The use of AI is strictly mandated across the workforce, says Satyen K. Bordoloi, who outlines strategies for surviving this latest AI apocalypse.
Until recently, working with AI could get you fired. The logic goes, if AI can do your job, why are you getting paid? But as a recent Wall Street Journal report recently revealed, the opposite is happening, at least in the United States. Employees who don’t use AI are now being laid off. The phrase “AI will do your job for you” has changed as companies realize that while AI may create slots on its own, in the hands of a competent human it can also make the cash registers ring.
I’ve been saying this for years
The person who will replace you is not an AI, but someone who is better at using AI tools than you are. Those who predict how AI will end the world will be replaced by those who have learned how to make AI a collaborative partner. So the ultimatum at your new job is simple but clear. Embrace AI or risk becoming professionally obsolete.
AI haves and have-nots: There is a growing chasm in today’s workforce. It will be based on who is riding the AI wave and who is not, rather than the old hierarchies of education, experience, and even talent. The WSJ article cites the example of Accenture, which trained 70% of its workforce with the simple goal of “quitting” those who aren’t used to using AI in the workplace.
This irony is richer than a whole cup of frothy coffee. We’ve been worrying for years about machines replacing humans, but now we know that the more immediate threat is humans and machines working together. For businesses, the choice is clear. Employees no longer have to struggle to start a fire with a stick while AI functions like a torch in efficient human hands. The mantra seems to be to work smarter with AI instead of doing harder work without it.
Why companies are going all-in on AI
The question in question is why have companies reversed their AI usage policies and gone to the opposite extreme? The July 2025 research report “Beyond the Buzz: Developing the AI Skills Employers Actually Need” published by Lightcast, an American labor insights platform, has some answers. They found that job postings that mentioned AI skills offered an average of 28% higher salaries, or about $18,000 per year, more than those that didn’t. For roles that require at least two AI skills, the premium is a whopping 43% higher.
Surprisingly, the report highlights unexpected sectors such as customer support, sales and manufacturing as key beneficiaries. This does not mean that companies are paying a premium due to technological appeal. Rather, the jobs for which they pay the most premiums are proof that they are investing in tangible returns. Another finding of the report is that since ChatGPT launched in 2022, mentions of generative AI skills in non-tech job postings have spiked by 800%.
The message is simple. For both employees and employers, AI skills are equivalent to dollar signs. And it’s not just specific roles like software development or data science. Employees from all walks of life are benefiting from learning AI skills.
Carrot and stick corporate policy
This trend started with companies gently encouraging people to learn AI skills. Now it has become mandatory, a kind of AI enforcement. Different companies have different approaches, but the message is consistent. “Adapt or face the consequences.”
Take IgniteTech, an enterprise software company featured in the WSJ article. Company leaders asked staff to spend 20% of their time experimenting with AI. And this was not optional. Employees were required to share their learnings on Slack and X, and were even asked to self-assess their use of AI using ChatGPT. Those with the lowest scores were weeded out of the company, including some of the company’s oldest talent.
This is cruel. But the company sees AI as an existential threat. It’s not the existence of AI, it’s the inability of employees to use it effectively. You can also read between the lines. Businesses are all about profits. So if they see that AI can bring benefits, they will go all in on it. But what I’ve often said, and what companies are probably starting to realize, is that AI by itself can’t generate profits, and humans in the loop are not optional, they’re essential. So we found a middle ground: collaboration between humans and AI. The humans who work best with AI will be left behind.
As a result, companies are weaving AI directly into the fabric of their performance, including established firms like McKinsey, KPMG, and PwC, as well as new entrants like Multiverse, which says in a WSJ article, “You need to hire for the will of AI, not just the skills.”
What AI can and cannot do
There is no area in the enterprise context that AI cannot assist. Do you want to analyze customer behavior, predict preferences and customize experiences? The End. Do you create content such as blog posts, marketing and ad copy, images and videos? Check it. Supporting the development of new ideas in science and research. child’s play. Would you like to take doctor’s notes and make it a lot less tedious? Absolutely. AI is driving decisions everywhere, so why don’t companies want to implement it into their workflows?
You might wonder why we need humans in the first place, especially in the age of agent AI, where AI agents can be produced in large numbers to perform tasks that would take humans hours or even days. To mess with an old metaphor, AI abilities are like bikinis. AI can do many things, but not the most important thing. Most AI systems are simply statistical models that know which word or color pixel comes after the previous word, based on pattern recognition. This ability may seem important, but it is superficial. It takes humans with a deeper understanding of the human condition and the world to understand it and turn it into profit.
AI survival guide
It should be clear by now that AI is coming to take your job, riding on the backs of your tech-enthusiast colleagues. So what should you do to survive this AI apocalypse? First and foremost, remove your resistance to AI from your mind. Don’t fight the inevitable. Think of AI as the most powerful and, in fact, most efficient tool ever created by humans.
Once the cobwebs in your head are cleared, start with the easiest solution. Identify repetitive and time-consuming tasks in your workflow that can be automated or enhanced with AI. These include email creation, data analysis, content creation and research, and more. Next, develop the ability to understand the capabilities and limitations of AI. You don’t have to be a software engineer to use AI. It works with everyday human language. So understand your ignorance about AI and find your way to AI literacy.
Next, know that the best way to use AI is to use it as co-pilot, not in autopilot mode. AI is just a glorified calculator. Processing data and generating ideas can be handled, but giving context and meaning to the data based on requirements is still a completely human job. This brings me to my next point. It’s about understanding your company’s advantages over AI. AI struggles with context, emotional intelligence, and true creativity. Double your natural human capabilities while outsourcing procedural tasks to AI.
But the mindset you must cultivate most is this
Retrain your mind to constantly evolve and learn. Because the truth about AI is this. The tools that are hot today, or that you enjoy using now, will undoubtedly become obsolete in the coming months or years. The key, therefore, is not to master a single platform or tool, but to be comfortable learning from a broader category of AI tools as they emerge.
The WSJ article quotes an employee who was fired for not using AI as saying, “AI is coming whether you like it or not. You’re either in it or you’re left behind.” The reaction to this is not fear, but preparation. As Lightcast’s global head of research Elena Magrini told CNBC last year, “AI is coming, but we don’t need to fear it. We need to be prepared.”
And you have to prepare. Your career may depend on it.
