Artificial intelligence is coming for the jobs of bosses first

A new survey of 252 senior executives within dedicated IT and artificial intelligence functions enterprises by Verdantix, claims that more than half (53 percent) of businesses expect 10 percent of job roles to be replaced by AI agents over the next five years. And even more (62 percent) expect the benefits from AI projects in the next three years to come from cost savings through elimination of management roles, more so than through savings from the elimination of frontline worker roles.

Sales, marketing and customer service will see more AI-related projects than any other professions this year (28 percent), suggesting a higher level of comfort with AI adoption, though indicating jobs in these departments could be most at risk as AI integration matures.

Despite job replacement predictions in the medium term, in the immediate term, AIs are collaborating with rather than entirely replacing their human colleagues. Far more organisations have already deployed “AI in the human loop” such as chat, research and creative writing (72 percent) than domain-specific autonomous AI agents (37 percent). Similarly, adoption of human/AI co-pilots is expected to grow, particularly across transport with 67 percent expecting human/AI co-pilots in maritime, railways, subways and trams, and aerospace & defence by 2025.

Around half (53 percent) of firms expecting budgets for AI projects to grow by 10-24 percent in the next year alone, respondents’ answers show caution about relying on tech autonomously. Very few respondents (11 percent) think we will create computers with the same intelligence as humans, even by 2030.

The survey also sees the majority (52 percent) say their firm’s AI strategy is best described as seeking competitive advantage. Competitive advantage from faster process execution is also the most significant expected benefit from AI projects over the next three years (cited by 30 percent of respondents).

David Metcalfe, CEO of Verdantix said: “The findings show an upward trend in expected AI investment and integration in the coming years. How this plays out in the short and medium term though is very different. The immediate sees predominantly human machine cooperation, with AI augmenting or replacing parts of jobs. However, by 2030, though there is wide acknowledgement that computers won’t have the same intelligence level as humans, we are going to see full job role replacement in segments of the market as integration and AI autonomy beds in.

“This isn’t just a challenge for the existing workforce to face. It will naturally also affect future job creation. For example, using AI automation to increase the volume of audits without hiring more auditors. And it’s not just replacements and cuts – it’s shifts too.  The complexity of AI technologies was cited as the most significant factor slowing AI adoption, suggesting a change in skills is also required.”