In advanced companies, and even countries, medium-term career experts are growing to help them not only survive, but also thrive in the age of widespread enterprise artificial intelligence (AI).
As corporate and public sector organizations adopt AI at a lightning pace, the white-collar occupation faces a major disruption, unlike what blue-collar workers experienced in the 19th century.
According to a study from Openai and the University of Pennsylvania, the roles affected include accountants, legal assistants, financial analysts, journalists, translators and public relations experts. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs released figures in March 2023 that spoke about the employment of 300 million people exposed to AI in all sectors.
The turning point of generation
It's a concept from decades ago, but the broad symbolism of Generative AI (Genai) began around 2022 with the release of ChatGpt. This is awakening both governments and businesses, and we must prepare ourselves for the inevitable chaos.
According to Tram Anh Nguyen, co-founder of the Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE), people over the age of 40 in medium-sized professional roles are at the highest risk of major job disruptions as companies integrate AI into their businesses. CFTE is a global education platform specializing in training in the financial sector, including teaching AI in finance.
Nguyen, a global woman with AI Chairman, also worked in the financial sector for decades in business roles. “AI is no longer a concept for the future. It's here and it's affecting everyone at every level.”
However, this does not mean that it will be replaced if the expert is retrained. This doesn't just mean technical training.
Learn to thrive
According to Nguyen, training on AI in non-technical roles includes experts who learn fundamental knowledge of AI, available AI tools and AI use cases.
In the white paper in the title Talent ai-ficationCFTE said three groups of experts will emerge. It reported that there is an increasingly automated “mass displacement” role that focuses on execution. Some will appear where “supercharged experts” use AI to expand their range and scale. “Creative Destroyers” are small groups that invent new models, products and systems.
Nguyen warned that the UK is behind preparing its AI workforce. “We don't focus on large-scale adult education, so we don't prepare people the right way,” she told Computer Weekly.
She cited a Singapore project that CFTE helped design. This will provide financial support to help people switch careers while supporting the transition of medium-term careers, focusing specifically on the technology and finance sectors.
All Singaporeans over the age of 40 received funding to renew their skills, accounting for a significant portion of IT-related courses in regions, including artificial intelligence.
According to the Singapore Newspaper, there were 520,000 people who participated in the programme (SSG) supported by the SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) in 2024 and about 555,000 in 2023. The Straits Era.
These are quite a few for Singapore, with a population of around 6 million, but the same challenges face globally.
Cross-sector calls for action
One sector that has been heavily affected is financial services, leading the way in AI innovation and investment.
Bloomberg Intelligence, for example, recently brought hundreds of thousands of jobs to be replaced by AI in the US financial sector, particularly Wall Street. Asked by the organization, CIOs expected 3% of the workforce to be reduced on average. Approximately a quarter of respondents expect the workforce to be reduced between 5% and 10% as AI takes over the role.
A study by banking industry benchmark company Ebsident found that AI-related roles could be the only “safe work” in the banking sector as financial organizations “relentlessly” boost AI-driven transformation.
A banking industry report found that recruitment for AI development experts rose 6% last year, with data engineer employment increasing 14% and the number of AI and software implementation experts increased 42%.
But while the financial sector finds itself at the forefront of the AI revolution, the rapid spread of technology is far beyond.
Amanda Stent, head of AI at Bloomberg, recently spoke to Computer Weekly in an interview that “there is no history revolution and it hasn't led to a change in work.”
“There will be some kind of job changes, some kind of job disappearing,” they added. “But there's no revolution in history either, and overall there's not much work being produced. I think that applies to AI. This will add a lot of people.”
The stent said that all workers must learn to use AI, regardless of their role.
The legal sector is an example of a traditional industry adapted to AI. The UK regulatory agency for lawyers has recently approved the first law firm to provide purely legal services through AI.
Mark Lewis, a technology-focused attorney for Stevenson Harwood, said “responsible, if not virtually everything” is operating on AI and genai.
“Typical use cases include reviewing documents, analysis and summarizing, legal investigations, case investigations, forecasting case outcomes, reviewing and reporting on the application of regulations around the world, and of course, reviewing and reporting on law firm back-office operations such as client due diligence and acceptance.”
However, he added that AI is not causing “a big mess” in the legal sector “yet.” “As well as disrupting many sectors, such as removing work done by Paralegals, Junior Lawyers and even senior lawyers, this has not yet happened in the legal market here.
“There's quite a bit of normal tech hype about it. AI will definitely be essential for legal processes and lawyers at all levels, but like many other sectors, it will still take time and maturity of legal use cases.”
However, he said companies are prepared for the impact of AI. “We, like many companies, have made all the lawyer Genai tools developed for us, used within specific parameters and made available in accordance with AI/Genai policies.
“We want our lawyers to use these genai tools, get used to how they are handled, understand their strengths and limitations, and become experts in creating and improving prompts.
“For me, there is an even more important – existential – point: the single biggest challenge is how we, as a society, learn to understand, live and cooperate with AI.
In the IT sector, AI is a huge business opportunity, but this technology is also changing the way suppliers operate.
IT sector workers should also learn to work with AI. Amrinder Singh, head of EMEA and APAC operations at Indian IT services company Hexaware, told Computer Weekly that all 30,000 staff will be trained in how to use AI.
He put it in surprising terms and put risk to untrained workers. “We said there's no future for single-skilled people,” he said. “Unless you're multiskilled in understanding domains, you won't survive unless you understand how to use AI and technology.”
