People aren’t being replaced by robots, yet…
But jobs are shrinking nevertheless. Here’s why, and also, what you need to do about it.
What’s Really Going On with High-Paying Careers
No field is being eliminated. Robots aren’t taking over. AI can’t do everything an office professional can.
But… AI combined with workers who are willing participants in the disruption, are changing everything.
Rather than outright replacement of roles with automated systems, the most significant trend is the integration of these technologies to ongoing work, which is indirectly influencing job demand, skills requirements, and career growth opportunities.
Or in simpler terms, AI isn’t taking your job. But someone with AI is taking five people’s job.
And this trend is expected to accelerate. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum’s “Future of Jobs Report” (source), technology adoption, including AI, will cause substantial job churn, with automation driving both growth in digital roles (like AI and machine learning specialists) and a decline in administrative/office jobs by 2027.
If you read between the lines, “growth of digital roles” is actually a cope (we’re not seeing much of it yet), and decline in office jobs is the overwhelming reality (already happening).
Simply put, at least in the near term, many more jobs will disappear than jobs that appear – especially around high-paying careers.
How This Impacts High-Paying Work
Let’s get the basics out of the way…
Why Certain Work is High-Paying
High-paying roles, especially in competitive fields, often earn their value due to a combination of rarity, demand, and the impact on an organization’s bottom line.
In our organization, we further summarize this using the concept of “power”. High-paying work is high-paying, because the individuals in those roles hold substantial power in the organization, despite the continuous attempts by the corporate machine to commodify and disemplower individuals.
Practically speaking, high paying roles generally require a blend of specialized expertise, specific and proven experience, and unique cognitive or strategic skills that are challenging to automate.
For example, roles like investment banking, data science, or high-level consulting involve complex decision-making, risk assessment, and nuanced problem-solving that impact corporate strategy and profitability directly.
Another critical factor that drives high salaries is a barrier to entry (this ties directly to demand). Many high-paying roles often require years of specialized training, technical certifications, or advanced degrees, as well as experience. Most of these can be sidestepped or even waived when you know how to play the corporate game, but for the average professional – these requirements keep the door to the corner office tightly shut.
In summary: work that is high paying is high paying, because the highly paid individual either wields organizational power or is uniquely in demand with little to no alternatives.
How High-Paying Work Specifically Gets Affected by AI
While many lower-skill jobs face direct replacement by AI and automation, high-paying jobs are shifting in scope rather than disappearing.
This is important: AI impacts these roles by automating parts of their responsibilities, especially repetitive or data-heavy tasks.
For example, in financial services, AI can handle data aggregation and basic analysis, leaving human analysts to focus on interpreting complex data patterns and making high-level strategic decisions. This not only means fewer people are required to do the tedious and time consuming work, but also a shift in demand toward creative abilities that AI cannot fully replicate.
In practice, what results is: A data science team of five gets replaced by an AI assisted data science lead.
Here, the most crucial concept you need to understand is how that AI assisted data science lead gets selected. They aren’t picked due to their data science expertise or analytical capabilities…
They may have made it to the team due to those skills. But when the team is being replaced with AI, the remaining workers are picked based on the skills they have and the disciplines they are familiar with, which CANNOT be replaced by AI.
Out with deep expertise and tenure. In with cross-discipline skills, people skills, and the ability to schmooze your way to the CEO.
Or to put it more simply: what got you in the team, won’t keep you in the team.
The Risk of AI Driven Team Reduction For Businesses
Of course, this reduction in staff doesn’t come without risk…
Several high-paying administrative and analytical roles are susceptible to “AI creep,” where gradual advancements in technology narrow the actual value humans bring to these positions.
For instance, legal research, previously something done by junior law grunts, is increasingly done through AI-powered research tools (source, source). Likewise, middle management positions, particularly in operations, face downsizing as AI handles basic day to day tasks such as predictive scheduling, workflow automation, and resource allocation (source, source).
This results in smaller teams, with fewer and fewer junior people, which in turn creates a decrease in the overall organizational competence, as well as a growing talent gap.
