The New Definition of Intelligence in the Age of AI Agents

Three years ago, the question "what is AI, actually?" was mainly something for stages and panel discussions. I remember those conversations well, as almost every keynote began the same way. Whether I was speaking myself or sitting in the audience, we would bring up Turing, talk about neural networks, and usually end with the conclusion that nobody knew exactly where intelligence began and automation ended. Ultimately, we solved it practically: if it seemed smart enough and delivered value, we simply called it AI. With that, the discussion temporarily receded into the background.

Until now.

Because AI is currently shifting from a tool to an executor. In more and more organizations, I see the same pattern emerging, not as a vision of the future but as a concrete reality. Customer inquiries are handled by agents, reports are compiled automatically, and analyses, schedules, and first-line decisions are rapidly shifting toward systems that perform tasks independently. This is precisely why that old question is returning, only no longer as a philosophical discussion but as a practical question that organizations and professionals must answer now: what does intelligence still mean when machines take over the majority of operational thinking?

Because if I'm honest, it's starting to get uncomfortably close. For years, we have largely equated intelligence with analytical ability: processing information quickly, overseeing complex situations, making connections, and possessing extensive knowledge. That was what professionals were judged on, including myself. Only now, AI Agents do exactly that-faster, more consistently, and cheaper. This creates a confronting reality: if we continue to define intelligence purely as analytical prowess, we are competing directly with systems that are becoming increasingly better at it. Anyone who still fully links intelligence to information processing is slowly defining themselves out of the market.

What I see happening is that the value of human intelligence is shifting. Not away, but to another domain: the emotional and relational domain. That might sound softer than intended, but that is precisely where the strongest competitive advantage will emerge in the coming years. While agents take over operational work, space is created for something else: conversations, trust, nuance, leadership, and situations where it is not just data that counts, but also timing, empathy, and context.

You don't convince a hesitant customer with information alone, and you don't resolve a team conflict with an analysis. A tense negotiation rarely revolves purely around logic, and a difficult decision sometimes requires intuition, even when the data provides no clear answer. That kind of work is much harder to automate, not because AI is stupid, but because human interaction is rarely completely logical or predictable.

That is why I believe we must increasingly view intelligence as two distinct forms. Machine intelligence is instrumental in nature and excels in speed, scale, analysis, and execution. It does not get tired, has no ego, and is not distracted by emotions or context. Human intelligence, conversely, is shifting toward something else: giving meaning, building relationships, sensing tensions, and forming judgments in situations where perfect data is unavailable. Not as competitors, but as complements.

Yet, I see many organizations still thinking in terms of replacement, as if it were a race between man and machine. But that is the wrong discussion. The real question is not who is better, but which type of intelligence adds the most value and where. And therein lies the strategic challenge.

Because the organizations that win in the future won't necessarily have the best agents. That technology will quickly become available to everyone, so the difference lies much more in how organizations position their people alongside that technology. Smart organizations automate everything that is predictable and operational, so people can focus on what remains human: customer relationships, leadership, trust, guiding change, and conducting difficult conversations.

This also demands something uncomfortable from professionals. Many of us have invested for years in instrumental skills: learning new tools, becoming more analytical, working faster, and building more knowledge. But are we investing just as consciously in the other side? In listening better, conducting difficult conversations, empathy, persuasiveness, and recognizing what is happening beneath the surface in a team? Because that is exactly where the difference will be made. Not because technical skills are disappearing, but because they are increasingly becoming a baseline requirement rather than a differentiator.

The question for the coming years is therefore no longer: "what is AI?" Practically speaking, we have already lost that discussion to reality. The real question has become much more personal: what remains uniquely human when AI takes over the majority of executive thinking? And are we actually investing enough in that?

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// About the author

Job van den Berg

Mede-oprichter, AI Keynote Spreker & Techondernemer

Tech-ondernemer (1989) met een achtergrond als socioloog (Research Master (MSc) in statistiek en sociologie) en een van de meest gevraagde keynote sprekers over AI en data in Nederland. Als mede-oprichter van Ai.nl, The Automation Group en Proxies leidt hij engineers die agentic AI van prototype naar productie brengen binnen enterprises. Op het podium vertaalt Job die hands-on praktijk naar concrete strategieën. Eerder was Job Chief Data bij o.a. DPG Media en Kantar. Hij is co-auteur van 5 boeken over AI waaronder 'AI Agents' en 'Handboek AI Strategie' en een veelgevraagd expert in de landelijke media.

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