Using AI To Make Yourself Irreplaceable
Danu Abeysuriya – Accelerating Humans in the Age of AI
Danu Abeysuriya, founder and CTO of Rush Digital, walked on stage with a grin and immediately broke the ice. “When Andre asked me what order I wanted to go in, I really, in hindsight, following the Syrian hostage negotiator was a terrible idea.” The audience laughed, and with that, he jumped straight into the topic on everyone’s mind: artificial intelligence.
“Who here has noticed artificial intelligence in the news cycles lately?” he asked, scanning the room. For him, AI’s current moment is the result of decades of compounding computing power. He compared the Apollo guidance computer to the phone in your pocket. “An iPhone’s processor is about 9,000 times more powerful and roughly 17 million times better on a per-dollar basis than Apollo’s hardware. And what do we use it for? Instagram.”
From there, he shared some hard data about AI in action. Citing an MIT and BCG study of 800 consultants using GPT-4, he said the results were clear: “They completed 12 percent more tasks regardless of complexity, they were 25 percent faster, and about 40 percent of them produced higher-quality output.” His takeaway? “Let’s not overthink this. Train your people, get executive buy-in, and start using it.”
Rush has done exactly that. “One in ten New Zealanders currently use software that we build and operate,” he said, pointing out that figure doesn’t even include the COVID Tracer app. The company introduced leadership training, gave people open access to tools, and offered one-on-one mentoring to help teams integrate AI into their daily work. “The art of delegation, regardless of whether AI is there or not, seems to be how to unlock AI. All you need to do to get the most out of AI is learn to delegate.”
He illustrated this with the story of Heather, Rush’s Head of People and Culture, who was suddenly asked to take over a commercial, technical managed service unit. She built a general assistant to automate admin, a sales coach trained on her own notes, deep-research bots for market analysis, and leadership coaches for handling conflict. “Our competitors don’t know this, but they’re continuously being monitored by AI now,” he said. The impact was clear: happier teams, stronger performance, and improved revenue and gross profit.
Culture, he stressed, is just as important as tools. He joked about cyber’s rules and the company’s open policy on software, but the point was serious: make it safe to learn, share frameworks, and bring people along. “They’re not going to be replaced by this tool,” he told the audience, “they’re going to be replaced by someone who knows how to use these tools. I didn’t mean it like that.”
Danu sees AI as a leveller. Whether it’s helping someone re-skill after parental leave or step into a new domain, AI can accelerate learning in ways that were previously impossible. “The point is not replacement, it’s augmentation,” he said. “To be irreplaceable with AI, you need to be more human.” Empathy, purpose, and a deep understanding of customers remain the real differentiators.
Rush’s own mission says it best: “We design and build technology to better serve humankind.” AI, in his view, is a power tool — “A saw can build a house or cut it down. It’s not the saw’s choice. It’s ours.”
He closed by returning to the theme of trust. Be transparent with clients, even about the ugly parts. Ask why before you decide how. Think about ethics and unintended consequences from the very start. “When you look back at history, the winners were never just the fastest or the smartest. They were the ones who earned and kept trust.”
Action Points from Danu Abeysuriya’s Keynote
Treat AI as augmentation, not replacement.
Start with “why” before deciding “how.”
Make delegation your core AI skill.
Build internal coaches and research bots to accelerate learning.
Create psychological safety so people can try, fail, and improve.
Keep a human in the loop for empathy and judgment.
Be radically transparent to earn lasting trust.
