Building a future worth working for
(Part 3 of 3 of AI in a Human World: Tools, Trust, and the Talent We Keep)
In Part 2, we saw how AI is transforming industries and reshaping the workforce. But we also saw the negative consequences when leaders make brash decisions to replace human talent with machines that are not AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), or capable of thinking like a human. We talked about the impact this has on the economy, and when added to the generational drop in consumerism that Ron Hetrick (Lightcast Labor Economist, 2025) pointed out, we have a real challenge on our hands. And there’s another challenge forming too, when leaders cut employees in mass, as we have seen, we are not just making economic impacts, we’re hurting our relational ties. If the last industrial revolutions taught us anything, it’s that humans don’t disappear from work, they move the work. And that redefinition is already underway.
Which brings us to the next shift: the trust economy. In this new era, where humans and AI can both create, the question isn’t just who has the tools, it’s who earns the trust to use them. Do you want to see a movie written by a bot? Do you want to read a book no one wrote? Do you want to trust your health to a solution no one reviewed? When we downsize our teams dramatically, even if we’re not completely getting rid of human oversight, work is being trusted to people who may not have the deep expertise required to provide the oversight needed. I am saddened by the idea that the talent we keep (which will be some of our best and brightest) will be so overburdened by additional work responsibilities and scope that they might as well forget the “dream of mental space” that this new technology has the potential to provide.
The Trust Economy: Loyalty and Pay
This is where the human side comes in.
Once the workforce contracts, what fills the space isn’t always efficiency. It’s fragility. The people creating your most valuable tools and ideas don’t owe you their loyalty. If they feel dismissed, undervalued, overworked, or boxed in, they’ll take their brilliance somewhere else.
And if that new company also provides GenAI tools, it’s easier than ever before to recreate their good ideas elsewhere.
One thing has become abundantly clear to me: our experiences shape us uniquely and give each of us a superpower no one else has.
I recently learned a new Learning & Development tool that creates videos using GenAI and AI avatars. My colleague learned the same tool at the same time. He has years of experience in the L&D space, where I have only dabbled. His videos far surpass mine. Of course they do. His experience told him what to tweak, what to embellish, what to cut. The GenAI tool wasn’t quite there yet for either of us, so experience prevailed.
I believe this is what we’re about to see in the workplace at large with GenAI tools. People who have deep expertise will be best equipped to direct the AI. Until the AI has documented and learned all our experiences, the human still has the upper hand.
Brand loyalty and compensation matter more than ever. The truly talented know their worth, and now they also know how to replicate the systems they’ve built. Companies think they’re building bots that make employees stronger, but employees can just as easily build bots that make the company optional.
It works both ways.
If it’s easier to stay employed and be valued, employees will share their innovations. If it’s easier to leave, they’ll take their “aha” moments with them.
Korn Ferry’s Workforce 2025 study found that 57% of executives expect AI to increase productivity, yet nearly half admit they lack a strategy for redeploying displaced talent. The result? Efficiency on paper, erosion in practice.
The Efficiency Illusion
· 57% expect productivity increase
· 49% have a redeployment strategy
The risk is that efficiency rise will lead to mass-scale displacement which will result in resiliency falling, leading to long term efficiency loss.
(Source: Korn Ferry 2025)
Korn Ferry (2025). Workforce 2025: Global Insights Report.
https://www.kornferry.com/insights/featured-topics/workforce-management/workforce-planning-insights
Legal questions are coming about ownership, algorithmic bias, and credit for work that includes AI. The smartest organizations are already building policies that protect both people and progress.
What’s Really at Stake
Jobs will shift. Some will disappear. Others will emerge that don’t even have names yet. That’s not new; it’s just faster now.
The companies that win won’t be the ones that replace the most people with AI. They’ll be the ones that redeploy their people faster than others lay them off.
Layoffs look efficient on paper but when done hastily will slow growth in practice. The talent you let go today is often the talent you’ll pay a premium to rehire tomorrow.
Without reskilling and redesigning work, we’ll end up with a smaller group of overworked “super performers” and a growing number of people left behind. Check out Josh Bersin’s concept of The Rise of the Supermanager: A New Role in the World of AI (Source: Bersin, Josh (2025) The Rise of the Super Manager: A New Role in the World of AI https://joshbersin.com/2025/09/the-rise-of-the-supermanager-a-new-role-in-the-world-of-ai/). It’s a phenomenal work, one I believe is on point, but also avoids the looming question of “should we let this happen?”. What does the creation of an army of super performers do to the mental health of those in those roles? And what about the mental health of those left without work?
The OECD forecasts that 14% of jobs are at high risk of automation, while another 32% will change significantly in the next decade (Source: OECD (2024). Using AI in the workplace. Opportunities, risks and policy responses https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/using-ai-in-the-workplace_73d417f9-en.html). That’s nearly half the workforce affected.
The Human Impact of Automation
· 14% high-risk jobs
· 32% significantly changed
· 54% total workforce impacted
(Source: OECD 2025)
History tells us that every wave of automation over-corrects before it recalibrates. AI will be no different unless we plan the rebound now.
That’s not innovation. That’s imbalance. We can choose differently.
The Call to Act Intentionally
It’s not too late to get this right.
Don’t start with layoffs. Start with design.
Map where you are, where you’re going, and what skills you’ll need along the way. Look inside your workforce before you look outside it (Source: Korn Ferry (2025). Talent Acquisition Trends 2025: The Human Edge in an AI World.
https://www.kornferry.com/insights/featured-topics/talent-recruitment/ai-in-talent-acquisition-top-challenges-for-2025). Look at adjacent skills or at qualities that show aptitude to fill in the gaps with both knowledge and wisdom.
If you want people to go above and beyond, reward them with the same intention you use to measure profit. Incentives aren’t just about money; they’re about meaning.
Stop asking people to do more. Help them do better. Replace “more work” with “more purpose.”
While it may sound idealistic, it isn’t. It’s good business. Korn Ferry data from Workforce 2025 indicates that companies investing in purposeful reskilling significantly outperform peers in both retention and innovation speed (Source: Korn Ferry (2025). Talent Acquisition Trends 2025: The Human Edge in an AI World.
https://www.kornferry.com/insights/featured-topics/talent-recruitment/ai-in-talent-acquisition-top-challenges-for-2025).
Purpose doesn’t slow progress; it powers it.
If we want innovation, we’ll have to create cultures where people have time and trust to think again.
Because the real risk isn’t AI replacing us. It’s us replacing our humanity with humans who don’t have time to think.
The Future We Can Build
The future belongs to leaders who see both the opportunity and the impact.
Leaders who understand that people aren’t just part of the process. They are the way forward.
And if we can remember that, this Human + AI world might just turn out to be more human than the one we built before.