Keeping Up with AI: Reskilling for an Ever-changing World

How businesses and employees can embrace the future together

“AI will revolutionize the world of business, unlocking unprecedented productivity and creativity!” That’s what many believers say. But on the other side, I hear sceptics ask: “What about privacy concerns, rampant bias, and unpredictable outputs?”

I wonder whether a more balanced reality lies somewhere between these extremes. While AI is certainly transforming the way we work, it comes with its share of complexities to work through and guardrails to build. As the digital economy expands, so does the demand for new skills for a new age. While some of us may fear being left behind, I wonder—are these truly novel challenges, or are we witnessing another chapter in the ongoing story of human evolution?

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Evolution of skills

It’s fair to say that warnings about the need to adapt aren’t entirely new. Throughout history, we have (almost) always adapted to new tools and challenges. The fictional Dwight Schrute, beet farmer and assistant to the regional manager at Dunder Mifflin in the popular sitcom The Office and his earnest struggle and determination in an episode to master a new sales software kind of mirrors that of early humans mastering fire—a skill that not only warmed our nights but also transformed our diets and defenses. Dwight’s quest to adapt and not be left behind is much like what workers faced during the Industrial Revolution when machines first threatened jobs. These examples, both real and fictional, are about the story of human progress, rising and evolving to meet new challenges.

The HFS and Genpact Market Impact Report offers well-timed insights into how businesses are scaling gen AI adoption while steering clear of the so-called “productivity trap”. It feels especially relevant today, as reports like the 2023 World Economic Forum Future of Jobs report, forecast that up to one billion people need to be reskilled within the next decade due to rapid advancements in technology. But here’s a more comforting thought: within the next five years, over 75% of companies adopting big data, cloud computing, and AI will be investing in their workforce by implementing reskilling initiatives at scale.

Anxiety is understandable when one hears that AI might replace 85 million jobs by 2025, but learning that it might create 97 million new roles offers a bit of relief. Still, with 44% of workers’ skills expected to face disruption, no one can deny the need for a reskilling revolution in advanced technologies. Instead of thinking of it as a daunting challenge, though, we might ask how we could create the right environment for the required evolution.

New skills for a new age

Over the last few decades, businesses shifted from simple assembly lines focused on output to complex organizations that drive strategic success towards desired outcomes. Now, however, success isn’t even about driving towards specific outcomes anymore—it’s about adapting with agility to a constantly changing world. Just as we learned to master fire and the internet, today’s frontier seems to be AI. And it is no longer enough to just lead human teams; it’s about learning to collaborate with machines in ways we’re still discovering.

Generative AI tools are designed to boost human effort and creativity. And from what I’m seeing, the key to unlocking their full potential isn’t just in the commands we give but in how we interact with them. Prompt engineering, for instance, can become a game-changer when we can teach AI not just what to do, but how to think. It already allows us to guide AI to understand the full context of a task, know the outcome we are targeting, and even understand different personas. It isn’t hard to imagine that, soon, everyday AI tools will check in with us, ask us the right questions, and make sure they’re on the right track. AI will be a buddy… a partner… while we remain firmly in control, using it to expand human creativity, problem-solving, and decision-making.

Emerging and merging roles

As AI and advanced technologies reshape business, it’s fascinating to see new roles emerge—ones that are focused on managing, training, and optimizing these tools. Careers in AI safety, data ethics, large language model (LLM) management, and so on are not only no longer in the realm of sci-fi, but they’re quickly becoming as widely relevant as IT roles were not too long ago.

To prepare for these changes, companies must start viewing skills as a critical asset. HR and business leaders have an important role to play in working together to identify future talent needs and map out the essential skills required for success in an AI-first world. Balancing the skills we already have with the ones we’ll need, and understanding where AI can help fill in the gaps, seems to be the key to staying ahead of the pace of change.

Thankfully, the days of employees struggling alone, like Dwight Schrute trying to keep up, are behind us. AI today empowers teams to learn, grow, and succeed together. It’s an ongoing journey of transformation, and businesses that invest in their people now are setting themselves up to thrive in the future. After all, evolution isn’t just about survival; it is about embracing the future in a world that never stops changing. And while change can feel uncertain, our ability to keep evolving is what makes it exciting—and empowering.

This article was first published in the Times of India.