“I spoke to an HR professional who is looking for a new role,” says Gallagher, “She was shortlisted for four opportunities but pulled out of two of them because those companies had a ‘no AI’ policy. In her words, she could not imagine ever not working with AI.”
This week Microsoft released its latest Work Trend Index that draws on insights from 31,000 workers across 31 countries, including a thousand from Australia. It indicated that 40 per cent of local business leaders said they’re already using AI agents to fully automate some part of their workstreams, and 70 per cent are considering hiring new AI-focused roles in the coming year.
If you haven’t heard the term “AI agents” yet, you’re about to hear a lot more about them. Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, predicted at the start of this year that 2025 will see the first AI agents “join the workforce” and materially change the output of companies.
“AI agents will completely transform how humans work,” says Gallagher, predicting that technology that’s trained to work on tasks and strategy with little supervision is where it’s all heading.
“Agents are bigger than automation, it’s an exponential shift in productivity,” he says. “The real change isn’t what AI agents will do, it’s how humans will evolve. We’ll become orchestrators rather than executors of work. It’s a fundamental reimagining of what a job actually is.”
If that has you instinctively leaning towards the fear end of the spectrum, the good news is that we’re only at the start of this change. It’s not too late to jump into the deep end and learn how it all works as it evolves.
Loading
Use of AI programs, like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, can have an immediate and immense impact on your day-to-day work. Start with something simple, like summarising a document or asking it to help you with admin tasks before gradually moving up to more creative and strategic work.
“The key is making AI your daily work companion, not waiting for the perfect use case,” says Gallagher. “Our research indicates power users can save up to a full day per week, but you’ve got to use it consistently to get there.”
He says you should think about learning how to use AI in the same way that most of us learnt how to drive. “At first, you’re hyper-aware of every potential danger with your car,” says Gallagher. “But with experience, you develop an intuitive partnership – you and the car working together seamlessly.
“The same happens with AI – regular use builds your ability to work alongside AI as a collaborative partner, just as a skilled driver works with their vehicle.”
It’s natural to feel both fear and awe when the future arrives at our doorstop more quickly than we ever imagined. AI is here, it’s inside almost every workplace, and it’s now up to you how widely you want to open the door.
Tim Duggan is the author of Work Backwards: The Revolutionary Method to Work Smarter and Live Better. He writes a regular newsletter at timduggan.substack.com
Get workplace news, advice and perspectives to help make your job work for you. Sign up for our weekly Thank God it’s Monday newsletter.
