AI won’t take your job but someone who knows it will

A chief AI officer at a recent AI Summit + Disrupt put it bluntly: "If your USP is writing great emails your value is approaching zero."  It was a reality check from Jordan Legg from Takara.ai, who sees first-hand how artificial intelligence is making entire skill sets redundant.

Businesses are racing to adopt AI. HR teams are rolling out policies on ethical AI use. But here’s an uncomfortable truth: companies aren’t just automating tasks, they are automating people out of jobs. AI won’t replace every role but it will replace those who fail to adapt.

HR leaders need to act fast. Not to protect jobs that no longer add value but to redefine what makes someone employable in an AI-driven world.

AI is not just changing work, it’s changing who is valuable

At the summit, Dr Ashwin Mehta, founder and director at Mehtadology, and Toby Harris, chief customer officer at Filtered, raised a critical issue: workplaces are not ready for the AI shift because they don’t know how to measure AI-driven skills.

Companies are deploying AI tools across hiring, training and performance management, yet many HR systems still assess skills using outdated metrics. AI can now generate learning content, automate workflows and handle customer interactions, but organisations still rely on degrees and traditional experience to judge capability.

This is a fundamental mismatch. AI is accelerating but workforce models are not. As a result businesses risk missing out on top talent who can work effectively with AI while clinging to employees whose skill sets are being made redundant.

Hiring is broken and AI is exposing it

Recruitment is one of the areas where AI has had the biggest impact. Automated hiring tools now scan CVs, analyse candidate data and even conduct preliminary interviews. Yet many businesses don’t fully understand how AI should influence their hiring decisions.

Legg made a point that few HR leaders want to acknowledge: some jobs won’t survive AI, and businesses need to stop pretending otherwise. AI is not just a tool for efficiency, it is changing the fundamental nature of what skills are valuable.

The real challenge is job transformation. Businesses should be hiring for adaptability rather than just past experience. Candidates who understand how to work alongside AI, optimise its capabilities and apply strategic thinking will be the ones who drive businesses forward. Those who rely on old methods will slow them down.

AI is not just automating tasks but redefining decision-making

One of the most revealing discussions at the summit came from Mike O’Flynn, senior account lead at Samphire, who highlighted how AI is forcing businesses to rethink how work is structured, who makes decisions and what success looks like.

It’s a given that AI-driven workers are automating their own tasks, but the best are fundamentally changing how businesses operate. Companies are already seeing this in action:

• AI-assisted employees complete strategic projects in weeks rather than months, freeing up time for high-value work.
• AI-driven content creation is outpacing human teams, forcing marketing and comms teams to rethink their approach.
• AI-powered decision-making tools are reducing bias but also exposing flaws in how companies have traditionally evaluated performance.

O’Flynn stressed that businesses should not fear employees who use AI but should be actively hiring for it. Instead of questioning whether someone used AI to generate a report, organisations should be assessing how effectively they used AI to achieve better outcomes.

This requires a fundamental shift in how HR evaluates talent, from who can complete a task to  who can leverage AI to achieve the best results.

What HR leaders must do now

The AI revolution is not coming. It is here. Businesses that treat AI as a productivity tool rather than a workforce transformation will struggle. Those that embed AI fluency into hiring, training and leadership development will thrive.

HR leaders must act now by:

1. Redefining hiring criteria: Move beyond degrees and outdated credentials. Assess candidates based on AI adaptability, strategic problem-solving and human-AI collaboration skills.
2. Upskilling the workforce: AI will augment human talent, not replace it, but only if businesses invest in the right training. Employees need to be taught how to integrate AI into their workflows rather than fearing it.
3. Embedding AI into performance evaluation: AI-driven workers will achieve better results faster. HR teams must measure impact, not just process. A report written with AI is not a shortcut, it is a sign of efficiency.
4. Rethinking leadership: The future of work is not about who manages people best but who can leverage AI most effectively to drive business growth. Organisations must train leaders to integrate AI into decision-making.

The companies that embrace AI will lead. The rest will fall behind

There is no neutral ground. AI is already deciding which businesses will win and which will become obsolete. As HR and business leaders are you willing to face this reality and act accordingly?

Legg’s comment about email writing being a redundant skill was provocative but accurate. The same could be said for manual data analysis, content generation and countless other tasks AI can now handle in seconds.

But here’s where the human element still matters. AI did not attend this summit. I did. AI did not build the relationships that got me into the room or decide which voices were worth amplifying. I did. AI can structure an argument, generate copy and process vast amounts of information, but it cannot edit with sector-specific insight, challenge assumptions or capture the energy of a live discussion in a way that truly resonates with people.

I hear more and more from businesses that they don’t want AI to replace skilled professionals, they want AI-literate experts who can refine, interpret and elevate AI’s output. The value is shifting. It is no longer about who can complete a task but who can shape, refine and enhance AI-driven work to make it meaningful and strategic.

AI won’t take your job. But someone who knows how to use AI will. The key is understanding where human expertise still makes the difference – and making sure that expertise stays relevant.