Bridging The Talent Gap: A Competency-Based Framework For Managerial Readiness In An Ai-Driven Economy

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries across all sectors. AI is automating organizational functions, complex cognitive tasks and decision-making across departments in addition to routine tasks. This has led to a shift in managerial roles and skills required for effective performance. Reviews of existing frameworks suggest that the prevailing frameworks are fragmented and focus on technical or digital competencies (Hamzah et al. 2025, Pan & Froese, 2024). They do not offer an integrated model that supports managerial practices, ethical operationalization, curriculum design and competency assessment for emerging human-AI collaborative environment. This highlights the need for a management specific competency framework for employers, educators, postgraduate management graduates and policymakers in the evolving AI landscape. This study proposes a comprehensive competency framework based on latest global industry reports and literature review. NVivo was used for systematic coding, cross-case comparison for identifying the thematic patterns. The competencies identified and analysed based on relevance and frequency are AI literacy, digital and data fluency, cybersecurity, human-AI collaboration, ethical AI use and social-emotional skills. These were incorporated in the model. The model (Figure. 1) was found to be reliable and valid.