At the Jerusalem Post Women Leaders Summit 2026 hosted by The Jerusalem Post, Keren Granit, Deputy CEO, Head of Business Transformation, Claims & Service at Phoenix, traced an unlikely path to the forefront of AI-driven change, one that began, as she put it, almost by accident, yet what began as a short-term role evolved into a decades-long career spanning nearly every corner of the organization. “I’ve been all around the company. I know the organization very well,” she said. That perspective, she added, is not just helpful, it is essential. Today, that experience informs her approach to leading transformation in an AI-driven world, one she describes in stark terms. “Innovation today is faster, it’s bigger, it’s changing the organization.”
Still, Granit is quick to push back on the hype. “It’s not a miracle,” she said. “It’s not something that happens in a day. It contains a lot of work understanding the business and the processes and adoption.” In her view, the biggest misconception is treating AI as a purely technological upgrade. “It’s mostly not a technology project, it’s a business transformation,” she said. “You can put the tool, but if you don’t do with it, nothing happens.”
That transformation, she stressed, depends on people as much as platforms. “You need business people that know really well the organization,” she said, noting that leaders must “empower them, give them courage, accompany them through this change.” One of the clearest expressions of that philosophy is the company’s AI-powered digital assistant. Built to handle customer interactions, often during moments of stress or vulnerability, it was designed with a distinctly human touch. “We understood [we are] not just building an AI system… we’re building a service persona.”
As AI becomes more embedded in daily operations, Granit believes it will also redefine leadership itself. “The new role of the manager… is to know how to manage human workers, but also to know how to manage agents,” she said. “These are totally different skills.” Despite the sweeping technological change, Granit’s closing message was simple and direct: “Don’t be afraid,” she said. “Don’t be afraid of the change and believe in yourself.” Technology doesn’t replace people – it replaces people who don’t learn how to use it. In a world being rapidly reshaped by AI, she suggested, the real challenge is not keeping up with the technology—but having the confidence to grow alongside it.
Written in collaboration with Phoenix