Just AI it!
As I was browsing through my AI-recommended YouTube feed and watching snippets from leading thinkers like Peter Diamandis, Demis Hassabis, Sundar Pichai, and Satya Nadella, one common theme kept coming up: how AI is going to disrupt the job market. The message was loud and clear—we all must up-skill immediately or risk losing our jobs in a few days, weeks, or months down the line to the next AI model.
While I fully relate to this notion and the urgency to up-skill, today's blog is a little different. Today, I want to take this opportunity to call out the Leaders, Directors, and CXOs out there and request them to pause and reflect on an important downside of AI.
We are so focused on the efficiency AI brings to the bottom line that we are missing the threat it poses to our future talent pipeline.
I started my career in the US as a management consultant. I remember spending my first day doing a 16-hour shift, most of which was spent just organizing data from multiple survey forms into database software, conducting analysis, and then generating reports.
This continued for months. At the time, it was no doubt extremely frustrating. But to this day, the skills I learned in that process—organizing large amounts of information, creating cross-references, speedy error-checking, the ability to handle multiple time-bound projects, and the ability to recall critical data—continue to be deeply rewarding. They were the building blocks that helped my organisation and me on this journey of "Shooting to the Top."
Now, imagine a scenario where an organization has replaced most entry-level jobs with AI, which does the same work in a matter of minutes.
This poses two critical risks:
- A lack of foundational development: We lose the training ground for key technical and managerial skills.
- The "Empty Bench" crisis: More worrisome, there will be no one left to move up the organization (we will be forced to only hire from other organisations, until the talent pool eventually runs dry everywhere)
So, the next time you get excited about the cost savings of replacing entry-level jobs with AI, pause.
The organizations that Shoot to the Top in the next decade won't just be the ones with the best AI models. They will be the ones that figure out how to use AI as a companion, while simultaneously building a talent pipeline of creative, resilient, and empathetic leaders.
We must use technology to elevate our people, not replace the path that gets them there.
Shoot to the Top!