Leadership and adoption
What changes in jobs, and what doesn't
AI changes tasks, not whole jobs overnight. What shifts, what becomes more important, and how to talk about it honestly with your team.
5 min read
Many employees wonder what AI means for their job. An honest answer starts by separating tasks from jobs. AI mainly takes over or speeds up particular tasks. What that means for a job depends on the choices you make as a business.
What often shifts
- First drafts of texts, notes and quotes go faster.
- Finding and summarising information takes less time.
- Repetitive writing work gets lighter.
What becomes more important
- Judgement: checking, deciding, choosing what's right.
- Contact: with customers, colleagues and partners.
- Expertise: knowing what's good, and why.
- Asking the right questions: giving AI a good brief starts with understanding the problem well.
- Working together: with people and with tools.
The business's choice
The time saved can go to more customer contact, better work, learning or growth. Or to fewer staff. That's a choice, not an automatic outcome. As a leader, be honest about your plans. Uncertainty costs more trust than a clear answer.
The conversation with your team
- Discuss role by role which tasks are shifting.
- Ask employees which tasks they'd like lightened.
- Link it to learning.
- Review job descriptions together.
A moment to reflect
Your answers stay only in this browser.
Prompt to copy
These are the main tasks of a [role] in our business: [list]. For each task, say: how AI might change it (faster, differently, not at all), which skill becomes more important, and one question to discuss with the employee. Keep it nuanced and avoid big predictions.
