Leadership has always required judgment. What has changed is the environment in which judgment is exercised. Artificial intelligence now shapes how information is produced, filtered, and presented to leaders. It accelerates analysis and offers recommendations with increasing confidence. In many organizations, decisions appear to emerge naturally from systems and models-leaving less visible space for deliberation, responsibility, and human judgment. A Return to Strategic Leadership: Judgment in the Age of AI explores what happens when optimization begins to replace accountability. Structured as a business novel, the book follows a senior executive facing a series of consequential decisions where data and algorithms point in one direction, while experience, context, and ethical responsibility suggest another. The narrative reflects tensions familiar to experienced leaders: speed versus reflection, insight versus ownership, and intelligence versus wisdom. The argument is not anti-technology. It is pro-leadership. AI can inform decisions, but it cannot assume responsibility for them. When stakes are high and trade-offs are real, judgment remains irreducibly human. Written for executives, board members, and senior leaders, this book is a reflection on what leadership demands in an age that promises certainty-but cannot deliver accountability.