By Nan Guo, Chief Digital Officer, ESMT Berlin
Whenever a new technology wave rises — today it’s AI — many SMEs feel pressure to “catch up” by hiring expensive specialists. Leaders often believe that securing a unicorn hire — the data scientist, the machine learning expert, the engineer with cutting-edge credentials — will guarantee success.
But this strategy is rarely sustainable. Unicorn hires are costly, hard to integrate, and often leave when the infrastructure or scope of work doesn’t meet their expectations. The result? Leaders find themselves with drained budgets, disappointed teams, and little actual progress.
The real opportunity for leaders is not to chase unicorns, but to rethink talent development altogether. AI provides the backdrop, and is in many ways, a powerful accelerator, but the leadership challenge is broader: building resilient, adaptive, loyal teams by growing skills from within.
Why leadership decisions matter more than technical hires
Hiring external specialists can sometimes be necessary. When a clear, mission-critical gap cannot be addressed internally within 18 to 36 months, leaders should not hesitate to bring in outside expertise. Making strategic hires at the right moment can speed up transformation.
But in most cases, particularly when needs are still emerging, the smarter leadership move is different. Leaders must create the conditions for employees to explore, learn, and experiment with new technologies. Instead of concentrating expertise in a single “hero” role, leaders can distribute digital skills across teams and expand existing roles to align with strategic needs.
This is not just an HR tactic. It is a leadership responsibility. Leaders define whether learning is rewarded, whether exploration is safe, and whether employees have the time and encouragement to grow beyond their current job descriptions.
How AI expands what internal growth can achieve
Not every role can be grown in-house — some areas, such as advanced engineering or highly specialized AI research, will continue to require external hires. But the rise of AI and other modern tools is changing what’s possible. Low-code platforms, accessible AI systems, and seamless integration into daily workflows mean that employees who are given time to learn critical skills can now achieve outcomes once reserved for specialists. With contextual knowledge of the organization, and supported by these new tools, motivated employees can go much further — enabling leaders to develop talent internally in ways that were far less realistic just a few years ago.
Consider what this can look like in practice: A media designer given protected time to explore AI becomes an enablement lead guiding projects across teams. A data manager expands from one unit into cross-department business intelligence strategy.
These transformations — some AI-related, some not — don’t happen by accident. They require deliberate leadership choices: allocating time, recognizing learning as part of performance, and embedding new skills into strategy.
The leadership playbook for talent rethinking
For leaders seeking a sustainable path, several principles stand out:
Know when to hire, when to grow. External hires make sense when skills are urgently needed and the scope is clear. But when strategy is still forming, or when budgets cannot sustain permanent specialists, internal pilots and skill-building often deliver more value.
Create slash roles. Leaders must give employees protected time — often 20–50 percent of their role — to explore and apply new skills. These “slash roles” (e.g., media designer/AI lead) ensure growth happens without overwhelming existing responsibilities.
Distribute skills, rather than concentrating them. Relying on one “hero” hire creates risk. Spreading capabilities across roles and teams builds resilience, continuity, and shared ownership of digital transformation.
Pair internal context with external depth. Internal staff bring cultural fit and long-term loyalty. External experts can be engaged for depth and speed, but in combination with internal development rather than as a replacement.
Redefine performance expectations. Leaders must signal clearly that exploration, experimentation, and learning are valued. Without that, employees have little incentive to stretch beyond their current role.
In an era of rapid change, SMEs cannot afford the churn and cultural misalignment that come with constant external hiring. Lean, resilient transformation is achieved when leaders invest in people who already understand the business and are motivated to grow with it.
Leadership beyond the next technology
This approach requires patience; internal development takes longer, and not every investment will stay forever. Some employees will outgrow the organization. But successful departures can clarify the organization’s direction and inspire those who stay to keep learning and developing. The greater risk is focusing only on unicorn hires. Without internal development, organizations remain fragile and dependent. Leaders who commit to rethinking talent, however, create teams that are adaptive, loyal, and ready for the future.
AI makes the point vivid — it is lowering barriers and reshaping work. But the leadership lesson endures across every wave of change: unicorn hunting is fragile, cultivating teams is lasting. Leaders who act now, creating the conditions for employees to learn and thrive, will not just keep pace with AI. They will build organizations adaptive enough to thrive as AI evolves — and as the next technologies emerge.