IF: AI, Agency and the Art of Change

At Talisman, we often find inspiration in the unexpected. One source of enduring wisdom comes not from a white paper or strategy paper, but from Rudyard Kipling’s iconic poem, If. A meditation on resilience, balance, and self-mastery, it’s a timeless reflection on what it means to navigate uncertainty with grace.

As Kipling writes:

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you...”

It’s a line that could just as easily describe leadership in times of organisational change as it could the logic flows in artificial intelligence.

Because in AI, IF is where everything starts.

The IF Statement: Intelligence Through Logic

In the world of AI, if is more than poetry. It’s the foundation of reasoning, a statement that determines what action is taken based on a given condition. If this happens, then do that. From simple decision trees to complex machine learning models, if statements underpin the logic of intelligent systems. They define what should happen when circumstances shift, and how to respond with purpose rather than panic.

Change, in organisations, requires the same thinking. If conditions change, your customers, your tools, your data, your team...then what? How do you pivot, adapt, or move forward? At Talisman, we help SMEs understand and navigate those ‘ifs’ of transformation.

Many Agents. One Mission.

In AI systems, agents are entities that perceive, act, and learn. They can be task-specific; a summariser, a recommender, a classifier. But increasingly, we see the value of multi-agent systems...collections of specialised agents working together, orchestrated by a supervisor agent.

The supervisor agent doesn't do everything, it knows what needs doing. It coordinates, prioritises, monitors, and evaluates. It turns individual inputs into collective intelligence.

This mirrors what we do at Talisman.

In times of change, you don’t need more noise. You need structure, clarity, and orchestration. Different teams (your agents) have different capabilities. Our role, much like the supervisor agent, is to create the conditions for effective collaboration, ensure alignment, and keep the mission front and centre.

IF You Can Trust Yourself...

Kipling’s If ends with the lines:

“If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, and which is more, you’ll be a Man, my son!”

It’s a powerful reminder that success lies not just in action, but in the intent and integrity behind it.

In AI and in organisations, success doesn’t come from automating everything or making perfect decisions. It comes from being intentional. From knowing what questions to ask. From engaging people not replacing them.

That’s why at Talisman, we champion human-centred AI. We see AI not as a replacement for people, but as a powerful agent of change, one that can enable new ways of working, support better decision-making, and free up space for creativity and connection.

Talisman: IF, Then What?

If your organisation is exploring change…If you’re unsure how to use AI responsibly and effectively…If you want to empower your people, not sideline them…then Talisman is here to help.

We bring together the wisdom of poetry, the logic of AI, and the lived experience of change. And we do it with integrity, intelligence, and a deep belief in the potential of SMEs to grow with confidence.

Because the future doesn’t belong to those who fear the IFs. It belongs to those who know what to do next.