Dead by 2030—C-suite execs set deadline for embracing AI at scale

Incorporating artificial intelligence into work processes, across industries, is becoming just as unavoidable as rolling out flexible work arrangements. In other words, work is changing, and it’s incumbent upon agile leaders to keep pace in order to remain competitive.

Indeed, the top forces shaping executives’ three-year plans are inflation, rapid digital acceleration, and the rise of distributed work, according to consultancy Mercer’s new 2024 Global Talent Trends report. (Mercer polled over 12,000 C-suite executives, HR leaders, workers and investors for the report.)

“There is no escaping the need for new ways of working and new ways to value workers,” Mercer authors open the report by saying. “The societal dynamics emanating from the last few years (including louder calls for fair pay, better working conditions, and less environmental impact) are aggressively reshaping the work contract.”

As a result, the top companies are rethinking their approach to employee management and being more mindful of which decisions lead their workers to stick around.

Most of the findings in the report are to be expected. Then there’s the matter of AI, which has become an unavoidable topic as it pertains to integration in jobs across the private sector. In fact, 54% of C-suite executives told Mercer they believe their businesses won’t survive beyond 2030 if they don’t “embrace AI at scale.”

“To capitalize on the most significant technological breakthrough of our time, organizations need to ensure that their business-and-people plans are amplifying human progress,” Mercer wrote. That means prioritizing human workers and ensuring they remain empowered by the creative, collaborative work that machines have yet to crack, while still bringing machine learning and automation into the picture where applicable.

As if more evidence was needed that the pre-pandemic ways of working are rapidly becoming futile, nearly all (98%) of employers told Mercer they’re planning on initiating “work design changes” this year. Their main goal will be updating their workflows to increase worker productivity—the perennial white whale amid new hybrid work plans.

Though it may appear as if “employers have finalized return-to-office plans and codified their post-pandemic flexible working policies,” Mercer researchers wrote, “41% are planning further changes this year.” Those changes concern every aspect of work, from location to hours to mission and purpose. Addressing each of these is critical, given how much engagement and company loyalty has been faltering since the Great Resignation—even despite economic headwinds that have made job searches more difficult than ever.

The takeaway, Mercer writes, for keeping workers engaged and feeling appreciated is much more straightforward than it may seem. Regardless of the industry or sector—or even job title—everyone wants financial security, psychological safety, a sense of purpose, and digital enablement. That last point calls for the most up-to-date tech and cutting edge implementations that stand to make creative work more productive, namely by nixing as much busywork as possible.

Managing AI anxiety

Granted, a hefty portion of today’s workers are anxious about AI taking their jobs—with good reason. Swedish buy-now-pay-later giant Klarna recently raved about an AI chatbot doing the work of 700 call center workers—just months after enacting a massive hiring freeze in December 2023 and laying off 10% of its workforce in 2022.

But Mercer’s report suggests the fear may be overblown—and in fact, AI’s growing inclusion in everyday work may stand to emphasize the value of human ingenuity. “AI is only one side of the equation,” Mercer authors wrote. “Leading companies are complementing emerging technologies with agile talent models and human-centric work design—both crucial in reshaping how work gets done and quantifying the value delivered by each worker.”

Because, as executives agreed, productivity is the #1 driver of innovation at scale, Mercer asked which areas would provide the biggest productivity boost if given greater investment. Case in point: Employee upskilling and reskilling took the cake, followed by physical and mental wellbeing initiatives, process optimization, and finally generative AI in fourth place.

That implies that leaders have yet to fall out of love with human-first workplaces, despite fear-mongering to the contrary. “The future of white-collar work looks a lot less dull, a lot less routine, and [has] a lot less filling out of expense resorts or quarterly forecast updates,” Joseph Fuller, leader of the Managing the Future of Work Initiative at Harvard Business School, told Fortune last summer.

For human workers, that leaves behind judgment, motivation, collaboration, and articulating a vision. “That sounds like the fun part of work to me,” Fuller said. “And much harder to automate.”

Editor's note: A previous version of this story misstated the timing of Klarna's layoffs. The company laid off 10% of its workforce in May 2022.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com