Across America, the warning signs are no longer whispers. They’re sirens. Automation and AI are poised to wipe out 30 to 50 percent of job roles in the coming years. The bear is out of the woods.
And here’s the brutal truth: you don’t have to outrun the bear. You just have to outrun the other campers.
Whether you’re a call-center rep in Salt Lake City or a mid-level manager in Minneapolis, your job as it stands today might not exist tomorrow. But that doesn’t mean you have to wait for the pink slip. You can become a movement leader for the age of AI. No title or permission required.
Step One: Rewire Your Role AI isn’t just for engineers. It’s in your browser, your inbox, your workflow. Learn it, use it, teach it. Automate part of your job and coach others to do the same. You don’t need a boss’s blessing to be the one who spreads smart tools.
This week, take one repetitive task and hand it off to an AI tool. Then offer to mentor a few coworkers to do the same. Share wins.
Step Two: Reinvent It Entirely Once you’ve chipped away at your task list, zoom out. Ask yourself: If I were designing this job from scratch, with AI as my teammate, what would it look like? Then start sketching that future. Be ruthless. Be visionary.
Map your current work activities. Then redesign them with AI integrated at every step. Share this with your manager. If they shrug, share it higher. The bold often find their way to new rooms.
Step Three: Don’t Go It Alone The biggest gains come when innovators reimagine together. Pull in a few peers you admire for their curiosity from neighboring teams. Show them your role and work redesign. Invite them to co-create the next bigger version of how all your work together could be reimagined. Some may be fearful for engineering themselves out of a job, its now your turn to convince them that their best job defense is to be a proactive and curious innovator. Point out that if you all don’t come up with this someone else will and you will then be victims of the change instead of heroes of invention that the company and companies in general can always use in a number of places. And, recognize and state clearly that you are now a team doing this together and the entire team will get the credit for thinking bigger. Commit to having each other’s backs!
Book a 30-minute session next week with three colleagues. Pick one shared process and rebuild it together. Make it faster and better. Find those in leadership who appreciate such innovation and invite them along to learn with you as you progress. You are now building a brand for being innovators.
This is what radical adaptability looks like. It’s how people future-proof not just their jobs, but their professional brands and career value. Companies are desperate for internal changemakers, don’t make it difficult for the leadership in your organization to find you and your curious proactive peers already rebuilding the future of work from the inside.
Why Now
AI isn’t just coming for the boring stuff. It’s targeting strategy, creativity, even leadership. The org charts of tomorrow will be flatter, leaner, and more fluid. Those who survive won’t be the ones who did what they were told. They’ll be the ones who led the way without being asked.
This is your moment. Lace up your sprinting shoes. Reinvent your role so thoroughly that your old job becomes obsolete. Then, take the reins to build what comes next with a group you will enjoy inventing with. Design new roles, new processes, and new ways of creating value that didn’t exist before. Be inclusive and generous in order to bring others along. Even if your company doesn’t immediately see your value, they will if you get results, and surely another company will love to hear you share your story and put your ingenuity to work.
The bear is here. Are you going to freeze? Or sprint?
