The program is carried by WCBE 90.5 FM in Columbus and distributed through the NPR national podcast directory and the Public Radio Exchange. - The parties are also exploring carriage on WMRA 90.7 FM, James Madison University’s NPR member station serving the central Shenandoah Valley. - First findings will be presented at the International Leadership Association 2026 Global Conference in Toronto on Thursday, Oct. 29, in a session titled “From Hype to Practice: Evidence-Informed AI Leadership Lessons.”

Between the lines: - The collaboration reframes AI leadership as a research problem rooted in observed behavior, not theory. - Maureen Metcalf said much of the public writing on AI and leadership is speculation or vendor material, and that the archive can turn a decade of conversation into evidence boards can act on. - Margaret F. Sloan said the partnership will help SSLS faculty and doctoral students turn real-world leadership experiences into actionable scholarship. - The project also expands the university’s visibility in applied leadership research while giving ILI a formal academic partner.

What's next: - Researchers will continue coding the archive for AI-related conversations and leadership patterns. - The first research findings are set for the Toronto conference in late October 2026. - ILI and JMU are continuing to explore broader distribution through WMRA. - More information on the collaboration and institutional partners is available here.