AI is changing jobs faster than companies can keep up with them, finds the report
A BCG report found that many organizations are struggling to turn AI into a resource that shows true value across the company.
A new study from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), found that in some organizations artificial intelligence is reshaping the nature of work, leadership and the way employees experience work. However, whether the change is good or bad is debatable.
To gather data for BCG’s fourth annual AI at Work report, the organization gathered information from 11,749 employees scattered around the world in 14 markets across a wide range of industries. The findings are that 72pc of respondents believe that AI has already significantly changed the expectations of skills in their role. About half of the report spends more time controlling and directing AI than doing the work itself.
More than two-thirds of people who regularly use AI say it has improved their job satisfaction, however, four out of 10 survey participants found that cognitive load has increased, creating a “paradox of happiness” where AI makes work both better and harder at the same time.
Despite widespread use, many companies are finding that they are not turning the efficiency gains driven by AI into something of measurable value.
For example, while 42pc of mainstream users report that they save at least a full day of work with AI per week, 66pc also report that they get limited or no guidance on what to do during that time. More than half do not redirect to strategic work, which means that any savings leak out of the organization.
“The first wave of AI focused on individual productivity. The next wave will need to transform collective work,” said Vincente Beauchene, managing director and partner at BCG, who is also a co-author of the report.
Beauchene added, “Everyone talks about AI replacing work, but it’s really about rethinking the addition of human value internally. This is the role of leaders. Our survey reveals a real transformation of management in the age of AI. 65 percent of managers and leaders now believe that agents will take at least part of their work in the next three years and improve their guidance staff in understanding their direct employees.”
Clarity of strategy
Since last year’s report, more than double the number of respondents agree that AI agents are already integrated into workflows, however, there are clear issues regarding transparency and effectiveness. 61pc of donors agreed that agents could do at least half of their work within three years, yet more than half (52pc) still have a limited understanding of what agents are and governance is lagging far behind technology.
The report finds that logical clarity emerges from the study as “the most important differentiator in sustaining the impact of AI over time as organizations move beyond deploying AI tools to distributed use cases”. This has resulted in a “reshape/invent dividend” resulting in more value capture and a better employee experience.
Sylvain Duranton, co-author and global leader of BCG X said, “The equation of happiness rewrites itself within a year of using AI. At first, the novelty of AI and the fun of using it fuel understanding, but that ‘AI honeymoon’ ends without a clear strategy.
“Employees don’t back down from the pressure of AI, they thrive when the strategy is clear, the direction is real and the message gets to them. Business value and employee enjoyment are not trade-offs. The organizations that capture the most business value are the ones where employees enjoy working the most.”
In the middle of May, International Data Corporation (IDC), in collaboration with Dell Technologies, has published a new global study that examines how European governments and public sector organizations are approaching AI autonomy and agency and what will be needed to deploy the technology at scale.
The findings show that leaders in the European public sector show a strong drive to accelerate modernization with agent AI, however, they also face a challenge. critical skills gap required to use advanced technology. This creates a huge gap between the desires and the ability to work.
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