How to Redefine Professional Roles in the AI Era

💬Now is the time for leaders to rethink job descriptions. Many believe that updating job descriptions every 3-5 years is sufficient. 🐌 Those days are gone. ⏩ You should be reassessing jobs every 4-6 months. Focus on the human elements that Al cannot replicate: ✅ creativity ✅ strategy ✅ interpersonal skills Then, thoughtfully redesign roles to use Al's strengths so that there’s more time to apply those human elements! This is not about replacing jobs, but reimagining them to foster innovation and drive business growth. What does this practically look like? 🖥️ IT As AI takes over routine coding and troubleshooting tasks, IT professionals can focus on designing complex, strategic IT architectures, cybersecurity innovations, and facilitating the integration of new technologies within the company. 📊 Finance AI can handle data analysis and report generation. Finance experts can shift towards interpreting this data for strategic decision-making, focusing on financial forecasting and advising on investment opportunities leveraging AI-driven insights. 🤝 Sales With AI handling initial customer inquiries and lead qualification, sales representatives can dedicate more time to understanding client needs, building relationships, and developing customized solutions that truly resonate with each customer. 🔄 Operations As AI streamlines logistics and inventory management, operations personnel can concentrate on optimizing supply chain strategy, vendor relations, and sustainability practices. 👥 HR AI can manage payroll, benefits administration, and resume screening. HR professionals can then focus on employee engagement strategies, professional development programs, and fostering company culture. 🎨 Marketing With AI taking on market analysis and targeted advertising, marketers can pivot to crafting more compelling brand narratives, innovative campaign strategies, and engaging content that speaks to human emotions and experiences. ⚖️ Legal AI can assist in document review and due diligence processes. Legal professionals can focus on complex negotiations, strategic counseling, and providing personalized legal advice where human judgment is critical. 📦 Supply Chain AI could handle demand forecasting and inventory optimization. Supply chain experts can then work on strategic partnerships, resilience planning, and exploring new market opportunities. —- The savviest employees have learned new ways of working already. How about you? Have you told anyone that you no longer work the same way? Share how you’re working differently now 👇🏻 #Innovation #Growth #AI #management #FutureOfWork

Once upon a time, the workplace looked like this: 🔺 A wide base of operators ⬛ A middle of managers 🔝 A small circle of execs at the top making “strategic” decisions And each layer was dependent on the prior layers knowledge and context. But that is no longer the case - AI is cracking that structure apart and now #1 question I get asked is “Where Should AI sit?” I have an entire framework for that, based on trail and error and over 60+ different structures and outcomes across a variety of industries, but to keep it super duper simple, the new mental model is: The Upside Down Pyramid. 🔻 Bottom layer: Automated out. Replaced by RPA, bots, agents. (FYI … Deloitte reports that intelligent automation has led to zero net growth in administrative headcount in over 65% of enterprises) 🧍🏻Middle layer: Thinned out, middle-management pruning some say - as real-time insights and AI copilots give execs direct access to context. They are no longer the widest & thickest structure. 🔝 Top layer: Amplified, not eliminated, with a new diverse set of players at the top. AI translators and cross-functional builders who know tech and business (fyi, Harvard Business Review reported that 42% of managers’ tasks are now deemed automatable—and that number is climbing) In summary: We’re not watching a job extinction event, we’re witnessing an extreme skills migration. 🤯 RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Redefine your middle. If you’re a middle manager, become the bridge—not the bottleneck. Strategic orchestration beats tactical supervision. 2. Train your top. Your leaders need fluency in AI—not prompt tokens. Nothing is a silver bullet. Invest in simulation-based leadership programs. The new org chart favors the thinkers, the builders, the doers—with AI as their multiplier. Are you adapting to the new shape of work? #FutureOfWork #AITransformation #Leadership #OrgDesign #WorkforceShift #DigitalStrategy #CareerAdvice #DataLeadership >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Worlds 1st Chief AI Officer for Enterprise, 10 patents, former Amazon & C-Suite Exec (5x), best-selling author, FORBES “AI Maverick & Visionary of the 21st Century” , Top 100 AI Thought Leaders, helped IBM launch Watson My 2nd #TEDx talk will be released in 2 weeks!

