How many hours did you lead yesterday?
Most of what organisations call leadership is routing: receiving information, processing it, passing it on. AI already does that faster, cheaper, and without the ego. The Human Router is about the part no machine will take.
“It asks whether many managers were truly leading in the first place. The concept of the ‘Human Router’ is unforgettable.”
Written by one of the leading authorities on AI and leadership.
Axel Rittershaus doesn't write from the sidelines. He works hands-on with companies on AI transformations that succeed, and brings what he sees there into every chapter.
Missed the launch? Watch it now.
On 13 October 2026, Axel launched The Human Router live, sharing why he wrote the book and answering questions from the audience.
Bring the ideas of the book into your organisation.
If AI takes over more of what managers do today, what will managers still be needed for?
You are expected to lead. Instead, coordination and administration eat your calendar.
When managers no longer exist to move information, they finally get time for:
The Human Router examines how organisations will change, why teams can become more autonomous, and what leaders must do differently as AI becomes part of everyday work.
Paperback, eBook and audiobook (coming soon).
Read it on the train, listen on the way to your next meeting, or keep the paperback on your desk as a reminder of which pile deserves your time.
What readers say
“One of the few AI and leadership books that doesn't ask whether AI will replace managers. It asks whether many managers were truly leading in the first place. The concept of the ‘Human Router’ is unforgettable.”
“A hard look at how we have defined leadership and, at its core, how we fundamentally haven't been leading. Axel makes you really think about how all levels of leadership and their teams can move from being human routers to leaders.”
Axel Rittershaus
Executive coach, leadership trainer and keynote speaker. Axel has coached executives on four continents and trained more than 300,000 professionals. In The Human Router he shows why most of what organisations call leadership is routing, and how managers reclaim the part no machine will take.