Teams in an AI-Driven World Need More Than Theory 🤖
As organisations accelerate their AI agendas, leaders are increasingly realising that technology alone does not create impact. How teams collaborate, make decisions, and perform under pressure plays a critical role in whether AI initiatives succeed.
In Abu Dhabi, senior leaders participating in a Chief AI Officer (CAIO) programme, delivered in partnership with Polynome AI and Abu Dhabi School of Management, engaged in an immersive team experience powered by Miki Island.
The simulation was designed to complement the CAIO programme by creating space for leaders to experience how team dynamics, leadership behaviour, and collective decision-making shape outcomes in complex, AI-driven environments.
A Real-World Context for Team Performance 🌍
Leading AI transformation requires more than technical expertise. It demands teams that can align quickly, navigate uncertainty, and make high-quality decisions together.
Within the CAIO programme, the Miki Island simulation provided a realistic environment where participants were challenged to:
🧭 Work collectively under time pressure
🤝 Balance performance, trust, and collaboration
💬 Navigate differing viewpoints and priorities
🔍 Experience how team behaviour influences results
Rather than focusing on AI tools or frameworks, the experience centred on how teams actually function when the stakes are high.
Seeing Team Dynamics in Action 🧩
Instead of traditional lectures or case discussions, participants engaged in a shared, team-based simulation.
As the experience unfolded, teams encountered situations that closely mirrored real organisational life:
⏱️ Decisions made with incomplete information
⚖️ Tension between speed and inclusion
🗣️ Strong perspectives competing for influence
🧠 Unspoken assumptions shaping outcomes
Because the simulation progressed in real time, patterns of behaviour surfaced quickly. Teams could observe how trust was built or eroded, how voices were included or excluded, and how alignment affected performance.
This made often-invisible aspects of teamwork such as communication, leadership behaviour, and collaboration visible and discussable.
What Teams Began to Notice 🤝
As the session progressed, participants reflected on patterns that frequently go unnoticed in day-to-day work:
💡 Leadership behaviour directly impacts team energy and results
🛡️ Psychological safety influences decision quality
🐢 Misalignment slows execution, even among capable individuals
🌐 Collective intelligence matters more than individual expertise
For many, the simulation acted as a mirror, helping teams recognise their own habits, assumptions, and interaction patterns.
