In an age dominated by Artificial Intelligence and data-driven decisions, the human factor becomes more — not less—critical! Algorithms can process information, but they can’t replace judgment under pressure.

Aviation is among the safest industries in the world - a case that affirms the human-centricity in the technology ecosystem. In 2024, there were seven fatal accidents out of approximately 40.6 million flights, or about 0.000017%. This means, a person could fly every day for nearly 16,000 years before experiencing a fatal accident. In contrast, road travel generally records a fatal incident rate around 0.01%–0.03% per journey and the risk is much higher per mile traveled.

What made flying and the aviation industry so safe?

Advances in safety management systems, rigorous training and operational standards, continuous monitoring and a safety-focused culture - all contribute to these strong safety outcomes. As passenger numbers rise, ongoing collaboration and knowlege sharing among the airlines, regulatory bodies, aircraft manufacturers and airports ensures that flying continues to get safer every year. This "systemic" approach to safety has made the entire industry a whole lot safer.

But, what about the last mile - the pilots?

Not only are they trained to the highest standards, when everything is on the line, they don’t improvise! They rely on checklists and decision-making frameworks that strip away panic and bias, structure their thinking during high-stakes, high-pressure scenarios and guide them to the right decision, often in seconds.

Professions, such as aviation, healthcare and defense are inherently risky. Critical life or death decisions are the norm in these professions. Professionals serving in these domains rely on structured decision-making frameworks to deal rapidly devolving situations, that mandate clear thinking, structured execution and repeatable processes.

Likewise, business leaders and executives today operate in a turbulent business environment, marked by geo-political crises, changing marketplace conditions, technological breakthroughs that disrupt industries, and more. The ability to make critical decisions under duress, i.e. Mayday scenarios where stakes are high and the consequences of decisions far-reaching is no longer a nice-to-have, but a key leadership trait. In the high-stakes, high-pressure scenarios, such as navigating a market crash, handling a security breach, managing a product recall, tackling a global pandemic or guiding team through a turnaround, Leaders need to make split-second decisions, often under uncertainty. The ability to make sound, justificable and reproducible decisions under pressure with long-term impact is not only a valuable Leadership trait, but also an existential necessity. The ramifications of such decisions on an organization's ecosystem is profound, affecting employees, partners, suppliers, customers, and more.

The talk, based on my book, titled: "Mayday! Mayday! Decision-making under duress" will showcase proven frameworks - derived from aviation incidents - to effectively and efficiently deal with mission-critical scenarios. This talk will equip the participants with decision-making tools that combine structured thinking with technological support, ensuring decisions remain both, fast and sound, while pragmatic to help navigate uncertainty, manage risk and ensure effective action, especially during Mayday scenarios.