I recently watched Canva’s keynote, “Welcome to The Imagination Era,” and it struck me as more than just another product update. It was a bold declaration the Age of Information is fading and we are stepping into an era where imagination becomes the new productivity engine.
Imagine a world where you no longer ask, “What tool can I use?” but instead ask, “What am I going to make?” That shift is seismic. The presentation revealed a platform turning creativity into execution at scale, merging design, data and human aspiration in ways we’ve only glimpsed until now.
In this era, the question isn’t Can we use AI?
The question is What will we imagine with AI?
And then How fast will we turn that imagination into impact?
The stakes have never been higher. If you believe AI is merely a tool, you’re already behind. Because what’s being revealed is a new operating system for ideas, for creation, for leadership. One where you decide not just what happens with technology, but *what the technology enables you to be.
As I listened, I realised that succeeding in this Imagination Era isn’t about mastering every new AI feature it’s about mastering how we think. The landscape is shifting too quickly for tool-based strategies to last. What endures is mindset. These next three ideas capture the shift we all need to make from chasing technology to cultivating the imagination, intention, and humanity that give it purpose.
1. Stop Asking “What Can AI Do?” Start Asking “Why Are You Using It?”
AI isn’t the strategy. Strategy is the strategy.
We’ve entered an era where people obsess over prompts and platforms, forgetting the oldest rule in innovation, tools amplify intent, they don’t create it. The most impactful AI projects don’t start with “Which model should we use?” They start with a problem worth solving or a vision worth chasing.
Start small. Use AI for yourself first. Automate a dull task. Brainstorm a wild idea. Build your “playground projects.” Personal experimentation isn’t trivial it’s the fastest way to build intuition about what’s possible.
Because once you learn how to think with AI, you stop asking “What can this do?” and start asking “What can I make possible?”
2. TheSecret Weapon Isn’t Data, It’s Imagination
Data powers AI. But imagination powers progress.
Bad data builds dumb systems. But even perfect data is useless without vision. Data shows us the world as it is; imagination lets us redesign it.
We keep asking: “What can AI do for us?” That’s the wrong question. The right one is: “What can we imagine with it?”
Think of AI not as a machine, but as a creative partner a mirror for your curiosity. The more original your questions, the more original your outcomes. The next generation of innovators won’t just analyse data, they’ll choreograph it.
AI is the engine. But imagination is the driver.
3. Mastering the Art of Adaptability
We’re stepping into what may be the messiest decade of our careers. Technology, markets, identity, work all are in motion.
Change isn’t slowing down it’s compounding. The leaders who will thrive won’t be the ones with the most control. They’ll be the ones with the most agency.
Leadership in an AI world isn’t about certainty; it’s about response-ability your capacity to stay curious, grounded, and adaptive amid constant flux.
One of the most practical ways to build that adaptability is by mastering how you prompt AI. Prompts aren’t just commands they’re reflections of how you process, explore, and refine ideas. The better your prompting habits, the sharper your thinking becomes.
Here’s how to build that muscle:
- Build a prompt library. Capture what works. Treat prompts like living mental models that evolve as you do. Tools like Insentra MIA make this process effortless helping you create, organise, and share AI prompts quickly across teams so ideas can turn into results faster.
- Ask a meta-prompt. At the end of any discovery, ask: “How could I have prompted better to reach this faster?” That’s how you turn every interaction into a masterclass in thinking.
Adaptability is the new intelligence. Agency is the new leadership.
Because progress isn’t about mastering prompts, it’s about mastering purpose. The future belongs to those who see AI not as a substitute for thought, but as a canvas for imagination. When we remember that tools serve vision, not the other way around, we unlock something deeper than productivity we rediscover possibility.
As Willy Wonka once said, “We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.”
That line isn’t just whimsical nostalgia, it’s a reminder that imagination has always been humanity’s greatest technology. In the Imagination Era, those who dream boldly and then build bravely will be the ones who shape what comes next.
And if imagination ever needs a little nudge, there’s always chocolate.
