June 18, 2025
And if you’re like many leaders, you’re staring at a stack of evaluations, trying to find the time and clarity to do them well.
Enter AI.
Tools like Lattice, Workday, and even ChatGPT itself are now being used to auto-generate employee performance reviews. Plug in a few data points, some goals, and a bit of peer feedback — and in seconds, you’ve got a full write-up that sounds decent. Objective. Even thoughtful.
But is it real?
Fast Company just published an article digging into this very shift — what happens when AI steps into the performance review process. The findings were clear: while these tools can streamline the structure and highlight patterns, most leaders still end up rewriting the review.
Because while AI can capture data… it can’t capture presence.
AI is getting so good at summarizing, analyzing, and sounding like us — that many leaders are starting to delegate the hard parts of leadership to software. Not just scheduling or coding, but judgment. Presence. Discernment.
And here’s the truth: feedback isn’t just data. It’s discipleship.
We aren’t called to lead like the world — efficiently, impersonally, with plausible deniability. We’re called to lead like Jesus: personally, patiently, sacrificially. With truth and grace.
If you can’t name the last one-on-one conversation you had with someone on your team…
If you’re skimming AI summaries to decide who to promote or coach…
If you’re copying and pasting reviews and calling it leadership…
It’s time to recalibrate.
Because it’s your presence, your discernment, your prayerful leadership that shapes a culture. Not your automation tools.
So yes — use the tools. But don’t forget:
· Pull one review off your list and write it from scratch — prayerfully and personally.
· Ask: What does this person actually need to hear from me right now?
· Invite God into your leadership— not just your logistics.
We serve the King. And the King never skimps on presence with us. Neither should we.