Hachette CEO says he writes every email himself, warns excessive AI reliance could weaken leadership skills

Hachette CEO David Shelley warned that relying too heavily on AI could weaken executives' thinking and communication skills.

Hachette chief executive David Shelley has warned that business leaders relying on artificial intelligence to write emails and summarise information risk losing their ability to think independently and communicate authentically.

Hachette CEO David Shelley warned that excessive AI use could weaken leaders' critical thinking and communication skills. (Hachettebookgroup)

Speaking to Fortune, Shelley said AI convenience could come at the expense of leadership skills, including intellectual curiosity and empathy.

AI-written messages and the trust problem

“I predict a growing dissonance between how someone appears in their written statements and how they are in real life,” Shelley told Fortune.

He argued that executives should remain involved in their communications rather than leave their words to automated tools or advisers.

“Being able to write a good email yourself as a CEO is incredibly important,” he said.

His concerns come as AI becomes embedded in corporate routines. A survey by General Assembly and coaching firm Ezra found that 68% of leaders in the US and UK use AI to summarise documents, while 58% use it to draft emails.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella uses AI agents to process his inbox and prepare for meetings, while executive Ryan Roslansky has said he uses AI when composing high-stakes emails.

Communications consultant Natalie Sutton said polished, automated messages could undermine trust if they failed to reflect a leader's personality.

“Fluency is becoming cheap. Sincerity is becoming scarce,” she told Fortune. “A slightly imperfect message that clearly came from the CEO will outperform a flawless one that could have come from anyone.”

The risk of losing critical thinking

Shelley also questioned what happens when executives stop reading and drafting for themselves.

“Being a leader, you often have to think on your feet,” he said, warning that depending on AI and others “dulls the brain.”

A 2025 MIT Media Lab study found weaker brain connectivity among participants using ChatGPT to write essays than among those writing without assistance. Researchers also reported poorer recall, although the study did not examine executives.

Shelley believes AI encourages people to seek condensed answers instead of engaging with complex ideas. “I think we’re all being trained to just want shortcuts,” he said.

“One of the key attributes of great leaders is intellectual curiosity and empathy,” he added, warning that losing those qualities would produce a “worse C-suite.”