AI job changes demand action from employers and workers

Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

1. 34:54

   talk about automation uh the the more spicy thing is are they automating humans right and like once everything is automated and and smooth sailing uh do we you know replace those jobs uh i don't know how much you can speak to that. Yeah, I mean, I think there's two pieces here. I really deeply believe in the like, AI will produce good for humanity. It's going to augment people's jobs, it will absolutely change and displace. But I think it's more of a movement as opposed to just like, cutting off work. Yeah. I think A16Z posted something about how like call centers are truly now on the decline and AI starting to handle more and more of that work. And ultimately, if that is a skill you've built up your whole career that is devastating to have something come in and take that function over.

2. 35:42

   That being said, part of what we do when we're talking to customers about, hey, an agent is now going to do this work is actually around reallocation. I don't think any business would claim like once we have this solved, there's nothing for this group of people to work on and try to solve. So our approach really is about what can we replace and then what are the next biggest problems to look at and i'd make an argument in most large companies that that cycle kind of continues forever there's always the next problem if i think about how we've grown infinite demands there's always been another problem and actually taking those people that may have this like super deep subject matter expert and bringing them above water to start to maybe work more across teams or like think about parts of the business less so on like the level of a sell in

3. 36:33

   a spreadsheet and more about how these teams are working together. Ultimately, in the long run, I think that keeps most people there and allows those businesses to become more nimble and actually tackle like the big meaty problems and not the like drudge of most people's day to day when they you, you know, when you're thinking about someone that's in like a finance division, they're mostly in spreadsheets, but how can we elevate them to think strategically about the business and where money is allocated and things like that. Yeah. And I also feel like when we have these conversations around like job displacement or job reallocation, we talk about it as this thing like happening to people. And one of the reasons I don't like that is I feel like it doesn't give enough credit to people to like have agency in their own lives. Meaning I think

4. 37:21

   you can adjust. Yeah. People really should be thinking like when I think about like enablement or people re-skilling, I think it is the job of an employer because they want to drive growth in their business, but it is also the job of an employee. And I think when people say that AI is going to replace all of the work that people don't enjoy doing, I think that's a little bit of like cope for the reality of just people are going to be put out of jobs because a lot of people don't have the luxury of liking or not liking a job. They do a job to make money.

5. 37:50

   And also I think people, to the extent that it's possible, should have agency in saying to themselves, okay, what is the stability or replaceability of my job over the next few years? And if I am to try to skill up in a way that I'm better protected, what does that look like? People have agency to say that to themselves and actually take action. Yeah. Yeah. I think