How AI will transform the workplace faster than the internet

This article is part of of ”How will AI change human resources?” series explores how AI is reshaping recruitment, development, and retention.

Twelve months ago, Jacqui Canney was Chief People Officer at ServiceNow, where she focused on talent strategy. Currently, she is also the company's Chief AI Enablement Officer. This position did not exist until recently.

Canny told Business Insider that the two roles are not separate. “These are strategies, and the companies that understand them will be the winners.”

However, this change requires letting go of the way most organizations have traditionally structured work by function, number of employees, and department. “Companies can't treat this like, 'Hey, we're going to run an AI program here, and that's going to add capacity,'” she says.

Instead, we need to ask how AI will change work across departments. “AI doesn’t follow the same silos as humans, which is why we’re building our workforce around new workflows.”

Canny's approach is not an outlier. Rather, it shows how quickly AI has become a part of work and our daily lives.

Three years after ChatGPT was launched, the adoption rate reached 54.6%. This is staggering compared to the penetration rates of personal computers (19.7%) and the Internet (30.1%) three years after their widespread adoption, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Meanwhile, about 21% of U.S. workers say at least some of their work is now done with AI, up from 16% about a year ago, according to the Pew Research Center.

AI is transforming everything about work, from the work people do to the way they do it. Meanwhile, organizations are scrambling to prepare their employees for what's coming next. Although the long-term effects remain uncertain, early patterns are emerging about what is working and what is not.

New position, high expectations

The impact of AI on the labor market is everywhere, from how companies screen candidates to which skills earn high salaries to how performance is evaluated. Two structural changes are particularly notable. New jobs are being created and old jobs are evolving.

Reliable numbers of new AI-specific jobs are difficult to obtain, but data shows rapid growth. According to a report from software company Autodesk, demand for roles such as AI engineer will increase by 143.2% in 2024, prompt engineer will increase by 135.8%, and AI content creator will increase by 134.5%. Meanwhile, the number of jobs requiring AI skills increased by 7.5% last year, even as the total number of job openings fell by 11.3%, according to a study by consulting firm PwC.

Molly Rowena, global chief human resources officer at public relations firm Weber Shandwick, sees this firsthand. Her company is increasingly seeking experts in areas such as AI integration and AI ethics, and hiring from areas such as behavioral science and data analysis.

“We are recruiting in a fundamentally different environment,” Roenna says. “Meeting client expectations requires people who use technology not just as a shortcut to efficiency, but as a means of empowering insight and creativity.”

The recruitment process itself is also evolving. Many of Weber Shandwick's interviews now include “technology conversations,” and the technique appears to be gaining traction. This is not to test technical skills, but rather to assess how candidates use AI.

“What have they built with AI? What excites them and what worries them about AI? We're looking for perspectives that come from real-world practices.”

Dynamic developments at Weber Shandwick and elsewhere are not new. After all, every major advance in technology creates previously unimaginable roles, makes others obsolete, and forces still others to adapt. But what is different in this AI-driven era is both the speed (see above) and breadth of change, which will impact workers across industries and skill levels.

“Before there were computers, there were no programmers,” says Esteve Almiral Mesquita, a professor of data, analytics, technology and AI at Madrid's Esade University.

Setting goals for popularization

Creating demand for new roles and expertise is half the equation. The bigger challenge is helping existing employees understand how to use AI.

Some companies aren't leaving it to chance. That's what they're looking for, said Dan Schaubel, managing partner at research firm Workplace Intelligence. “CEOs are under tremendous pressure to keep their company's AI story intact,” he says. “We have to get our employees to use AI. Yes, it’s good for productivity, but it’s also good for our story and our bottom line.”

According to a previous report from Business Insider, companies like Microsoft, Coinbase, and Shopify are now mandating the use of AI. Meta plans to measure employee performance through “AI impact.”

Chauvel expects even more scrutiny in the year ahead. Employees need to function like data scientists and continually prove their worth, he says. “Whether you're in marketing, IT, or HR, every action can be measured and tracked, and in some cases can be directly tied to compensation.”

Track your AI ROI

However, measuring AI usage and finding value from it are two different things. Even as organizations pour billions of dollars into technology, the results are uneven.

In a survey of more than 1,250 companies around the world by consulting firm BCG, 60% of companies reported making significant investments in AI, but with only minimal returns. Meanwhile, only 5% of companies have taken steps to restructure their business around AI, and these companies have realized significantly greater revenue growth than their peers.

According to BCG research, the difference is due to several factors. Successful companies get buy-in from senior management and redesign the way they work. Most importantly, BCG has invested in teaching its employees how to use AI effectively, according to Alicia Pittman, BCG's global people chair.

Pittman points out that industries such as financial services, insurance, and healthcare are increasingly adopting AI. “We're seeing companies focus on this effort in real time like never before, and that's good for everyone and for employees around the world.”

Yes, there will be job displacement and some skill sets will be lost, she says. “But helping people adapt to AI is a huge investment in people as professionals.”

Train AI to work for humans, not for them

At credit rating agency Moody's, that investment includes encouraging employees to teach AI wherever possible.

Ari Lehavi, who runs applied AI there, says this approach frees up employees to focus on complex tasks that require human expertise.

Let's take sales as an example. A customer relationship management (CRM) system can capture basic information such as company size, contract history, and revenue potential. But they overlook the factors that go into making a deal: internal politics, personal motivations, and who actually influences decisions. Lehavi's team teaches an AI system to learn these details so salespeople can focus on managing relationships.

“They can spend their time doing things they're already working on but don't have enough time for,” he says. “Difficult cases, special cases, complex situations, teaching, managing others, developing skills.”

In other words, it's human.

Of course, the path ahead is neither simple nor straightforward. Not all companies have the resources to reskill employees, and some jobs may actually disappear. Many companies are struggling to put AI to practical use.

Still, ServiceNow's Canney remains positive. “This is a human renaissance,” she says. “We have the opportunity to empower our employees and lead them into new revenue streams and creative ways of working. This is a huge opportunity and I am definitely optimistic.”