How AI Is Changing the Role of the IT Manager - not just another AI piece?

I remember some years ago, my Oracle database specialist put on his objectives for the year “get everyone connected to the internet.” Yes, it was a long time ago. But my preconception of the internet was that it would take employees to places where, frankly, they shouldn’t be going. So, my first concern about this new technology, was that it would make people less efficient.

With AI, the problem is the reverse.

A manager recently told me that a team member had used AI to produce a summary for a senior meeting. It looked polished, sounded confident, and included several points that were simply wrong. Nobody noticed until late in the process because the output looked convincing.

That is one of the real dangers with AI. Poor work can arrive dressed up as good work.

Because AI is not just another technology trend for IT teams to implement. It is changing expectations, increasing pressure, and forcing managers to think differently about risk, people, decision-making, and business value.

People talk about tools, models, automation, prompts, and platforms. All of that matters, of course. But from where I sit, the bigger issue is not the technology itself. It is what AI is doing to the role of the IT manager.

I am already seeing this in conversations with IT managers. Some are excited. Some are cautious. Some are quietly overwhelmed. Most are being asked questions they were not being asked two years ago.

Questions like:

• Should we be using AI in this part of the business?

• What are the risks if staff start using public AI tools without control?

• How do we govern AI properly without slowing everything down?

• Which opportunities are real, and which are simply hype?

• How do we help teams adapt without creating fear?

These are not purely technical questions. They are management and leadership questions. AI is pushing IT managers closer to the business. In the past, many IT managers could stay relatively close to systems, service delivery, projects, infrastructure, and support. That is no longer enough.

AI is pulling IT managers further into business conversations because the implications go well beyond technology. AI affects productivity, customer experience, risk, compliance, decision quality, and competitive advantage.

IT managers now need to be better at asking business questions, not just technical ones. Where will AI genuinely help? Where could it create risk? What should be encouraged, controlled, or avoided? What is worth piloting, and what is simply a distraction?

One of the biggest shifts I am seeing is around risk. In particular, users going off and doing AI things without supervision! For years, IT managers have dealt with cybersecurity, resilience, access control, supplier issues, and operational risk. AI adds another layer.

The likelihood of people using tools not vetted (or indeed known about) by IT has increased significantly over the last 10 years. Many years ago, it was called skunk works, then shadow IT. Software as a service meant that other departments could take on new applications without IT ever finding out about it. And, for the non-IT business leaders, the general view was that that was a good thing.

I spoke with one IT manager who discovered that several people in the business were already using public AI tools to draft customer communications and summarize internal documents. Nobody had approved it. Nobody had set any rules. It had simply started happening. The conversation that the IT manager needs to have is similar to the SaaS one 5 years ago. It needs to approach from a position of “How can I help?” It is like stopping a horse – apparently the way to stop a horse is not to stand in front of it and shout “Stop!” but to gradually move it to turn so it runs out of momentum.

The reality is that AI adoption often begins informally, long before governance catches up. This means IT managers have to become more proactive. Waiting until everything is clear is not a strategy. By then, people may already be using AI in ways that create risk for the organisation.

 AI is also exposing weak management habits. If an IT manager is poor at prioritisation, unclear in communication, or weak on stakeholder management, AI will not fix that. In many cases, it will make the consequences worse.

 Why? Because AI increases speed.

 One manager described it well. He said, "We thought AI would save time immediately. In reality, it exposed how unclear some of our processes already were."  That is exactly the point. If roles are unclear, standards are weak, or decision-making is poor, AI does not solve the problem. It often accelerates it. AI is changing what teams need from their manager

 This is the part many people underestimate.

When AI enters the workplace, people do not just need technical guidance. They need reassurance, clarity, and honesty. Some people are enthusiastic and want to try everything. Some are sceptical. Some are worried about quality, security, or even whether their role will change.

A good IT manager cannot dismiss those reactions. They have to lead through them.

I spoke to one manager whose team had split into two camps. One group wanted to automate everything immediately. The other distrusted AI completely and saw it as a threat to quality. The technical challenge was manageable. The leadership challenge was harder.

That meant creating sensible boundaries, encouraging experimentation where appropriate, and making sure the team did not drift into either blind enthusiasm or blanket resistance.

The managers who handle this well will build confidence. The ones who do not may end up with confusion, resistance, or careless adoption.

AI is increasing the need for judgement. One of the great myths about AI is that it reduces the need for human judgement. In reality, it often increases it.

AI can generate options quickly. It can summarise, draft, analyse, and automate parts of the work. But it does not remove the need for judgement about what matters, what is appropriate, what is safe, and what is worth acting on.

That is where the IT manager becomes even more important.

The strongest managers will not be the ones who know the most jargon or chase every new tool. They will be the ones who can judge where AI adds value, where it creates risk, and how to introduce it in a way that helps the organisation rather than destabilising it.

In other words, AI does not reduce the need for leadership. It raises the standard.

Final thought

AI is changing the role of the IT manager in a very practical way.

It is pushing the role closer to the business. It is expanding the risk conversation. It is exposing weak management habits. It is changing what teams need from their manager. And it is increasing the importance of judgement.

So yes, AI matters as a technology.

But for IT managers, the bigger question is not simply how the tools work.

It is whether they are ready for the broader leadership role that comes with them.

That, in my view, is the real shift.

PS This article was written with the assistance of Sintra.