Human-as-the-Lead (HatL): reconceptualising human agency in AI-augmented work and its implications for employee and customer experience

This paper introduces Human-as-the-Lead (HatL) as a formally defined management construct reconceptualising human agency in AI-augmented work. Unlike ‘human-in-the-lead,’ which makes a positional claim, ‘Human-as-the-Lead’ makes a constitutive one: the human is the lead by functional role, professional accountability, and design intent, structurally rather than situationally. Where human-in-the-loop (HITL) positions humans as reactive monitors, HatL reconceptualises their role as active, direction-setting leadership over a capable AI partner. HatL is defined throughout as a single relational condition, the degree to which the employee structurally leads the human-AI partnership, that is theorised to produce different effects at different points in the model: it moderates the translation of AI capability into empowerment, and it is itself degraded by high AI autonomy. These are consequences of one construct, not shifts in what the construct is.Grounded in a two-phase systematic review and integrating Affordance Theory, Self-Determination Theory, and Psychological Empowerment Theory, HatL is developed across four dimensions: Leadership Primacy, Veto Authority, Informed Command, and Independent Agency. Seven propositions trace a capability-leadership pathway from AI deployment through employee empowerment to customer experience outcomes. The augmentation-leadership paradox is formally identified: at high AI autonomy, HatL erodes, undermining the empowerment benefits that motivate deployment.