I’ve spent more than a decade deep inside organizations, consulting on HR and future-of-work strategies. And I’ll admit that AI is exciting - there's no doubt. It’s powerful, it’s fast, and it really can eliminate the boring, repetitive work that has burned people out for years. But I've also learned that every time a new technology comes along, the focus gets stuck on the tool. We obsess over efficiency and forget the people who are supposed to use it.

The Hype and the Blind Spot

AI has become the buzzword of the future of work. Every corporate strategy deck talks about cost savings and productivity gains. I see too many business leaders bragging about how many employees can be eliminated by AI, as if human beings are just numbers on a spreadsheet. That thinking is not only cynical, it’s shortsighted.

And we’ve been here before. During the Industrial Revolution, machines replaced handweavers and factory lines made craftsmen redundant. In the late 20th century, computers swept away armies of typists and filing clerks. Each time, we heard the same story - jobs lost, industries disrupted, people left behind. But each time, we also saw something else: new professions emerging, old roles reshaped, and human work shifting into spaces machines could not fill. Every industrial revolution creates winners and losers, and this one will be no different.

Today, the jobs most exposed to AI are already obvious. It's data entry, routine administration, transactional customer service - roles built entirely on predictability. But even here, the story isn’t just about replacement. A customer service rep may no longer handle simple requests, but could pivot to managing the complex, human cases where empathy and judgment matter. A clerk may transition into overseeing the very systems that replaced their repetitive tasks. Yet this evolution only happens if companies give people the training and pathways to evolve. Without that, we’re not innovating... we’re simply discarding human potential. And that’s definitely not strategy but waste.

‍

All in all, technology doesn’t erase humanity.

‍

Reskilling Is Survival, Not a Side Project

"Reskilling" is often just a cheap PR statement and it's usually part of, a so-called learning budget that no one touches, or an online platform that gathers digital dust. That’s not real reskilling but just a window dressing designed to impress shareholders, not to prepare people.

Real reskilling looks completely different. It isn’t a perk you throw into the HR deck. It should be embedded in career paths so that growth is expected, not optional. I see it as tied directly to strategy so people learn skills that matter for where the company is going, not just whatever looks trendy. It’s measured, tracked, and rewarded with the same seriousness as profitability or market share. That's actually quite sensible, isn't it?

But here’s the part many businesses don’t want to hear, in my opinion. Reskilling is not just about teaching people to click through AI tools because such an approach is just surface-level. The real investment is in building the skills machines cannot replicate. So, digital literacy, yes, but also creativity, critical thinking, empathy, and cultural intelligence. This is what I call the human premium. It’s what turns a workforce from replaceable into resilient.

The companies that ignore this truth will pay a heavy price. They may end up with cutting-edge tech, but no human adaptability. And when the market shifts again (and it always does), their systems will crack under the pressure. I’ve seen it many times that companies chase automation so aggressively that they cut away the very skills and judgment they’ll need next. They confuse efficiency with strength, but efficiency alone isn’t resilience.

The Jobs AI Cannot Replace

Here’s the paradox I can clearly see. While companies chase AI with dollar signs in their eyes, the jobs least likely to be automated are the ones that depend entirely on being human. Caregivers, nurses, therapists, teachers - these are roles built on empathy, trust and presence. AI can monitor vital signs, schedule appointments, even deliver personalized recommendations. But it will never hold your hand when you’re terrified in a hospital bed. It won’t calm a child’s tears or sit quietly with someone at the end of their life. Those moments can’t be coded. They're also inevitable for all of us.

Unfortunately, we still seem to be ignoring the fact that Western societies are ageing at an unprecedented pace. Demographics don’t negotiate. Within the next two decades, the demand for human-centered roles will explode, not shrink. We can build all the chatbots and robots we want, but when it comes to caring for an elderly parent, raising a child, or guiding the next generation, people will always turn to people. We also need other people to survive, it's biology!

To me, that’s the irony of this entire AI era. In a world obsessed with technology, the jobs of the future may not be the ones bathed in algorithms and automation, but the ones that ask us to show up as humans in the most raw and essential ways. And the societies that fail to recognize this and that underpay, undervalue, or neglect these human-centered roles, will not just face a skills gap. They will face a care crisis that spills far beyond hospitals. It will hit families, workplaces, and entire economies. I'm not a fortune-teller but I can already smell this in the air.

‍

The Human Premium Beyond the AI Obsession

In my eyes, the more machines can do, the more valuable our uniquely human qualities become. Creativity, leadership, ethical judgment, emotional intelligence are human survival skills. They are the premium currency of the future of work. Companies that nurture it will thrive. Those that ignore it, chasing only efficiency, risk turning into hollow tech shells.

And this is where the conversation about the future of work needs to move. It’s not about humans versus machines. It’s not about choosing sides but design. We need education systems that prepare people for resilience, not for jobs destined to vanish in a few years. We need organizations that treat reskilling as a continuous process, not a last-minute reaction to crisis. We need leaders with the courage to invest in human potential, even when automation looks cheaper in the short term.

AI will reshape how we work, but it will not decide who thrives. That choice belongs to us, humans. The winners in this new era will be the organizations and societies that recognize the fact that the future of work is not algorithms alone. The future of work is people who are evolving, learning and thriving.

‍

‍