If you’re in leadership, you need to understand *how* genAI will transform your organization, and what that means for restructuring teams. Here's what we're learning: BREAKTHROUGH IN AI IDEATION OpenAI is getting ready to launch new AI models (o3 and o4-mini) that can connect concepts across different disciplines ranging from nuclear fusion to pathogen detection. (Reporting from The Information's Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati). Molecular biologist Sarah Owens used the system to design a study applying ecological techniques to pathogen detection and said doing this without AI "would have taken days." THE NEW TEAMMATE EMERGES Remember the HBS study with 776 Procter & Gamble professionals? It showed that genAI functioned as an actual teammate. Individuals using AI performed at levels comparable to traditional human teams, achieving a 37% performance improvement over solo workers without AI. Teams using AI were three times more likely to produce top-quality solutions while completing tasks 12.7% faster and producing more detailed outputs. BREAKING DOWN SILOS That study showed that AI also dissolves professional boundaries. Without AI, R&D specialists created technical solutions while Commercial specialists developed market-focused ideas. With AI, both types of specialists produced balanced solutions integrating technical and commercial perspectives. A NEW KIND OF TEAM AI users reported higher levels of excitement and enthusiasm while experiencing less anxiety and frustration. Individuals working alone with AI reported emotional experiences comparable to those in human teams. That's wild. RESTRUCTURING FOR ADVANTAGE The HBS study showed that AI reduces dominance effects in team collaboration. When genAI translates between roles, it accelerates iteration at a pace that there’s no way traditional teams could match. ++++++++++++++++++++ THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD BE DOING NOW: 1. Upskill your entire workforce: Develop a fundamental behavioral shift in how teams interact with AI across every task. This only works if everyone is doing it. (We work with enterprise to upskill at scale - more below.) 2. Experiment with new team structures: Test different AI-team combinations. Try individuals with AI for routine tasks and small teams with AI for complex challenges. Find what works best for your specific needs. 3. Redefine success metrics: Set new standards for what good work looks like with AI. Track not just productivity but also idea quality, knowledge sharing across departments, and team satisfaction—all areas where AI shows major benefits. ++++++++++++++++++++ UPSKILL YOUR ORGANIZATION: When your company is ready, we are ready to upskill your workforce at scale. Our Generative AI for Professionals course is tailored to enterprise and highly effective in driving AI adoption through a unique, proven behavioral transformation. It's pretty awesome. Check out our website or shoot me a DM.

The career ladder just snapped in half - here's how to climb without it...   Aneesh Raman's recent piece for NY Times confirms what many of us in recruitment have been observing: AI is systematically eliminating entry-level positions across industries.   But there's a critical element missing from this conversation.   Those "bottom rung" jobs weren't just paychecks - they were professional boot camps that taught fundamental workplace skills, built confidence, and created career momentum.   Without this traditional foundation, professionals need to completely reimagine how career development works.   The New Career Playbook:   Instead of waiting for the next assignment, start thinking strategically about business problems and solutions from day one.   Rather than simply performing tasks well, focus on building a professional brand that demonstrates unique value and perspective.   Learn to leverage AI as an accelerator for your capabilities rather than viewing it as a threat to your relevance.   Develop the power skills that remain uniquely human: nuanced communication, adaptive thinking, and strategic judgment.   Create visibility both within your organization and across your industry through consistent value demonstration.   Take ownership of your professional narrative rather than letting others define your worth and potential.   The fundamental shift is this: the new workplace rewards output and impact over tenure and titles.   Without traditional entry-level roles to provide gradual skill building, professionals must become self-directed strategists immediately.   This isn't just about surviving technological change - it's about thriving in an environment where relevance matters more than rank.   How are you adapting your approach to career development in this shifting landscape?   Sign up to my newsletter for more corporate insights and truths here: https://lnkd.in/ei_uQjju   CC: Raman, Aneesh. “I’m a LinkedIn Executive. I See the Bottom Rung of the Career Ladder Breaking.” The New York Times, 19 May 2024,   https://lnkd.in/eBYgTaRd   #deepalivyas #eliterecruiter #recruiter #recruitment #jobsearch #corporate #ai #careerladder #futureofwork #careerstrategist

