Waqas Ahmed — Is Specialisation Over? Cognitive Flexibility and Polymathy in the Age of AI

Cognitive flexibility is a top workplace skill, says the WEF. Waqas Ahmed, author of The Polymath, explains why outsourcing thinking to AI erodes it.

Waqas defines cognitive flexibility as both the ability to shift between domains and a higher-order capacity to handle complex, ill-structured problems, and argues versatility, not agility, is the skill that survives accelerating change. He and Aidan McCullen trace how we built today’s silo culture, why transformation projects fail because of it, and the two polymath competencies he develops in organisations: versatility and integration. He also explains why current LLMs converge on safe, average answers, and how his Da Vinci AI project aims to provoke divergent, human-led creativity instead.

Inside Learning, hosted by Irish Keynote Speaker Aidan McCullen, explores learning science and the future of work, and is produced by Learnovate.

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