Over the last year, in many of the programs I’ve run, clients have landed on the same question: “Is AI going to replace my job?” It’s an understandable concern. A lot of the conversation and mainstream predictions focus on what happens by 2030, which is not far away.
But in the sessions themselves, we don’t stay on this question for long. We shift it and ask: “What parts of your role are actually at risk, and what does that mean for how you stay valuable now?”
We start to map out their week. What do you actually spend your time on? Where are you adding judgement? Where are you repeating a process someone else has already defined?
Most people realise a large part of their role is execution. Writing, summarising, analysing, producing. The exact type of work AI is already getting very good at. But analysts suggest the real story is more complicated than simple job replacement. Across Australia, companies are already building this into how work gets done.
Atlassian has embedded AI assistants into tools used by millions of knowledge workers to automate documentation, summarisation, and project updates.
Canva has introduced AI features that generate marketing copy, presentations, and visual content in seconds.
Banks like Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are deploying AI systems to analyse data, assist decision-making, and handle customer interactions.
And companies such as Telstra are increasingly using AI to manage customer service at scale.
These developments don’t necessarily remove entire professions overnight. But they do change something important. They change how much one person can produce, and what they are expected to be good at.
McKinsey & Company reports that generative AI could add $2.6–$4.4 trillion annually to the global economy, primarily by increasing productivity in knowledge work. Meanwhile the International Monetary Fund estimates that around 40% of jobs globally will be affected by AI in some form. That doesn’t mean 40% of jobs disappear. It means the structure of work is changing.
What this means in practice
Right now, AI is mostly functioning as a productivity layer on top of existing work. People can produce more work in less time. At first glance, that sounds like good news. But if one person can produce more, fewer people may be needed to produce the same outcome.
It usually shows up gradually through hiring freezes, slower replacement of departing staff, and smaller teams responsible for similar workloads. These early signals are subtle, but they point to something larger. Organisations are starting to rethink how work is structured.
AI performs best at work that is structured, repeatable, and digital. Roles heavily dependent on these tasks will see the most change. But roles that rely on judgement, relationships, and accountability are harder to replace. This is the shift I keep coming back to with clients. Not from jobs to no jobs, but from execution to judgement. As Satya Nadella put it:
“AI will not replace humans, but humans who use AI will replace humans who don’t.”
Skill areas that are becoming more valuable.
But this isn’t a list to learn. It’s how your role is changing.
AI literacy and AI innovation
This isn’t just knowing the tools. It’s knowing where AI actually helps your work, and where it doesn’t.
Problem framing
AI is good at solving defined problems. Humans are still needed to decide what the problem is. That’s where a lot of value sits.
Critical thinking
AI can produce convincing but incorrect outputs. Your role shifts from creating everything to evaluating and refining what’s in front of you.
Communication and influence
Explaining thinking clearly, bringing people with you, and influencing decisions becomes more important, not less.
Strategic thinking
AI can assist analysis, but long-term direction still requires human judgement.
Adaptability
Roles will keep changing. The people who stay valuable are the ones who can adjust how they work and reconfigure their role over time. This is probably the one I emphasise most with clients. Because it’s not about getting it “right” once. It’s about being able to adjust at the rate things are changing.
What this means for your career
When I work with clients on this, we don’t try to predict the exact future of their job title. We look at how their value is changing. As a lot of our work becomes easier to automate, simply being good at producing work is no longer enough. The most useful way to think about AI is not as a threat or a miracle technology. It is a force that changes leverage.
As such, AI capability is fast becoming a baseline expectation. I’m already seeing this show up in job ads, in recruitment processes, and in how candidates are being screened. Predictably, career pathway planning will become less about linear progression and more about adaptation. You’ll need to evolve your value repeatedly as things change.
Right now many people trying to predict which jobs will disappear. I don’t think that’s the most useful question for individuals.
A more useful question is: What needs to change in how you work to stay valuable?