When AI Takes Over Your Job

And what businesses and workers should do to prepare

Many strategy consultants and workforce advisors aim to answer the question, Will AI Comes for Your Job?

I think they’re focusing on the wrong question.

The real question is not WILL AI TAKE OVER YOUR JOB? but rather WHAT SHOULD YOU DO WHEN GIVEN THAT IT WILL?

In an AI-driven world, where an algorithm can draft marketing copy—or even create music, produce videos, make hiring decisions, assign work tasks, respond to customers, write flawless software code, and make recommendations—virtually everything can become the domain of AI workstreams.

Moreover, as algorithms become increasingly more capable and valuable “agents” of your future workforce, their ability to outperform human workers is virtually certain for most jobs and work tasks.

I think it’s safe to assume that every job will be taken over by AI, including leadership and management jobs. Not only that but as AI systems become even more intelligent (which they will), even jobs that involve high degree of human judgement, creativity, and collaborative interaction will be taken over. The ‘AI-and-Human-Battlefield’ will focus on tasks, not jobs. And even certain tasks that make up the CEO job will be taken over by AI.

What does this mean for people?

What workforce skills are going to be necessary?

My answer has two elements

Competitive AI: Zero Sum Dynamics

For most jobs and tasks, AI will stand in direct competition with human workers, and sooner or later AI will win. It’s a matter of time, as AI technologies become cheaper and more widely accessible. AI will make most people’s work skills redundant, ultimately replacing them altogether.

I believe that realizing and accepting this trajectory is important. Denying it is futile and unproductive. Finding how to turn it into an opportunity and a uniquely human advantage is the key challenge for businesses, leaders, workers, and students.

Those who figure this out better than others will have the upperhand.

Synergistic AI: Positive Sum Dynamics

At the same time, human workers and leaders will outperform AI in certain jobs and work tasks. Those tasks are those that depend on: (1) original creative thinking and insight, (2) collaborative interaction, (3) critical thinking and dynamic judgment, and (4) visionary, transformational, non-transactional leadership. With respect to tasks that fall within this skill space, AI will serve as a tool that enables human workers and leaders to perform better in myriad ways.

Finding how to extract the most value from AI — as powerful, human-enhancing tools — is a critical opportunity for businesses, leaders, workers, and students. Learning how to embrace and use AI tools for maximal business impact is where huge value lies.

Those who figure this out better than others will have the upperhand.

Human Skills

AI is rapidly gaining employment market share. As I explained above, one of the key ways businesses should prepare for this future is in identifying today those people with the right set of human skills (including creative thinking, critical thinking, judgment, social collaboration), develop these skills fully, and plan their workforce development and leadership development to capitalize on these skills and the people who possess them.

The key tool to solving this problem is here.