Aren’t you just sick and tired of people waxing on about AI job destruction but clearly assuming they are just going to be fine as they are just so damn important and irreplaceable? Oh, wait, are you also guilty of this, too?
The harsh reality is that we all have a price on our heads to be replaced. As long as you are employed by someone else, you are running that risk of pricing yourself out of your job, because you’re just not worth the cost to your employer anymore.
We’ve always been walking costs to our employers. AI has just exposed us more than ever
Let’s cut through the noise and face our brutal truth head-on: we’re all vulnerable to AI, not just “them,” but you, me, everyone drawing a paycheck. It’s time we stop comfortably pontificating about AI’s impact on other industries and professions, while conveniently ignoring our own glaring susceptibility. The harsh reality? Fail to evolve your work habits and embrace AI, and you’re setting yourself up for irrelevance—fast-tracked straight onto the scrapheap of outdated talent dinosaurs.
Here’s a simple litmus test: you can spot an executive bluffing about their AI knowledge in under two minutes. The buzzwords flow freely, but practical application? Hmmm… And guess what? Everyone in your organization is quickly becoming adept at identifying the AI fakers. Authentic understanding—real competence—is becoming the gold standard that separates valuable assets from costly liabilities.
Leaders have avoided getting their hands dirty for decades, until now
For decades, people have survived on weaving their wonderful bullshit without getting their hands dirty. I remember interviewing the RPA practice leaders across all the leading services firms and asking them to drill down into product functionality. All of them failed to demonstrate any actual understanding of what these automation products actually did, beyond the usual rhetoric about “automating the enterprise”, infusing terms like “hyper” and “intelligent”. And they undoubtedly were dealing with clients who possessed equally scant knowledge of what these products did. In both cases, the leaders were dumping the real work down into the trenches of their organizations, where it inevitably faded into a series of failed pilot projects. Until now, it’s been pretty much the same with AI… but the core difference now is the bullshitters are quickly exposed.
Tackling the elephant in the room: the delicate balance between your cost and your value
Here’s the cold, hard truth about employment today—you’re judged by one ruthless metric: how much you cost versus how much value you deliver. With AI reshaping expectations, the tipping point where your value fails to justify your price tag is frighteningly closer than most admit.
The future of labor isn’t complicated—it’s about raw economics. For example, if you’re earning $200K+ annually, you’d better deliver exponentially greater value than someone at $75K with better AI chops. AI isn’t just another workplace tool—it’s an economic reset button that’s forcing every one of us to justify our salaries like never before. Young professionals, take note: this is your golden opportunity. If you can deliver equivalent or greater value at a fraction of the cost through adept AI integration, the future is yours to claim.
The Bottom-line: Don’t be part of the corporate hedgerow
Costs are like hedgerows – if you don’t keep trimming them they keep growing back. But this time many of these legacy hedgerows are going to be replaced.
In the AI economy, your salary isn’t just compensation—it’s a number continuously scrutinized, weighed, and measured against value delivered. This isn’t about fear; it’s about clarity. Justifying your price point has never been harder—but mastering AI-driven value creation has never been more rewarding.
Hat Tip to Ted Shelton and his article on Labor, Capital and AI.
Posted in : Agentic AI, Employee Experience, GenAI, Generative Enterprise
