The Role of Automation in Remote Work

Just a thought before the weekend. With the introduction of new technologies certain tasks traditionally performed by junior staff are being automated. In many cases the junior position is eliminated, and residual task is redistributed to more senior employees, actually increasing their workload. Historically, the roles of secretaries and accounting clerks exemplify this transition. With the advent of personal computers and advanced software, routine tasks like typing, scheduling, and basic correspondence management, once the domain of secretaries, have been automated. Consequently, these tasks have increasingly been incorporated into the responsibilities of professionals themselves, including managers and executives. In accounting, sophisticated software has made the data entry and basic bookkeeping roles of accounting clerks redundant. These tasks are now often handled directly by accountants and finance managers, adding to their comprehensive role. In creative and technical fields, such as graphic design and engineering, advanced tools have automated tasks that were typically handled by junior staff. Senior professionals in these areas now directly engage with tools like CAD software, reducing the need for junior drafting roles. The future, shaped by GAI, will likely see an expansion of these trends. In industries like marketing and advertising, AI’s capacity to generate basic creative content might reduce the need for certain junior roles. Instead, senior marketing professionals might oversee the refinement and strategic integration of AI-generated materials. Likewise, legal services might witness AI automating document drafting and basic research, once the remit of junior staff, shifting oversight and strategic refinement to senior lawyers. Moreover, GAI is expected to make complex business platforms more accessible to a broader range of employees. This will enable senior employees without deep technical expertise to perform tasks that were previously the preserve of specialists. Consequently, the skill requirements for senior roles may grow. The result is that many professionals and managers will be responsible for a long list of simple and quick tasks, that once took much longer to perform, and were the responsibility of more junior workers. #generativeai #ai #tasks #automation

Once upon a time, the workplace looked like this: 🔺 A wide base of operators ⬛ A middle of managers 🔝 A small circle of execs at the top making “strategic” decisions And each layer was dependent on the prior layers knowledge and context. But that is no longer the case - AI is cracking that structure apart and now #1 question I get asked is “Where Should AI sit?” I have an entire framework for that, based on trail and error and over 60+ different structures and outcomes across a variety of industries, but to keep it super duper simple, the new mental model is: The Upside Down Pyramid. 🔻 Bottom layer: Automated out. Replaced by RPA, bots, agents. (FYI … Deloitte reports that intelligent automation has led to zero net growth in administrative headcount in over 65% of enterprises) 🧍🏻Middle layer: Thinned out, middle-management pruning some say - as real-time insights and AI copilots give execs direct access to context. They are no longer the widest & thickest structure. 🔝 Top layer: Amplified, not eliminated, with a new diverse set of players at the top. AI translators and cross-functional builders who know tech and business (fyi, Harvard Business Review reported that 42% of managers’ tasks are now deemed automatable—and that number is climbing) In summary: We’re not watching a job extinction event, we’re witnessing an extreme skills migration. 🤯 RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Redefine your middle. If you’re a middle manager, become the bridge—not the bottleneck. Strategic orchestration beats tactical supervision. 2. Train your top. Your leaders need fluency in AI—not prompt tokens. Nothing is a silver bullet. Invest in simulation-based leadership programs. The new org chart favors the thinkers, the builders, the doers—with AI as their multiplier. Are you adapting to the new shape of work? #FutureOfWork #AITransformation #Leadership #OrgDesign #WorkforceShift #DigitalStrategy #CareerAdvice #DataLeadership >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Worlds 1st Chief AI Officer for Enterprise, 10 patents, former Amazon & C-Suite Exec (5x), best-selling author, FORBES “AI Maverick & Visionary of the 21st Century” , Top 100 AI Thought Leaders, helped IBM launch Watson My 2nd #TEDx talk will be released in 2 weeks!

One of the biggest areas where I believe we’ll see job transition in the coming years is frontline roles with heavily scripted workflows. For years, many of these roles have been outsourced to call centers to reduce costs. But as AI advances, these “programmatic” roles are the low-hanging fruit of automation, where voice and chat agents can—and will—increasingly take over. So, what does this mean for our organizations? - How are we preparing for the organizational and change management needed for this shift? - What competitive advantage will this give companies that adapt quickly? - Most importantly, what new skills should we be teaching our employees now? Today, 34% of business tasks are performed by machines. By 2027, that’s expected to reach 42%, according to the World Economic Forum. At first glance, this may not seem like a dramatic change. But even a few percentage points can translate into millions of jobs impacted. The question is: Are we prepared for this shift? As AI takes over routine inquiries, traditional entry-level customer service roles will begin to evolve. Future roles will demand skills like specialization, emotional intelligence, and advanced problem-solving—the very qualities we don’t usually associate with “entry-level” positions. Are we investing in our people now to meet this new demand? Or will we leave millions unprepared, as AI transforms “routine” work into high-touch, complex interactions that only skilled humans can handle? This is more than just a shift in tasks. It’s a shift in expectations. The future of customer service will be about oversight, escalation, and building meaningful customer relationships. #AI #CustomerService #Automation #FutureOfWork #Leadership #CareerGrowth #FutureSkills