This Fortune article is so compelling. IBM’s CHRO shares an important lesson about AI in HR: it’s not about replacing people, it’s about empowering them to excel in more strategic, human-focused work. At IBM, they’ve shifted transactional HR tasks, like locating benefit info, to an AI bot. That frees the team to spend their time on employee development, culture building, and complex problem-solving, areas where AI simply can’t tread. But the article rightly points out that many organizations miss the mark. They spotlight AI as a cost-cutting tool and a job replacement lever, rather than a partner in workforce transformation. This resonates deeply with me. Too often, leadership fixates on what we can cut. Instead, we should be asking: How can we build? How can we prepare our people for tomorrow? Here are three reflections I’m bringing back to my network: AI as enabler, not replacement: Use AI to offload routine tasks, then invest the savings in upskilling your people. That’s how you futureproof your organization. Training is nonnegotiable: As IBM’s CHRO says, it's short sighted to focus on replacement instead of building capability. We have to double down on learning programs so people aren’t left behind. Reframe transformation as human evolution: The goal isn’t fewer people, it’s better use of human potential. AI should augment our strengths, not replace them. AI is redefining productivity. But success will be defined by how effectively we rewire roles, reskill people, and realign organizations around human strengths. Would love to hear how others are approaching this. Are you blending AI into HR or bigger parts of your org? How are you investing in people to match? #AI #HRtech #FutureOfWork #Upskilling #TransformationLeadership https://lnkd.in/e2KJMVzY

Some folks are still getting it wrong: they’re defining their job by what they do instead of what they deliver. In the work world, your outputs are currency. In the AI age, it’s also using AI to improve the business metric behind that output that matters. The fastest way to stay valuable is leveraging AI to improve your outputs. Here’s how to make that shift: 1️⃣ Audit your job description by highlighting outputs (“drive traffic and engagement”) and crossing out inputs (“write blog posts”) 2️⃣ For each output, design the process that gets you there and layer in AI where it can speed up, scale, or enhance your result 3️⃣ Replace at least one manual input this week, free up hours, and reinvest that time into the outcomes that count Be the architect of results and build in a way that compounds your value in the AI age.

🚀 AI is transforming how we work—but so much of the focus is on the individual—individual AI use cases, individual productivity gains, and the individual skills required to capitalize on AI. Too often, we miss the bigger picture. What happens to our teams and org structures when AI enters the workplace? I’m excited to share new research (link in first comment below 👇) that my colleagues and I recently published in CSCW. Our 10-month ethnographic study of a fast-growing digital retailer unpacked how AI challenges traditional org charts and structures. Here's the problem: 🗂️ Traditional org charts divide work into silos—sales, marketing, product lines, etc. This structure is decades old, designed to keep complexity manageable by clearly assigning who does what. 🤖 But AI doesn’t like silos. 🔎 In our study, the algorithms couldn’t fully optimize because the org chart kept decision-making locked in silos. Once those constraints were lifted, AI delivered far better results—spotting trends and opportunities no single team could see on its own. Our research suggests that to get the most out of AI, organizations need to rethink three key areas: 1️⃣ Break Down Silos Don’t box in your AI—or your teams. AI is most powerful when applied at the cross-functional level, connecting insights across departments and uncovering trends no single team can see on its own. 2️⃣ Rethink Your Data Systems Rigid, fragmented data systems are AI’s kryptonite. Shifting to flexible, connected data systems ensures AI can analyze patterns across the entire organization. If your data’s stuck in fragmented systems, your AI will be stuck too. 3️⃣ Rethink Your Org Chart—Or At Least How It Might Be Constraining Your AI Build teams and processes that aren’t limited by static org charts. Rethink how roles and responsibilities are assigned. When you’re building your next team, don’t just grab the org chart. Look at what needs to get done and use AI to help you figure out the right roles. Have you thought about how AI might reshape your org chart? We know that hierarchy matters a lot—history shows us that too many attempts to dismantle it over the years have flopped. But with AI in the picture, I expect that rethinking parts of our org charts won’t be optional—it’ll be inevitable. So honored to collaborate with an incredible team of superstars on this piece: Amanda Pratt, Melissa Valentine, and Michael Bernstein.

The class of 2025 is entering a work world that looks dramatically different than it did even a few years ago. Traditional early-career paths are less defined. Expectations are shifting. The old playbook for entry-level work is being shredded—and that’s both a challenge and an opportunity. In Barron's, I share why we’re not simply navigating a temporary disruption—we’re living through a structural transformation. And that calls for a different kind of leadership at every level.  Three takeaways: 🔶 Character is no longer a soft skill. In an AI-powered world, uniquely human traits like empathy and discernment are no longer just “nice to haves.” They are essential skills for all employees. 🔶 Rethink talent development. Increasingly, we should view early-career roles more like “AI apprenticeships” where AI handles routine work, humans handle judgment calls, and leaders lean in and coach—not just delegate. 🔶 Redefine performance. Value in early-career roles is no longer about how well someone executes a rote task. It’s important to adopt performance metrics that measure the character traits, judgment and emotional intelligence that make a difference. The workplace is being rewritten. Businesses—and this new generation of workers—must be bold enough to help write it. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eVgYknUQ