The rise of AI and automation is reshaping the world of work at a pace few of us expected. For many, this brings excitement and opportunity. But for others, it triggers anxiety—about job security, relevance, and what the future holds. This is entirely understandable. When machines appear to be getting smarter by the day, it is natural to wonder where we fit in. The good news? There is a place for us, but we need to step up. Here are five practical ways to ease AI-related anxiety and build a more resilient, future-ready mindset. 1. Shift from task to capability thinking Jobs are collections of tasks. And it is true—many routine or repetitive tasks are being automated. But rather than focusing on what you do each day, think in terms of capabilities. What are you good at? What can you bring to different contexts? Are you a strong problem solver, communicator, or relationship builder? By identifying your core capabilities—those transferable strengths that machines struggle to mimic—you can start to reposition yourself. You are no longer just a “role” that can be replaced; you are a capability-rich contributor who can flex, adapt, and thrive across situations. Taken to te next level, a shift to outcomes will help you reposition your proposition in the context of what organisations truly value. 2. Stay curious and keep learning One of the best antidotes to anxiety is action. AI and automation are advancing, yes—but so are the opportunities to learn about AI. Short courses, YouTube tutorials, workplace communities, even AI tools themselves can help you stay informed and ahead of the curve. Learning does not have to mean becoming a data scientist. It might mean understanding the basics of how AI works or becoming more fluent in using collaborative tools. Every time you add to your skillset, you build confidence—and that helps reduce fear. 3. Get comfortable with tech Fear often comes from unfamiliarity. If AI feels like a black box or distant threat, try bringing it closer. Play with AI writing tools like ChatGPT, experiment with automation apps like Zapier, or explore how your organisation is already using smart systems. Perhaps even befriend a techie! Rather than seeing AI as something done to you, treat it as a co-pilot. How can it help you save time, make better decisions, or improve your work? When you use the tools yourself, you start to see their limits—and their potential. That perspective shift is powerful as it will attenuate your anxiety. 4. Focus on what makes you human AI may be good at logic and prediction, but it struggles with empathy, trust-building, and creative leaps. That is your zone. Strengthen the qualities that make you uniquely human—emotional intelligence, storytelling, ethical judgment, contextual awareness. The future of work will increasingly centre around collaboration between humans and machines. Your ability to bring emotional depth, navigate ambiguity, and care about others will be a competitive advantage, not a quaint leftover. Whilst AI systems have had millions of hours of training, we have had millions of years of training largely in very harsh environments. We have become highly adaptive. AI is not there yet. 5. Engage in shaping the future Do not sit on the sidelines. Get involved in how your organisation is adopting technology. Ask questions. Offer ideas. Join pilot programmes. Contribute to ethical discussions. When you are part of shaping change, you feel less like a victim of it. This does not just help your own mindset—it also signals to your employer that you are proactive and adaptable, qualities every organisation needs in uncertain times. Final thoughts AI and automation are not just about job losses. They are about the reconfiguration of work—and in many cases, the elevation of human contribution. By focusing on capability, continuous learning, human strengths, and active participation, we can all approach the future with more clarity and less fear. Rather than asking “Will AI take my job?”—ask, “Am I perceived as someone who is comfortable working with AI?”. And looking a little further ahead, “How can I become someone AI wants to work with?!”.