Leaders who dislike remote work but love AI are in for a rude awakening. A new study (link in comments) published in HBR finds that: "Foreign remote workers using gen AI are more interchangeable with domestic workers than foreign workers who don’t use gen AI." This leads to a more profound truth: "GenAI may herald a significant shift in remote work hiring patterns." This means companies that embrace both will win, while companies that like AI but don't like remote will see their talent pools shrink and lose out on workforce cost efficiency benefits. The article then outlines some good strategies for leaders to expand talent pools and empower workers with genAI. But it doesn't address one point I strongly believe: to maximize AI capabilities across a distributed organization, leaders still need to learn and embrace a remote-first (e.g., asynchronous) approach. This doesn't mean you have to be fully or even mostly remote; it just means you operate in a way that limits the hard requirement for in-person, real-time conversations for work to progress. It has to be both if you want true competitive advantage. As a final note, this study compared work output in the U.S. vs. South Africa, and it will be interesting to see similar studies across two nations without as much language overlap, even farther away. What do you think those results might be now? #futureofwork #remotework #AI #offshoring #labor #talent #efficiency

The future of work is here, and it’s a hybrid workforce of humans and trusted agents. Companies who are deploying AI agents to augment human employees are already seeing the limitless opportunities of digital labor. Take for example reMarkable, a company dedicated to bringing distraction-free digital writing to the world. reMarkable is growing at a rapid pace, and acquiring more customers than its human workforce can handle on their own. I sat down with Nico Cormier, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, to learn how Agentforce has eased their growing pains. reMarkable augmented their customer service reps with their first agent, “Mark”, who handles a large portion of incoming service requests and has even increased the company’s NPS score. After seeing Mark’s success, the company stood up its second agent, “Saga”, integrated into Slack, to enable more streamlined internal IT support for employees. With the help of Mark and Saga, reMarkable’s human employees can focus on higher-value, more strategic work, while digital labor takes care of routine and time-consuming tasks. The result? Increased efficiency, better customer satisfaction, and a more empowered workforce. With Agentforce, deeply integrated into Slack, companies like reMarkable are not just adding another tool to their arsenal; they’re creating a smarter, more intuitive way to work.

The employment story is becoming fragmented. Tech-adjacent white-collar jobs are down 15% year-over-year, while healthcare and education employment is up 18%. Traditional office roles remain relatively flat. The underlying dynamic is not wholesale job elimination but reallocation: ➡ Professionals in analytics, marketing, and content roles are increasingly augmented by AI. ➡ Entry-level opportunities are disappearing fastest, reshaping pipelines for talent development. ➡ Hybrid work has stabilized rather than collapsed. Remote job share holds steady at around 7% of total jobs, with hybrid models dominant in large metro areas. This fragmentation forces operators to rethink labor strategy at a deeper level. It’s not enough to focus on headcount. You must now analyze role vulnerability, skill transferability, and infrastructure durability. AI is reshaping job design. Roles once viewed as “safe” are now blended with automation. A marketing analyst is no longer just reporting data, they’re orchestrating AI outputs. A content manager isn’t just writing copy, they’re editing, prompting, and curating. The value shifts from production to oversight. The bigger concern for operators is the loss of the entry-level ladder. Companies that once relied on junior hires to develop future leaders now face thinning pipelines. Without deliberate investment in apprenticeships, internships, or in-house training, leadership succession weakens over time. Hybrid work is also here to stay. Remote hasn’t collapsed as some predicted, but neither has it overtaken the office. Instead, large metro companies have settled into a hybrid model where teams cycle between in-person and digital collaboration. For operators, this means hybrid infrastructure is no longer a temporary perk, it is a baseline requirement. Digital tools must integrate seamlessly with physical space design, from conference rooms to workflows. Operating Perspective: Labor strategy must distinguish between AI-vulnerable roles and AI-resistant categories. Upskilling existing employees is more cost-effective than new hiring in vulnerable segments. Investment in hybrid infrastructure, both digital and physical, is a durable requirement. ✅ Audit your current workforce for AI-vulnerable vs. resistant roles. ✅ Create targeted upskilling paths that focus on resilience. ✅ Invest now in hybrid systems—both digital tools and physical space. Read more about what we’re leaning this week at Operating by John Brewton: https://lnkd.in/eQA_Taut ♻️Repost & follow John Brewton for content that helps. 📬Subscribe to Operating by John Brewton for deep dives on the history and future of operating companies (🔗in profile).

The future of work is evolving with the rise of agentic #AI - systems that can perceive, reason, and act independently to execute complex tasks across business functions.   At NVIDIA #GTC25 last week, Deloitte introduced Zora AI, an #AgenticAI platform built on the NVIDIA stack, designed to augment the workforce and transform enterprise operations.   The most impactful evolutions we’re seeing: ✅ AI agents are becoming digital coworkers: These systems can collaborate with humans and other agents, automating high-volume tasks in areas like finance, supply chain, and customer service, enabling employees to focus on strategic work. ✅ Real-world impact is measurable: Early adopters are starting to see productivity gains. For example, companies using AI agents for finance processes have cut costs and improved decision-making speed through real-time data analysis and scenario modeling. ✅ Rapid deployment and adaptability matter: Platforms like Zora AI are designed for flexibility - integrating with existing technologies and adapting to industry-specific needs, accelerating time to value.   As AI capabilities advance, organizations will need to rethink work design, governance, and how to foster trust in autonomous systems. How do you think the shift to an AI-augmented #workforce will unlock new ways of working and delivering value?   Read more: https://deloi.tt/41G9Mwh