Mark Byrne is the founder of Headspring, which helps organisations reimagine work with AI and turn it into real business value. A strategist and storyteller with a background in transformation and digital, he has a habit of seeing where AI is heading before most. In 2024, he was among the first to sound the alarm on what’s now known as ‘cognitive atrophy’. In 2025, he warned of an ‘age of average’ and the rising tide of ‘workslop’. Now, his argument is that AI isn’t the technology or people challenge many assume, but a design one, hinging on how well leaders understand where value is actually created in their business. Mark is a guest lecturer at RMIT on Developing AI Strategy for Business and has been recently shortlisted for AI Consultant of the Year at the 2026 Australian AI Awards.