The calculators are coming The dominant narrative around AI in the workplace often boils down to a gladiatorial match: humans on one side, machines on the other. Will we beat the machines? Will they take our jobs? But this framing is not just tired — it’s dangerous. The real opportunity isn’t humans vs. machines, but humans with machines. Think augmented humans. Just as calculators didn’t replace mathematicians, AI won’t necessarily replace humans — but it will force us to rethink what it means to be human at work. In fact, we might be entering an era where bringing your humanity to work, quirks and all, is a key element of your value proposition. But we must acknowledge that AI is better at pattern recognition, computation, and task repetition. Humans excel at ambiguity, empathy, storytelling, intuition, and sensemaking in messy, uncertain environments. We need to shift the conversation from "how can I do what I’ve always done, but faster or better?" to "what is my new role in an AI-augmented organisation?" The human edge In a machine-enhanced world, our value doesn’t lie in doing what AI can do — it lies in what it can’t do (yet). That includes: Judgement in uncertain or morally grey situations Empathy in leadership, healthcare, education, and beyond Meaning-making — we interpret, frame, and storytell Physical intelligence — movement, performance, presence Relationship-building — trust, influence, collaboration Insight generation – particularly where the dataset is very small. Adaptiveness – Today AI can be trained to do something but will struggle to learn something new. And even if it does learn something new, it loses the ability to do what it did. Whereas humans evolve and have the capability to synthesise their skills. Rather than clinging to routine work that machines now do better, we should be leaning into these more human dimensions. Employers need cognition to fuel innovation, though many haven’t woken up to that yet. Artificial cognition is the talk of the town, but those that can bring their natural cognition to bear will be very much in demand. From competitor to collaborator So the future of work isn’t about defeating AI — it’s about designing careers and organisations where humans and machines co-evolve. The best workers will be those who: Use AI to amplify their impact Know when to trust data, and when to override it Bring ethical, emotional, and ecological intelligence to tech-infused systems Help build cultures where AI is a tool, not a tyrant Final Thought If you’re asking “Will AI replace me?” you’re already framing your career as a set of tasks. Flip the script: What am I uniquely capable of sensing, deciding, and doing — in partnership with AI? For the last few centuries the majority of workers ‘turned handles’. Today, we need creative problem solvers. Increasing disruption, gives rise to new problems. The future belongs not to the most efficient worker, but to the most adaptive one.

Balancing act - The traditional concept of work-life balance, where work and personal life exist in separate domains, is increasingly outdated. In the industrial era, most work was either dull, dangerous or dirty. Work was the price we paid for funding our lifestyle. It was fair to say that many of us did not enjoy work, so we were keen to ringfence it. Thus the notion of work-life balance emerged. The nature of work back then was typically location dependent. It was impractical to attach doors to partially completed cars unless the assembly line passed through your living room. Shift based working also made it easier to separate work and life. Work's a beach But today, we can work from anywhere - a coffee shop, our living room, our bathroom and even our bed. With good internet connectivity and some specialised equipment, it is possible to carry out surgical procedures from home whilst bickering with the family. Post Covid there is a whole generation of people who perceive work as being simply one aspect of their lives. They do not want to be identified solely by their profession and they do not want to be hemmed in, “Tell me what to do and when it is needed and I’ll get it done”. As far as they are concerned, the fact that the work is done after an all-nighter in another hemisphere to their primary workplace or interwoven with a cycling holiday in a not so near mountain range is not an issue the employer should concern themselves with. Thus the notion of leave now enjoys a degree of fluidity. There is nothing wrong with this. The trick is being so good at what you do that you can call the employment shots. Why? We also need to consider our rationale for working. Is it just to pay the bills, or is the plan to become world class or the path to self-discovery? Therefore, in some cases, unless you perceive work and life as one and the same, you are a dabbler. However, most of us are not on a warrior monk path and so we do need to manage our work-life integration with care. In any case, work-life integration has the potential to make life more interesting, be more productive (in theory at least) and dramatically improve job satisfaction. Worker beware Failing to exercise care in respect of work-life integration can lead to: Burnout – Some managers assume you are 24x7 available. This is like walking around with a cortisol drip attached. Random interruptions coupled with the anticipation of random interruptions result in never being able to relax and recharge. Strained relationships – Taking a call as your partner to be glides up the aisle may well impress your boss but is unlikely to impress anyone else. A fragmented life – Too much swapping between work and life commitments can result in most of your energy being spent on task switching rather than achieving outcomes, eg. completing that report or finishing that bedtime story. Eliminate boundary disputes To reap the benefits of work-life integration whilst avoiding its risks, both individuals and organisations must adopt intentional strategies: Set clear boundaries – Define specific work hours and communicate them to colleagues. Use time-blocking techniques to allocate time for personal and professional responsibilities. Leverage technology wisely – Use tools that enhance efficiency (e.g., automation, asynchronous communication) rather than increase the workload. Silence non-essential notifications outside of work hours. Prioritise outcomes over hours – Shift the focus from working long hours to achieving meaningful results. Organisations should measure productivity based on impact, not time spent online. Promote well-being – Schedule breaks, engage in physical activity, and create rituals that separate work from personal life. Leaders should model healthy integration practices. Create organisational support systems – Companies should implement policies such as flexible working arrangements, mental health support, and clear expectations around after-hours communication. Decentralise leadership – Allow the workers to decide how the work gets done. Buurtzorg, a Dutch healthcare organisation, lets its nurses determine how patient-centric care is delivered. The future of work – Pay it backward Work-life integration has cultural implications. Organisational culture done well will ease your path to becoming an effective part of the team. The understanding is that the new joiner will someday help other new joiners. As social animals, we need human contact and we have a need to be helpful at a personal level. Ultimately work is more than a mechanism for engineering the perfect lifestyle. It is about creating value by bringing our humanity to bear. With intentionality and good boundary management, work-life integration can lead to a healthier existence.

