The Skills Shift Is Here: How AI Is Reshaping the Workforce – And What It Means for the C-Suite

By Virginia Fletcher, CIO, CTO & Chief Product Officer

The ground is shifting beneath our feet. As artificial intelligence, automation, and digital transformation continue to accelerate, the makeup of our workforce—and the skills that define success—are evolving at a pace we’ve never seen before.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, by the middle of this decade, 85 million jobs may be displaced, while 97 million new roles will emerge that are better aligned to the division of labor between humans, machines, and algorithms.

For those of us in the C-suite, this isn’t just a talent issue—it’s a strategic imperative.

The Rise of AI and the Decline of Routine

AI is no longer a tool on the horizon. It’s a co-worker, a co-pilot, and in many cases, a replacement for routine, repetitive, and predictable tasks. From data entry and reporting to scheduling and content generation, AI is taking on the mechanical so people can focus on the meaningful.

But this shift doesn’t just mean “fewer people.” It means different people doing different things—and that requires a deliberate reshaping of our technology and product teams.

The Skills That Will Define the Next Five Years

The WEF identifies ten essential skills that will be most in demand by 2025. These aren’t your traditional technical certifications. They’re the deeply human skills that AI can’t replicate:

• Analytical thinking and innovation

• Complex problem-solving

• Creativity and originality

• Emotional intelligence

• Leadership and social influence

• Technology use and systems thinking

At the same time, technical fluency remains non-negotiable. Cloud architecture, AI development, cybersecurity, platform engineering—these capabilities are table stakes for modern product and tech teams. But what separates great teams from merely good ones will be their ability to adapt, learn, and collaborate across human-AI boundaries.

What This Means for Product and Technology Leaders

As a CIO, CTO, and Chief Product Officer, I see this transformation every day. To stay competitive, we must evolve not just what our teams build, but who we build with.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

AI-Literate Teams

AI fluency isn’t just for data scientists anymore. From product managers to QA testers, everyone must understand how AI works, how it’s trained, and how to interact with it responsibly.

Augmented Developers and Designers

AI-powered development tools are supercharging productivity. Your engineers should be using AI as a co-pilot—not competing with it. Your designers should be co-creating with generative models. Speed, iteration, and innovation depend on this synergy.

Strategic Hiring and Reskilling

The skills we need now aren’t necessarily the skills we’ve historically hired for. We need to rethink our job descriptions, career paths, and learning investments. The half-life of a skill is shrinking—ongoing reskilling is the new retention strategy.

Dynamic Org Design

The traditional function-based org chart is giving way to cross-functional, mission-oriented teams. Product squads that include AI engineers, prompt designers, experience strategists, and ethical tech leads will become the norm.

What C-Suite Leaders Must Do Now

If you're in the C-suite, you can't afford to treat this as someone else’s problem. The convergence of AI and workforce transformation is a strategic lever for growth, innovation, and resilience.

Here’s what I recommend:

1. Audit your team’s skills vs. your future needs. Where are the gaps?

2. Build AI literacy across all levels of leadership. Make it a language everyone speaks.

3. Restructure for agility. Flatten hierarchies, empower teams, and invest in product-centric thinking.

4. Lead by example. Embrace AI tools in your own workflow to model the change.

5. Don’t wait for perfection. Start experimenting with small pilots and scale what works.

The Opportunity Ahead

This moment isn't just about disruption—it's about reinvention. The organizations that will win the next decade are those that see AI not as a threat to jobs, but as a catalyst for elevating human potential.

As leaders, our responsibility is not just to adopt new technologies—but to reimagine the workforce around them.

Let’s not waste the opportunity.