While businesses may be mostly focused on the positive possibilities of artificial intelligence, many job seekers and holders are more worried about its potential negative impact. Those currently in the workforce may wonder whether their roles are destined for AI takeover, while those poised to enter the job market may be concerned that fewer opportunities will be available.
According to tech experts, it’s wise for professionals across industries to begin preparing for the AI-dominated workplace. However, they also note that while the impact of AI may be inevitable, it’s also likely to come with genuine upsides for workers (and risks for businesses). Here, members of Forbes Technology Council share how they see AI revolutionizing job markets and how both employees and employers can prepare for what’s coming.
1. Human Skills And Experience Will Be Prioritized
The job market will increasingly prioritize more uniquely human skills and experience. As AI tools are used to augment chat and content creation capabilities, prepared analytics and written communication skills will become less important, but the ability to think on your feet and perform in real time will become highly valued. – Emily Lewis-Pinnell, Tential
2. Employers Will Evaluate All Candidates’ AI Savvy
AI’s impact on the job market will be multifold. Employers’ evaluations of current and future employees will focus on those employees’ abilities to leverage AI in their jobs to be more productive and provide greater value to their organizations. Employers will evaluate every open position: Can this job be accomplished by an existing employee empowered with AI? – Abhinav Asthana, Redwood Trust, Inc.
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3. Creative And Strategic Skills Will Be Prized
AI will automate routine tasks, freeing up time for more creative and strategic work. While AI handles repetitive functions, roles requiring judgment, decision-making, creativity and emotional intelligence will remain essential. Job seekers should focus on critical thinking, creativity and leadership to stay competitive and relevant in the AI-driven job market. – Shinoy Vengaramkode Bhaskaran, Zoom Communications, Inc.
4. Knowledge Jobs Will Be Augmented By AI
Most impacted in the first wave of AI will be jobs that are knowledge-based but involve repetitive tasks. These roles will be augmented by AI bots carrying out automated tasks such as creating helpdesk tickets, functioning as digital assistants or in L1 support. Content creation jobs will also be significantly augmented, with research for content supported by generative AI bots and large language models. – Sandeep Shilawat, Sandeep Shilawat
5. GenAI Understanding Will Be Required
Generative AI has democratized AI use and driven adoption across industries and job levels. The most significant impact will be the requirement for every employee and candidate to understand how to use it. It will be the next essential job requirement, much like familiarity with Microsoft Office or the Google Productivity Suite is now. – Laura Merling
6. ‘T-Shaped’ Professionals Will Thrive
AI will accelerate skills-based hiring and expand the gig economy as companies prioritize adaptability and learning agility over degrees. T-shaped professionals—those with deep expertise and broad skills—will thrive. Upskilling will be key for organizations and job seekers. For current workers, AI will drive the demand for freelance, task-specialized roles, offering flexibility and global opportunities. – Nikhil Arora, Epignosis
7. Upskilling Will Be Imperative
AI itself is not going to replace workers or jobs, yet it will accelerate an environment where upskilling is imperative. Individuals must upskill themselves and begin to use AI tools to advance and enhance their roles, ultimately elevating their job functions. Those who don’t will have a much harder time sustaining their current role or landing a new one. – Chris Brown, Intelygenz, a VASS Company
8. Roles Built Around Repetitive Tasks Will Diminish
It is essential for both current job holders and job seekers to upskill and develop competencies in working with AI to optimize their job performance. Individuals whose roles primarily involve repetitive tasks should consider redefining their career paths and creating a plan for skill development to mitigate the impact of the AI wave. – To Quang Duy, Newwave Solutions JSC
9. Hiring Managers Will Need To Be Wary Of AI-Embellished Résumés
AI will make it increasingly difficult to identify truly skilled candidates in the job market. AI tools allow people to embellish résumés and portfolios and even perform better in online interviews. This means hiring managers will need to adopt practical assessments and real-time problem-solving tasks to validate skills authentically. – Maksim Strok, Stress Monitor for Watch
10. Ethical AI Specialists Will Be In Demand
We need to ensure AI is used responsibly. That’s where ethical AI specialists come in. They’ll focus on reducing bias in algorithms, making systems more transparent and creating clear governance for fairness and accountability. They’ll also safeguard data privacy and security while bridging the gap between technology and people, ensuring AI serves us ethically and equitably. – Sergii Malomuzh, Rewump
11. AI Will Drive The Creation Of New Roles
AI will drive the creation of new roles, much like automation in agriculture expanded careers in the food industry, from food labs to chefs at Michelin-starred restaurants. For example, at SoftServe, our job families grew from 80 to 180 in 10 years, driven by advancements in technology. Smaller AI-powered teams will thrive, with AI acting as a supportive team member, like Jarvis from the Marvel Universe. – Serge Haziyev, SoftServe Inc.
