The Most Powerful AI Asset Is Your People

AI and new technology are obviously important to the future of work strategies, but I worry that they may be taking up too much of our attention. We could miss a threat the size of an asteroid if we don’t get our heads out of the cloud.

“By 2030, there will be a global human talent shortage of more than 85 million people, or roughly equivalent to the population of Germany,” claims the “Very Human Future of Work Report” by Korn Ferry. The report also predicts that this talent shortage could result in roughly $8.5 trillion in unrealized annual revenues.

World Economic Forum research claims that 50 percent of all employees will need reskilling by 2025 due to the adoption of new technologies. The same study suggests that if we make wide-ranging investments in upskilling, it has the potential to boost GDP by $6.5 trillion by 2030.

Obviously, it’s going to be impossible to hit the WEF’s 2025 target. It may be on our radar, but AI remains a shiny penny that we can’t seem to look away from.

Gartner research shows that growth is still the number one priority for most companies and tech is second. Only 32 percent say managing the talent shortage is their top priority. But how is it possible to achieve growth if we don’t have a properly skilled present and future workforce?

At the World Economic Forum in January 2024, Igor Tulchinsky, founder, chair and CEO of WorldQuant, urged leaders to recognize that in order to harness the power of AI, we need humans. “First, we must stop fixating on whether AI will impact our lives and start managing the elements within our control,” said Tulchinsky. “While the ubiquity of AI has caused fear of these technologies overtaking human ability, this is not yet the case—and may never be. Human capital is a much more important asset than ever before.”

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, shares sentiments similar to those of his predecessor and mentor, Bill Gates. They both warn that embracing AI without reskilling people will have a negative impact on the labor market.

At a conference in Mumbai, Nadella said, “I think it is an exciting future but at the same time, you have to be very mindful of the impact of AI on jobs. That’s why I want to make sure some of the skilling work we are doing in India is going to help people,” he said. The company plans to train more than 2 million people in India with artificial intelligence skills by 2025 under an initiative that will help generate more jobs.

This is how we need to think about the future of work on this new timeline. It’s all about “and” statements—that two things can be true at the same time. AI can be positively impactful on the world and humans are required to ensure that AI will have a positive impact on the world. AI should not replace humans. We should think of AI as part of the team.

According to the WEF report on reskilling, “Since the Forum activated the Skills Accelerator in Brazil in 2020, over 1.2 million individuals have enrolled in training courses. And training is starting much younger. To prepare future workers to adopt to this new future of work, WEF’s Reskilling Revolution project aims to benefit at least 150 million students and young learners by 2024.”

As much as we invest in AI, we should be allocating to training, especially if we start to see workers cut off from access to mobility. Reskilling and upskilling aren’t just buzzwords that help our current workforce from becoming obsolete. They represent how we maintain global stability in a time of future uncertainty.

Equipping the Future by Reframing the Present

Change is hard. Whether dealing with the economic and societal impact of a new technology or being tasked with learning new skills, change can lead to fear, distrust and anxiety. So it’s important to implement changes with the utmost care and compassion.

Step 1: Realize the purpose

People need to know why change is happening, and how it will impact them. And they need to feel in control of their own futures.

To help employees understand the why of AI, start by doing the following:

Bring internal stakeholders into the conversation. Ask people to share much further upstream what would be ideal and work from there. How will they use the technology? Is it with internal or external clients? As an individual contributor or a team lead? Is it all the above? What is a current pain point that another technology hasn’t resolved for each stakeholder? Get as many questions out as possible, even if the answers are to come later on.

Host big-room meetings where critical feedback is welcome. Poke holes in everything.

Solicit anonymous feedback. This will help you uncover potential sources of resistance. Understanding employee well-being and stress is critical. If you know how people are feeling, you can gauge predicted success. If employees adopting a new technology or strategy don’t see their future job satisfaction improving or are worried about job safety, these factors will influence the outcomes.

Step 2: Define upskilling/reskilling objectives

If people’s jobs and tasks are going to be affected in a major way, then it’s imperative to have a careful and compassionate plan in place.

Identify skill gaps. Solicit feedback on the gaps that employees are experiencing between their skill sets and what’s being asked of them.

• Amazon, for example, identified a growing gap in tech skills among its workforce. It announced a $700 million investment to upskill 100,000 U.S. employees by 2025 through its upskilling 2025 program. This initiative focuses on helping employees transition into highly skilled roles within or outside of Amazon. For example, warehouse employees were being trained for higher-paid software development roles—a program that was well-received across the organization.

Be explicit in communicating the goal. Be clear how upskilling or reskilling will affect people’s jobs. Most might think the worst—that these terms are euphemisms for “you won’t have a job next year.”

• For the most part, after they get past the resistant stage, most employees will want to learn new skills. Remember: no one wants to become obsolete. If they can see how tech will advance their skills and careers, they’ll be more willing to embrace change.
• For example, when PwC launched its “New World, New Skills” initiative, investing $3 billion to upskill all of its 275,000 employees by 2022, the initiative was aimed at improving digital skills, as well as promoting a culture of continuous learning. A PwC tax consultant remains a tax consultant but might receive training in data analytics and artificial intelligence for better client service.
• Therefore, the goal wasn’t to transform employees into something they’re not; the goal was to augment what they already do.

Step 3: Implement training initiatives

Training employees is a critical component of increasing their openness to change.

Be explicit with employees about how training plays into their career pathing. Build a structured feedback loop where time frames to hit goals are shorter and yet the plan shows a long-game strategy that provides clear benefits to both employees and managers.

• First, this helps reduces the uncertainty for workers—particularly younger workers who need more consistent feedback: it offers clear markers that identify each rung as a step toward a broader goal.
• Second, managers can let the process work on its own without having to micromanage—checking in throughout to keep the plan on track is better than having to constantly track progress.

Make a learning product that people want to use. Salesforce launched Trailhead, a free online learning platform designed to help people learn the skills needed to land jobs in the Salesforce ecosystem. It’s interactive, gamified and user-friendly, making learning accessible to everyone.

Step 4: Leverage a learning and development (L&D) program

When undergoing changes, it’s important that employees feel like they have the time, energy, and resources to succeed. They need to know that they’re being supported long-term.

Ensure both accessibility and enablement. We need to consider: Have we scheduled time for use of learning tools, or do employees only get access in their personal time? To make the most of our L&D we need to allocate time specifically for this purpose by asking these questions:

• Are the options inclusive?
• Have we made sure the programming is available to everyone?
• Have we anticipated people’s needs?

Step 5: Create checkpoints

It’s easy for change initiatives to break down, so it’s important to make time for questions and proactively communicate what’s coming ahead.

Be explicit about the path, but provide autonomy along the way. Build a structured and agile feedback loop that is personalized for various work styles and individual needs. Build in planned markers so employees know when they are on or off target from their goals. Structure reminders and goalposts with set times for discussions ahead of time.

For those who need faster feedback, this type of structuring protects managers from being on call and for more tenured workers, who require fewer check-ins, to self-report when required instead of feeling monitored. Explicit and established checkpoints help to manage expectations and improve overall time management.

Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press. Excerpted from WHY ARE WE HERE?: Creating a Work Culture Everyone Wants by Jennifer Moss. Copyright 2025 Jennifer Moss. All rights reserved.