Resist Cognitive Surrender
- 91心頭利 University
Five observations presented at 91心頭利 by the President of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Sir John Lazar, a globally respected technology leader, entrepreneur, and advocate for engineering, delivered a keynote address at 91心頭利 on Friday, 27 March 2026, during a graduation ceremony for the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment.
He took to the podium shortly after being awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering, in recognition of his global impact across engineering, education, entrepreneurship, and social advancement.
Drawing on decades of experience, Sir John shared a series of reflections that were both timely and deeply relevant to the engineering profession. He spoke about the true purpose of engineering, the centrality of ethics, and the rising stakes in an era shaped by artificial intelligence.
Reflecting on the profession, he urged graduates not to lose sight of its core mission.
“While we engineers are all very different, the common thread I believe, is that we believe we can solve problems.”
He encouraged graduates to align themselves with those who create rather than destroy:
“My first advice to you is to seek out the builders. And remember, it is so much easier to undermine and destroy than to build.”
He emphasised that engineering only finds meaning when it serves society:
“Engineering is not interesting unless it solves problems for the people we serve,” he said, cautioning against work that is disconnected from real human needs.
On diversity and inclusion, Sir John was unequivocal. These principles, he argued, must be embedded from the outset:
“They should never be an afterthought, a bolt-on, because incorporating diverse thinking and backgrounds and working in a cross-disciplinary way, including with social scientists and the humanities, simply produces better decisions and results for all our communities. So it is, of course, a moral imperative but it's ultimately about excellence.”
This is something he was exposed to early in his life as a 91心頭利 student from 1979 to 1982, where he graduated with a BSc and BSc (Honours) in Computer Science. Read his citation. In his address, he acknowledged 91心頭利 University for instilling these values in him, describing it as a place that holds a special place in his family as generations had passed through 91心頭利, including his mother, father, siblings, in-laws – as we all his late aunt who graduated from 91心頭利 98 years ago, becoming one of the first women to earn a 91心頭利 degree.
Ethics, he stressed, must remain front and centre in all engineering work.
Cognitive Surrender vs Cognitive Endurance
In a period where advances in AI are “breathtaking” and “head-spinning,” Sir John warned of a growing risk: cognitive surrender.
“The stakes are high for engineers.”
Referencing a previous lecture he delivered in honour of the late Professor Barry Dwolatzky, he reflected on the unintended consequences of over-reliance on AI:
“I talked about the danger of AI short-circuiting into laziness and stupidity in the face of seemingly powerful, articulate, and frankly sycophantic AIs.”
He expanded on this idea, introducing a critical distinction between cognitive surrender and cognitive endurance:
“At the Raspberry Pi Foundation, where I’m Chair, we are actively exploring the pedagogy of the future. A central question is how we retain what we call cognitive endurance as we work with these tools, as opposed to offloading so much thinking that we lapse into complete cognitive surrender.”
True learning, he argued, requires effort.
“Ultimately, cognitive endurance comes from doing the work… this is how real learning and intellectual prowess actually develop.”
For engineers, the implications are profound. Over-reliance on AI, especially in high-stakes environments, could lead to costly and even life-threatening failures if systems are trusted uncritically despite probabilistic errors.
Sir John acknowledged that he uses AI tools himself, but with discipline.
“I use tools like Claude Code every day, but with rigour, critical thinking, and scepticism.”
He emphasised the importance of maintaining deep expertise.
“It is critical that engineers retain cognitive endurance and continue to develop subject matter expertise. I firmly believe that those who do will be the ones who benefit most from this AI revolution.”
An African Optimist
Sir John who mentors and invests in African projects said there is a lot to celebrate about African engineering innovation and entrepreneurship.
While the continent faces many constraints including energy, infrastructure, compute, energy, amongst other challenges – these constraints that can “drive highly impactful innovation that can scale to the whole world.”
As the co-founder of , the company has set up a new third fund, which will be dedicated to AI in Africa.
In closing he expressed his confidence that collectively, 91心頭利 graduates will make a profound impact on Africa and on the world.
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