Learn then earn Reality and the notion of a career are at war. It appears that reality is winning. The learn – work – retire model is fraying and has been for some time. The 20th century idea that a predefined level of educational frontloading would enable you to jump on an ascending career conveyor belt that gracefully took your gene pool to new socioeconomic heights is now a genre of nostalgia. Unlike some of my university friends, who saw graduation as the jettisoning of their career rocket booster, I had no idea what I wanted to do. As an unexceptional astrophysics graduate, science wasn’t an option, so I drifted into software engineering. Bureaucratically in the eighties getting into the startup world was not dissimilar to seeking permission to build a casino in your rented accommodation. Failure is not an option The option to instantly create a pre-IPO startup with one Chat-GPT prompt wasn’t an option. Bureaucratically in the eighties getting into the startup world was not dissimilar to seeking permission to build a casino in your rented accommodation. So graduates generally headed off in the direction of the professions – law, architecture, medicine and so on, whilst some decided to take their chances in ‘big industry’. There was a sense that you had to get this right first time otherwise you had better enlist a speechwriter to help you craft an explanation for your failed mission at the next reunion. This of course was a problem for many people who had been pushed into the professions by parents seeking dinner party validation. It took a great deal of courage to jump off the socioeconomic conveyor belt, given the associated social shame. Look back in anger? At the other end of the spectrum, we read the heartfelt stories of people embarking on retirement. Some of these stories are of course underpinned by a non-disclosure agreement, whilst others are an attempt to make sense of what just happened and how the professional path they took was in some way elegantly designed. These stories usually come from people who have entwined their identity and their career to such an extent that what they now feel is a sense of partial paralysis. Standardisation of the employment framework within sectors enabled people to have one career spanning several organisations. Au revoir certainty My rambling point is that careers are largely over. Careers require societal stability and predictability. This enables organisations to chart their courses accurately and thus implement an employment framework that from an employee’s perspective looks like a career. At one point, one could have a complete career with one employer. Standardisation of the employment framework within sectors enabled people to have one career spanning several organisations. Today society and the market are no longer stable and predictable. This has been the case for some time. But such is the nature of exponential change, that the changes are largely imperceptible until the tsunami is upon us. So those of us who acknowledge this reality will be better able to adapt to the chaos that lies ahead. This will be the thrust of subsequent editions of this blog. One could say that we are now in a world where we have multiple careers with multiple employers. But I believe we are even past this and so it would be better to think multiple gigs, multiple clients. Given the precarity of employment the difference between permanent and temporary employment is now blurred. Today’s barrister is tomorrow’s intelligent legal agent. Why bother? So what are we to think? Is it pointless to think in terms of careers? Yes and no. In my view traditional careers are dead or dying. Today’s barrister is tomorrow’s intelligent legal agent. A piece of software that will interact with other judicial software agents. Today’s heart surgeon will be tomorrow’s car tyre fitter. The tech tsunami is upon us. We can make sense of our existence, at least professionally, by choosing a path that on reflection will look like a good return on our labour. Following your passion is a mistake. Pick a path So at best, we can choose a north star even if we don’t know what the associated path will be. So what are our north star options? Common aspirations include: Pay the bills Become rich Be famous Help others Acquire mastery Make a difference Maximise free time. These are not mutually exclusive. But know that if you optimise for one you might de-optimise for others. Ultra-distance runners accept optimising for endurance is de-optimising for speed. But of course rich and famous is possible. And such people can even make a difference. But they probably had to prioritise one initially and the others become fortuitous by-products. Mastery is an interesting one. My initial goal was to become a database expert. This made economic sense at the time. However the commoditisation of database technology forced a rethink. Following your passion is a mistake. Identifying market supply-demand imbalances is the way forward. We will get into this in subsequent editions.

