The 13 Skills That Will Define Tomorrow’s Services Leaders
Author: Rachel Chand
Technical know-how may open doors, but it’s adaptability that keeps them open. In an environment being reshaped by AI, cross-functional complexity, and growing customer expectations, services professionals need more than just expertise. They need digital fluency, empathy, sound judgment, and a mindset built for growth.
As we look toward the next chapter of services delivery, a key question emerges:
What skills will define the next generation of services professionals, especially those working alongside AI?
Tomorrow’s services leaders won’t just deliver projects. They’ll translate needs across functions, work fluidly with AI tools, and make decisions that blend logic, empathy, and impact. It’s not about knowing everything. It’s about knowing how to adapt, learn, and lead in an environment where the only constant is change.
This article breaks down two essential skillsets:
- The core human capabilities that will continue to drive relationships, leadership, and client impact
- The AI-era collaboration skills that will redefine how services professionals work, decide, and deliver
They are survival skills for what’s next.
The Human Advantage: Foundational Skills for Enduring Impact
Even as digital transformation accelerates, human capability remains central to success. These seven skills are more essential than ever.
1. Curiosity & Growth Orientation
The pace of change in services means you can’t rely solely on past experience. Today’s professionals must stay curious, ask better questions, and seek continuous improvement, personally and professionally.
Where curiosity once meant digging for answers, it’s now about
- Knowing how to frame the right problem
- Spotting logical gaps and challenging assumptions
- Exploring new tools with confidence
- Having the courage to challenge “how we’ve always done it.”
Growth-oriented professionals aren’t satisfied with “good enough”. They push for better outcomes and treat every project as a learning opportunity.
2. Emotional Intelligence & Strategic Empathy
Clients and teammates aren’t just looking for experts. They value professionals who understand them. Emotional intelligence allows professionals to read a room (or a Zoom), stay calm under pressure, and communicate with clarity.
Strategic empathy takes this further. It means seeing the client’s broader context, anticipating unspoken concerns, and guiding conversations with understanding.
3. Cross-Functional Integration: Balanced Leadership & Execution
Top performers today flex between getting the work done and guiding others through complexity. You have to be “good as a player, and good as a coach”.
This includes navigating matrixed environments, aligning across sales, delivery, operations, and customer success, and stepping in when things get messy. It’s not just about keeping your lane clean; it’s about helping the whole machine run better.
4. Operational Awareness
Understanding how your decisions affect timelines, profitability, staffing, and client value is essential.
Operationally aware professionals ask:
- What happens when delivery is delayed?
- How does resourcing affect margin?
- Where are the downstream impacts?
They connect the dots between their actions and long-term success, turning execution into informed leadership.
5. Tech Confidence & Digital Fluency
Modern service delivery depends on tech: PSA tools, collaboration platforms, AI assistants, CRM systems, and more.
You don’t need to code, but you do need to:
- Understand how systems interact
- Use tools confidently to improve decision-making and efficiency
- Embrace new technology as it evolves
… whether it’s navigating Certinia’s PS Cloud, interpreting a Salesforce dashboard, or adapting to a new automation tool.
6. Business Acumen
Clients now expect more than expertise. They expect you to solve root problems, not just deliver a service. To do that, you need the ability to think and speak in business terms, so you can understand and react to their core needs adequately.
That means:
- Understanding industry context, customer goals, and pain points
- Framing work in terms of risk, growth, and measurable value
- Connecting day-to-day actions to strategic impact
Business acumen ensures professionals create outcomes that matter, instead of simply completing tasks. It shifts the relationship from delivery to advisory. And it builds trust that lasts beyond the project.
7. Data Storytelling
Data without context is noise. Professionals who can turn numbers into narratives will become the voice of clarity in complex projects.
This means interpreting dashboards, understanding trends and metrics, and translating analytics into meaningful takeaways. But it also means knowing your audience, so you can tell the right story and use data to drive the right decision and inspire action.
Partnering with AI: Skills for Human-Tech Collaboration
Now let’s talk about the real evolution. It’s not “human vs. AI.” It’s human working alongside AI, and that requires a different kind of skillset. Here’s the shift: being “resourceful” used to mean you knew how to dig through technical documentation or ask the right person for help. But now? Your AI assistant is often the fastest resource in the room. So the value you bring has to evolve.
8. AI Literacy
Foundational understanding of what AI can and can’t do, how to work with it, and where its value lies, is now essential.
Professionals should:
- Know how AI supports forecasting, planning, insights, and efficiency
- Understand where human oversight remains critical
- Apply AI thoughtfully to improve outcomes
9. Prompt Engineering & Intelligent Input
Working with AI is like collaborating with a super-fast intern: it needs direction. Knowing how to write effective prompts, add context, and ask iterative questions is now a practical, daily skill.
Prompting skills help you:
- Write effective queries
- Add relevant context
- Iterate toward better results
This enhances both AI output and your own problem-solving clarity.
10. Editing & Contextual Review of AI Output
AI can produce content, insights, or summaries, but it can’t adequately judge their quality. It’s your job to step in to evaluate tone, logic, alignment, and accuracy.
Whether you’re reviewing a statement of work, validating a forecast, or refining a client recommendation, human judgment and editing are the real value-add.
11. Domain Expertise & Leading Practices
AI can pull from the internet, but not from your experience. Deep knowledge of your industry, function, and client realities lets you guide decisions that AI can’t.
Professionals who can say “that won’t work here” or “this client will push back on that” bring irreplaceable insight. It’s about knowing what matters most, when it matters, to avoid missteps and spot what AI will miss.
12. Creativity & Human Insight
AI is not equipped to replicate emotional resonance. Professionals bring voice, nuance, originality, and intuition to their work.
Whether it’s shaping a story for a key stakeholder, spotting UX friction, or tailoring a message with the right tone, these human touches transform generic work into impactful experiences.
13. Ethics, Responsibility & Judgment
AI does not have values. People do. As automation enters more workflows, professionals need to ask: Is this fair? Is this transparent? Are we protecting client data? Are we reinforcing bias?
When something feels off, you have to speak up. Responsible use of AI protects client trust and relationships you’ve worked hard to build, beyond just basic compliance.
Closing the Gap: What Leaders Can Do Today
These 13 skills are already helping teams move faster without breaking things. They’re bridging gaps between functions, tools, and people. And they’re redefining what value looks like in a world where anyone can use AI, but not everyone knows how to lead with it.
Preparing for the future starts with intention.
- Embed these capabilities into performance reviews and development plans.
- Encourage project retrospectives that go beyond delivery mechanics to reflect on collaboration, alignment, and adaptability.
- Invest in cross-functional mentorship programs that build bridges between Sales, Delivery, and Operations.
- Adopt platforms like Certinia that provide visibility across functions and promote collaborative workflows.
The bottom line? Growing your team’s skillset isn’t just good for talent retention. It’s vital to client success and long-term profitability.
Tomorrow’s Leaders Will Be Learners
As the services industry continues to evolve, so too must the professionals driving it forward. Success today doesn’t guarantee success tomorrow. But those who lead with curiosity, resilience, and cross-functional savvy will always find ways to stay ahead of the curve.
Looking to level up your own team’s capabilities?
Diabsolut’s experts work with organizations to align people, process, and platforms—including Certinia’s PSA and CS Cloud solutions—to enable growth and future-ready delivery.
> Let’s talk about building your next-gen services team.