12. AI ‘Users’ And ‘Infusers’ Will Be Needed Everywhere
With AI becoming infused in every business process—as well as in IT processes, including software development and hardware infrastructure configurations—every professional needs to be either an AI “user” or an AI “infuser.” What that means is that we will need more prompt users, model tuners and model infusers and fewer data scientists, who will only be needed by modeling firms. – Rajat Sharma, Radixtop IT
13. Current Workers May Soon Face Role Changes
Job seekers are already feeling the impact of AI, as many are using ChatGPT to assist in their job applications. Current employees may change roles, and repetitive tasks are likely to be eliminated from everyone’s workloads. This means that people will need to start using AI tools to ensure they remain relevant in their jobs. – Siddharth Gawshinde, Consultadd Inc.
14. Tech Knowledge Paired With Soft Skills Will Be Valued
AI will impact the job market by automating repetitive tasks, affecting roles like data entry and assembly line jobs. While some positions may be displaced, new opportunities will arise in AI management and development. Job seekers will need skills in AI, data analysis and creativity, as industries value adaptability and soft skills that complement technology-driven roles. – Piyush Ranjan, Barclays
15. Increased Competition For Roles Will Be Balanced With Emerging Opportunities
AI will drive task automation, impacting repetitive jobs while creating demand for roles requiring advanced skills like AI management and data analysis. Current job holders must adapt through upskilling, while job seekers will face increased competition for AI-related roles but gain opportunities in emerging fields, fostering a shift toward tech-savvy, agile workforces. – Marius Ivanauskas
16. Past Experience Will Be Less Heavily Weighted
In the short term (one to three years), there will be a very small negative impact on tech jobs overall as we see rapid evolution in the kinds of jobs that are in high demand and the old ways of doing things vanish. However, in the long term, AI will enable great opportunities for job seekers, since past experience will become less and less valuable. – Amiya Adwitiya, Squadcast Inc.
17. It Will Be Easier To Match Candidates To Positions
AI will make the lives of job candidates and recruiters easier by matching the right candidate to the right position. If an organization really wants to increase employee retention, offering AI-based matching of current employee profiles to internal job opportunities will encourage internal mobility and enable a win-win situation. – Abhi Shimpi
18. There Will Be Hyper-Personalized Career Pathways
AI will transform the job market by enabling hyper-personalized career pathways, where individuals leverage AI-driven tools to identify skills gaps and access tailored learning resources. Employers will use AI to predict emerging roles and reskill their workforce proactively, fostering a dynamic shift from traditional employment models to skill-based ecosystems powered by continuous adaptation. – Nicola Sfondrini, PWC
19. Microtask Ecosystems Will Arise
AI will impact the job market through the rise of microtask ecosystems, creating a surge in microtask-based work environments where workers specialize in hyper-specific, high-volume tasks that AI struggles to execute. For example, curating datasets, providing nuanced feedback or validating AI outputs might become dominant niches for freelancers. – Cristian Randieri, Intellisystem Technologies
20. The Gig Economy Will Thrive
AI will fuel the gig economy by enabling platforms to match niche talent to projects with unprecedented speed and accuracy. Job seekers will discover more opportunities to showcase their specialized skills, while employers will be able to tap into a global talent pool, promoting short-term, results-driven engagements over traditional full-time roles. – Jagadish Gokavarapu, Wissen Infotech