Who’s calling the shots? In a perfect world, one where classical economic theory applies, there would always be an even balance between the supply of workers and the demand for them. Reality, boosted by increasing disruption, makes this increasingly rare. Thus there is continual fluctuation between whether the talent or the employer has the upper hand. Clearly people with rare and in-demand skills can call the shots assuming would be employers are aware of their existence. This is why having a strong professional brand and good connections into the recruitment industry are important. Let’s assume that you happen to be in the position where you can choose whom you work for. You will likely be looking to maximise the return on your time, ie your remuneration, and possibly acquire some new skills in the process. Show me the money! At the outset of my career, this was the extent to which I evaluated potential employers. My focus was purely on the economic aspects with little to no consideration given to cultural fit and so on. If the workplace was convivial then that was a bonus. I now realise that the best workplaces are those that make us feel human. It didn’t take long to realise that there were other factors of equal if not greater importance than remuneration, given that I would be spending a significant percentage of my lifeforce in the workplace. Machine earning In recent years, my work has involved studying organisations alongside other overlapping disciplines such as anthropology, sociology and human performance. I now realise that the best workplaces are those that make us feel human. A legacy of the industrial model is stressed workers, largely because it treats individuals more like machine components or resources than human beings. The following is a list of themes I would encourage you to explore during the interview process. Even if you are not a high flyer and lack a plan B, at least you know what you are getting into. Autonomy – To what extent will I be in charge of the quality of my work? Sociality – Am I expected to spend my day in my cubicle / office, only engaging with others in matters related to the organisation? Mobility – To what extent is the workplace designed to encourage people to move, or do managers prefer people to eat at the desk? Work life integration – Will I be expected to suppress my personal life during office hours? Will I be expected to take emails at 2am? Creativity – Will I be expected to adhere rigidly to the process manual or are people encouraged to find new ways of doing things? Curiosity – To what extent are people encouraged to explore beyond the remit of their job specification? Purpose – Culturally, is there a common esprit de corps that goes beyond making the owners / shareholders rich? Courage – Will any attempts at constructively challenging the way the organisation works be met with disdain? Productivity – Will I be judged / remunerated by the time I spend working (or at least being seen to work) or by my outputs? Good health! These are key elements of what makes us human. The more of these that hold true, the more human we will feel working with this employer. Keep in mind that the less human we feel, the more anxious we become. That will ultimately affect our health and value creation capability. Keep in mind that the less human we feel, the more anxious we become. Creating human-friendly work environments is a win for all stakeholders. Just ensure that your next employer is enlightened enough to know that.

