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ZDNET Highlights
- The era of AI does not mean the era of unemployment.
- Quickly gain skills in key areas such as engineering and data reliability.
- Hone your communication, collaboration and management abilities.
As we recently found out, it’s hard not to be worried about the future of work if you’re a mid-level professional.
Add qualitative evidence of fears about the ever-increasing use of AI to fill white-collar roles to the quantitative data of layoffs, and the result is simple: a growing sense of dread among professionals about the future of work.
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However, experts suggest that the era of AI does not mean an era of unemployment. Here are five ways to protect yourself and improve your career prospects.
1. Shift towards ownership of results
Bola Rotibi, head of enterprise research at CCS Insight, said professionals should take practical steps to protect themselves.
“Become well versed in signals, validation, and basic data ethics and regulations, such as GDPR and audit trails,” he told ZDNET. “Shift from coordination to owning the end-to-end outcome. Define the work, select the tools, verify and sign off the results. The human failure of design, integration and governance is where resiliency resides.”
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Rotibi also encouraged professionals to keep things simple as they look to develop their skills for the age of AI.
“For example, having a solid curriculum and quick checklist for weekly tasks would be a good start. From there, you can test automating a specific workflow with Control and show the impact,” she said. “Tracking pre- and post-metrics will be an essential requirement to demonstrate ongoing value. Ultimately, being tool-agnostic, outcome-specific and emphasizing training and time will make this career change possible and practical.”
2. Hone Your Survival Skills
Karim Morgan Nehdi, CEO of consulting and training specialist Herrmann International, said professionals should recognize that AI has unequal superpowers.
“It can write sophisticated code, but fails at basic common sense. It excels at analytical pattern recognition, but struggles to understand context,” he told ZDNET. “AI is heavy on analytical thinking, moderately good at structured implementation, but weak in the interpersonal and visionary thinking domains that define human advantage.”
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Nehdi encouraged professionals who want to protect themselves from exploiting AI vulnerabilities.
“The people and companies who move forward will be the ones who figure out how humans and AI complement and even enhance each other,” he said. “Where AI handles the analytical heavy lifting, while people focus on complex, interactive, strategic tasks that still require specific human capabilities, it’s not only better for workers, it’s better business.”
Nehdi said the upshot is that AI won’t take your job, but someone who knows how to work with AI will. He said future-ready professionals need two things.
“First, use AI tools in your actual work. Not someday, now,” he said. “Second, explore those unique thinking superpowers that make you irreplaceable in the age of AI: your relational intelligence, your creative judgment, your ability to create order in ambiguity. These are no longer soft skills; these are survival skills.”
3. Master Prompt Engineering
Bev White, executive chairman of technology and talent solutions provider Nash Squared, said professionals cannot be passive. The threat of losing your livelihood can be frightening, paralyzing people.
He encouraged professionals to channel their nervousness into productive research, self-improvement, and thoughtful planning about future career paths: “Make yourself proficient in AI. Lean into it, not shy away from it.”
White told ZDNET there are many online tools professionals can use to sharpen their skills, most of which are inexpensive or free. He mentioned accelerated engineering, which is extremely important for the use of AI and is in huge demand at the moment.
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He said, “Work hard to master that ability because it is a defining skill. Many people use casual language in their prompts themselves, attracted by the relatively informal language of AI engines, but this can result in unclear answers and work interruptions.”
“Invest time in making yourself truly proficient in the art or science of signaling, learning to write signals using precise language and wording. Experiment and assess differences. If you can prove yourself to be a skilled and effective signaler, you will have greatly enhanced your employability skills.”
White said the same rules apply to data reliability. “The disclaimer at the bottom of an AI response that it may contain mistakes is no small thing,” he said.
“Train yourself on data governance and architecture, and how to keep data operational so you can reliably use these tools to drive business forward.”
4. Develop open communication
Career expert Jasmine Escalera said professionals who focus on AI-complemented skills like communication, strategic thinking, creativity, adaptability and emotional intelligence will continue to demonstrate tremendous value in the workplace.
“These are the skills that allow professionals to innovate, collaborate, and lead effectively as AI adoption accelerates,” he said. “Professionals can strengthen their value by gaining a basic understanding of how AI tools work and becoming familiar with the technology so they can use it more effectively in their work.”
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Escalera told ZDNET that open communication is essential. Professionals should engage their managers or company leaders in conversations about how AI is being integrated throughout the organization and what it means for their team and role.
“It’s also valuable to seek outside support from mentors and industry leaders on how AI is shaping their roles and fields. Ask questions like, ‘How do you see AI changing our field?’ And ‘What skills will be most important to professionals in my position?'” she said.
“These discussions can provide valuable insights into where the industry is headed and how to stay ahead of AI adoption.”
5. Inspire a sense of creativity
Richard Corbridge, CIO of property specialist Segro, questioned whether companies were hiring fewer staff or looking for people with different capabilities.
“High empathy, human connectivity, the art of collaboration and forward-looking creativity will become high-value skills of the future,” he said.
Corbridge told ZDNET that the IT industry has traditionally promoted technologists into people manager roles to guarantee these individuals provide value from their salaries.
The age of AI may bring about a significant shift, and emerging professionals and their managers must be prepared for this change.
“Maybe this AI revolution will finally be the moment when things change, and pay value related to the skills of the person delivering will come to the forefront,” he said. “The C-suite has a lot to learn in this area, and it will be up to digital leaders, the masters of change, to help their employees navigate this new reality.”
