Business Leaders Urge Shift to Skills-Based AI Work Models

Business leaders and advisory firms are advocating for a transition from traditional role-based job architectures to skills-based organizational models to better integrate artificial intelligence. BDO, an accounting and advisory firm, argues that leaders should redesign work by identifying high-value tasks rather than simply using AI to make existing roles more efficient. This shift aims to increase business agility and internal mobility, particularly as World Economic Forum data suggests 39% of core worker skills may change by 2030.

Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S maintains that AI allows analytical intelligence to move from back offices to frontline workers, shifting human responsibilities toward judgment, accountability, and ownership of outcomes. To support this transition, Cognizant is hiring over 20,000 graduates to build AI capability into its workforce. Kumar S notes that if AI only helps employees perform the same work faster, the business merely captures an efficiency gain rather than a fundamental transformation.

Despite these goals, a significant gap remains between AI capability and organizational readiness. Deloitte research indicates that while 74% of leaders expect to redesign business processes around AI agents within four years, only 25% believe their workforce is prepared. Experts warn that without a deliberate strategy to develop human judgment, businesses risk creating fragile operating models where humans act as reviewers for processes they no longer understand.