Which path are you taking? Five ways to engage with disruption is the title of my recent LinkedIn newsletter. The newsletter has a leadership following, so I covered the topic from an organisational perspective. It occurred to me that this applies to any of us who trade our time for money. The conveyor belt Previous generations typically picked a career. Those who did well at school found they had more career options. They could choose,  for example, professions in law, medicine accountancy and architecture. Once they finished the profession-specific educational top up, they were all set to jump on a conveyor belt that ascended both from a remuneration and social status perspective. However, those conveyor belts are breaking down and so previously revered professional paths are going the way of typing pool clerks and lamplighters. Today, mapped out career paths are giving way to a random collection of professional chapters. A career for life is now increasingly a series of gigs, sometimes played out in parallel, ranging from years to hours. My own career via astrophysics, software engineering and advisory resembles the metal ball in a pinball machine. The goal is to stay in play and avoid bypassing the flickers and ending up in the pinball ‘drain’. The flickers exist to keep the pinball in play. Time it correctly and they can fire you back into the heart of the game. Your capability, and to a large extent your reserves, are what keep you in the economic game. Reserves, ie cash, act as a buffer if you have a fallow period between gigs. Your capability makes you economically interesting to the market. So let’s look at our options for navigating an increasingly disrupted marketplace: Ignore it Your current employer may be a blue chip with a paternalistic leaning. So it might be stormy outside, but you need not worry. Keep in mind that roughly fifty percent of the Fortune 500 companies are replaced every few decades. And even if your employer is smart enough to stay in play, they may well achieve that with more tech and less people. Hibernate You may have the reserves to travel the world for a few years with a view to jumping back into the game when some form of new normal is established. Something radical would need to happen to decelerate increasing disruption, think large asteroid fragment. So hibernation isn’t the solution. Devolve Rather than be a pretty good generalist regulatory lawyer, become the world authority on just one regulation. This could work until the regulation is dropped or a piece of software turns your capability into an office software plug-in. Innovate You could find innovative ways to enhance your capabilities – such as using ChatGPT to boost your productivity as a journalist or outsourcing lower-value tasks to skilled professionals in countries like the Philippines or Vietnam, allowing you to focus on higher-value work. However, if the market no longer requires your capability, no matter how innovatively delivered, it’s simply ‘game over.’ Adapt Adaptiveness is an approach that has served both mankind and all existing living systems for billions of years. There is no point staring at the bush when all the berries have gone. It’s time to find another source of food. Adaptiveness requires a real-time understanding of what the market values. Those that can pick up on weak signals and professionally reposition themselves accordingly are more likely to stay in play. Lifelong learning is no longer an option. As Cal Newport, author of So Good They Can’t Ignore You ,  pointed out, following your passion is unlikely to end well. Your ability to understand what the market values and align yourself accordingly is the key to professional success. This is partially a matter of capability, but it is also a matter of positioning. Whether we like it or not, we are all in marketing.

Same as it never was There was a time when employment meant a clear, structured career path within a single organisation. Japan and South Korea come to mind. Labour protective France and Germany have traces of this model. And of course there is the public sector. When I began my career, the notion of a single lifelong career remained, but moving between organisations was becoming more accepted. However, frequent job changes were still frowned upon. Being seen as ‘flighty’ could limit opportunities. Today, growing global uncertainty has put the very concept of a "career" under scrutiny. Who today would embrace a career centred on: Lamp lighting Typing Fast food Journalism Accountancy Surgery. The technology scythe is working its way through this list. Today we need to deliver value that is beyond the capability of AI / robotics. My experience I stepped off the career treadmill just three years in. As a software engineer, I initially saw career progression as managing an ever-growing team. Fortunately, my employer had the foresight to temper that ambition. I did eventually take on leadership roles but felt discomfort in reducing people to mere resources on a Gantt chart. My next employer offered a kind of internal freelancer model, whereby I could enjoy a variety of opportunities across a diverse range of sectors. I simply followed the commercial energy so to speak. I did eventually take on leadership roles but felt discomfort in reducing people to mere resources on a Gantt chart. So, I untethered myself from conventional employment. For the past thirty years, I have navigated the shifting tides of the market. I share this because it reflects what many permanently employed individuals are unknowingly heading toward. As workforce needs become harder to predict, employers will increasingly turn to freelancers. You plc So if you have not already, brace yourself for a post-career world where your next decade, year and week will be precarious. This shift is often framed as the gig economy, traditionally linked to low-skilled work. In reality, even CEOs and government ministers operate within a gig-based framework. This challenges the assumption that the gig economy is limited to low-skilled roles. In reality, even CEOs and government ministers operate within a gig-based framework. These gigs can range from years to hours. And perhaps most significantly these professional engagements can run in parallel. It is entirely possible that you will juggle multiple gigs in a single day (as I do). Death of permanent roles? Permanent roles will not vanish entirely. Those that can reskill quickly and effectively will be perceived as a preferred alternative to freelancers. Long-term employees will remain valuable for the culture and cohesion they foster. Next actions So how can you prepare? Be aware that careers are crumbling. Ensure your skills are not leading you to economic obsolescence. Unless you know that the demand for your dying skill will sustain you for your remaining working life. Consider what a portfolio career might look like for you. Podcaster before breakfast, gardener by day, dubstep-dinner jazz deejay par nuit.