The Future of Work in the Age of AI
Examining the impact of other revolutionary technologies may provide clues on the ways AI will shape work in the years to come
Even for seasoned technologists, who have witnessed several game-changing advancements, AI is evolving at a breathtaking pace. And as someone whose 1987 computer science degree included a concentration in AI, the last few years have overdelivered on capabilities about which we could only theorize in the 80s. AI is truly a transformative technology with few parallels.
One of ways AI differentiates itself is through its pervasive impact across all industries, job categories and geographies, not just a few sectors. Unlike other revolutionary technology advancements, AI is poised to change not just what humans do, but which skills have the most value across all job categories.
Depending on how much pop culture you consume and from where, you may think that AI is coming for your job, and possibly your way of life, as many content creators have concluded. Alternatively, you may have read about the astronomical compensation packages AI engineers are receiving and decided that being in the middle of the AI action is the only place for you.
Whether you’re an AI pessimist or optimist, you will find plenty of hyperbolic predictions to support your position. That’s why it’s important to take a step back from the social-media hype and familiarize yourself with well-researched data.
We’ve Been Here Before, Sort of
When spreadsheet software first emerged in the early 80s, many accountants thought this new technology would be the end of the profession. Previously, spreadsheets were carefully drawn by hand and took days to produce. People with exquisite penmanship and meticulous attention to detail taped together large sheets of paper and spread them across drafting desks, checking and double-checking each other’s work for errors. If an error was found, entries were manually erased, pencils were re-sharpened and the process started all over again.
Spreadsheets, then, required accountants, bookkeepers and accounting clerks, each with a specific role to play, with the clerks being in charge of the erasers and the accountants being math wizards.
In “Spreadsheets!” a 2017 episode of NPR’s Planet Money podcast, the hosts describe the invention of the electronic spreadsheet: Around 1980, Dan Bricklin, a student at Harvard Business School, sat in a lecture hall watching his professor build a spreadsheet on the blackboard. Bricklin thought how cool it would be to take that spreadsheet off the blackboard and load it into his brand-new Apple IIe, a little computer in search of a killer app.
The spreadsheet became the definition of “killer app.” A personal computer could do in seconds what previously took a team of humans a week or two. To paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke, this sufficiently advanced technology felt like magic.
But the magic number cruncher also produced dire predictions about computers replacing humans and the demise of the accounting profession. Jobs lost! Valuable skills swept into the dustbin of history! What would all the 20th-century Bob Cratchits do now?
With so many sufficiently advanced technologies in our rear-view mirror, the economic effects of the spreadsheet are not surprising: according to Planet Money, since 1980 about 400,000 bookkeeping and accounting jobs have been eliminated, but about 600,000 accounting jobs have been created.
In addition, the spreadsheet spawned the growth of online analytics. With spreadsheets, any knowledge worker can run what-if analysis against anything that involves numbers: pricing models, inventory or online engagement.
Online analytics gave rise to data warehousing in the early 90s, which soon gave rise to something we called Very Large Databases (VLDB) in the late 90s. Both concepts involved being able to access massive amounts of data—not just numbers—for all kinds of analysis. And this, of course, led us to Big Data, machine learning, deep learning and large language models.
Although the spreadsheet eliminated some jobs, its overall effect on employment has been an overwhelming net positive. In addition to the 200,000 additional jobs created for accountants, spreadsheets have created entirely new job categories across all industries.
If we extend the spreadsheet analogy to the current explosion of AI technologies, the effect is exponential. But just as with accounting roles, it is important to understand the skills that will both increase and decrease in value in our AI-led future.
How AI Raises the Stakes for Job Skills
The World Economic Forum has published its “Future of Jobs Report” annually since 2016. They survey business leaders from all over the world and across dozens of industries, correlating their data with reputable third-party studies. The resulting report is thorough and readable.
Although several economic, technical, demographic and political trends are driving the future of work, the impact of AI is far and away the biggest factor affecting how jobs will change. According to the report, AI is a net-positive for work, but its influence is not evenly distributed across geographies or job roles.
A working rule of thumb is that those who acquire AI-related skills will not be replaced by AI. In other words, if you learn how to use AI to do your job faster and better, you’ll be the accountant, not the accounting clerk.
On its face, that is reasonable advice. But the 2025 “Future of Jobs Report” provides a more nuanced perspective, showing core skills for any job and projecting how those skills will be valued by 2030.
Of the 11 skills expected to be the most important by 2030, only two reference technology: “AI and Big Data” and “Technological Literacy.” The remaining nine skills are often considered “soft skills,” or the non-technical skills for a given industry.
According to the “Future of Jobs Report,” the top 10 core skills for 2025 are:
- Analytical thinking
- Resilience, flexibility and agility
- Leadership and social influence
- Creative thinking
- Motivation and self-awareness
- Technological literacy
- Empathy and active listening
- Curiosity and lifelong learning
- Talent management
- Service orientation and customer service
Note that employers ranked all these skills ahead of AI and Big Data. In addition, these very same skills are in the top 15 skills that are expected to increase in value by 2030. Clearly, these are not soft skills, but rather human skills.
Many TechChannel readers have spent decades building and supporting technologies that aren’t always considered cutting edge. We keep the banks, insurance companies and, yes, the trains, running. That can leave little time for exploring the latest AI advancements.
But as the “Future of Jobs Report” reveals, you don’t have to follow every new technology to stay relevant. To succeed to the job market of the future, you need to do something everyone has the skills for: hone your humanity.