Myth Busted: “AI won’t take your job, but someone using AI will.”
It’s NOT about reskilling. AI is fundamentally reshaping organizational structures and workflows.
Myth Busted: “AI won't take your job, but someone using AI will.”
This is a fallacy. Numerous new studies, including a large one in Denmark, show that, while AI adoption is accelerating, it hasn't significantly transformed productivity or led to widespread job losses.
Yes, certain sectors are experiencing staff reductions from AI, but other companies are actually rehiring human workers where AI solutions underperform.
Here is the real issue: It’s NOT about reskilling.
Not at all: AI is fundamentally reshaping organizational structures and workflows. The integration of AI into the workplace is not just a technological shift; it’s a fundamental transformation of how work is done. And what has value.
The belief that acquiring AI skills alone will safeguard one's job is a dangerous simplification. This is not about making tasks work better. It’s about completely rewriting the script. This is about actually restructuring tasks and roles — and that affects job design and the very nature of work itself.
AI is changing the entire game, and that means the people who have the skills to make those changes happen are the ones who will win.
And those people have certain skills, mindsets and capabilities.
So, if you want to be a leader in the future of work — or cultivate leaders — these are the mindsets that will be in demand:
✅ Systems Thinking: You need to be able to understand how AI reshapes entire workflows, not just individual tasks.
✅ Adaptability: You need to be ready to evolve with changing roles and responsibilities.
✅ Critical Thinking: You need to be able to evaluate AI outputs and make informed decisions.
✅ Collaboration: You need to work effectively alongside both humans and AI systems.
✅ Emotional Intelligence: You need to have human-centric skills that AI cannot replicate.
Technology can now reveal these mindsets: FutureFocus® identifies them and creates a personalized development plan to excel in an AI-driven workplace.
People who focus primarily on reskilling are not going to lead in an AI world. You need to shift your thinking from merely acquiring AI skills to embracing a holistic approach that includes the mindsets and capabilities to transform and embrace the systems that AI will ultimately disrupt.
About the Author:
David Leaser is an award-winning strategist, C-Suite consultant & program lead in L&D and HCM, Vice President at MyInnerGenius.. He is the founder of the IBM Digital Badge program, a leading-edge digital credential program, the IBM New Collar Certificate Program and IBM’s first cloud-based embedded learning solution. David was a senior strategist for IBM’s Smarter Workforce and the Global Skills Initiative. David is a Commissioner for The RSA (The royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce)'s Digital Badge Commission, a member of the 1Edtech Board advisory group for digital credentials, the national Credential As You Go Advisory Board and a senior advisor to New Markets Venture Capital Group. He provides guidance to the US Department of Labor and the US Department of Education as an employer subject matter expert.
David was appointed as an Industry Fellow in the Center for the Future of Higher Education & Talent Strategy in the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern University, an American Tier 1 university. He is the author of thought leadership white papers on talent development, including “Migrating Minds,” “The Social Imperative in Workforce Development” and Wiley’s “Connecting Workplace Learning and Academic Credentials via Digital Badges.”
David holds an M.A. in Communications Management from USC’s Annenberg School and a B.A. in Communications from Pepperdine University. Connect with David through LinkedIn.