That talent gap can become a killer…
Think of it like this: If you eliminate junior roles through automation, you risk having no one to train up to senior levels. Over time you grow to heavily rely on a few skilled employees who understand AI systems as well as your business – giving these “key employees” extraordinary leverage. Furthermore, because you’re not investing in training the next generation, your business could face a major leadership and skills shortage in the future.
And if your “key employees” leave, you go out of business.
The Opportunity for High-Paid Professionals
In this environment, the biggest opportunity is – simply put – becoming the person your company is addicted to.
Remember: Companies can’t help themselves. They are going to paint themselves into a corner by gutting departments and relying on a handful of individuals who they think of as the most “business savvy” choice for short term gains.
But in the long run, they will quickly realize that if the “business savvy” choice from two years ago left, their business would tank.
That’s not all… We can do even more.
Why not grow the company even more dependent on you?
You not only want to be the one person using AI that replaces a team of five, but you also want to be the go-to expert who understands AI systems, and knows how to apply them in ways that drive real business results.
You want to become not just the AI empowered professional, but also the driver of AI empowerment, to whatever degree you can muster.
And using this cross functional reach, you want to spread your influence everywhere, growing the company absolutely dependent on you.
Combined with AI creep, this gives you extraordinary leverage. But, of course, having leverage isn’t enough on it’s own…
When you have leverage, you also need to recognize that you have leverage and act on it – using that leverage to climb the ranks, get paid more, and secure a long-lasting, high-value career (not through promises but through contracts).
Remember: Company won’t do it for you. You need to do it for yourself.
Let’s now discuss how to make it happen.
Capitalizing The AI Opportunity for High-Paid Professionals
By positioning yourself as irreplaceable, you’ll be setting yourself up for success, no matter how much AI takes over – that’s the core opportunity.
And here’s the recipe: Meet the growing expectation for data literacy, critical thinking, and technology fluency. Beyond that, as outlined in our Five Core Skills and Seven High Value Disciplines, become the person known for the AI proof and in demand skills.
If you simply do these two things, the rest will happen almost automatically.
These two things, however, are a little tricky…
On the one hand, you need to have the track record and career skills to be a contender for senior roles that are highly paid. On the other hand, you need to be able to wear many hats and act as a jack of all trades.
Lucky for you… Unlike getting executive promotions or vested shares where you have to swim upstream, companies actually WANT you to do these two seemingly contradictory things.
In fact, according to PwC’s Emerging Technology Survey (link), companies are recognizing the importance of cross-functional skill development, as they integrate new technologies into their business (i.e. right now as they adopt AI, etc.)
Remember: companies want to squeeze more out of their workforce by getting individuals to wear many hats, and leverage any gaps by using technology rather than paying for the expertise. And they think you wearing many hats and developing cross functional expertise is good for their business. (Which it is in the short run, but in the long run, your career gets more out of it.)
Ultimately: expertise gets you into the interview room, but cross functional skills get you the job.
Recognizing this is the key to capitalizing on the AI opportunity.
How The Nature of Your Job Will Change
These trends ultimately lead to three universal changes in the corporate world which you also need to navigate around:
- Decreased job security due to greater employee interchangeability
- Increased competition due to fewer jobs
- Greater ambiguity in roles and job titles leading to diminished employee leverage over contracts (Hint: experts with good track records have always wielded considerable leverage in the corporate world, this will decrease substantially.)
In other words, using AI creep and the plan we outlined above to develop leverage is the only viable path remaining for most professionals who want social mobility. All the other forces are against you, and it’s just like swimming upstream.
Now that we’ve covered the basics of the strategy, let’s get to the details…
Key Emerging Technologies Shaping High-Paying Careers
You have to understand how the four biggest tech trends are influencing the workforce. These are the hats you need to wear on top of your career in order to ride the waive of AI creep to the corner office.
1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
AI and ML are at the forefront of everything we discussed above. Businesses are rapidly adopting these tools to optimize operations, cut costs, reduce staff and make better decisions.
For those looking to secure or advance in high-paying roles, a strong foundation in AI and ML has become essential. It’s what you start with.
2. Blockchain and Cybersecurity
Blockchain technology, initially developed for cryptocurrency, is now transforming industries like finance, logistics, and healthcare. Cybersecurity, of course, is vital for more businesses than ever.
Becoming conversationally competent in both of these – what we call security disciplines – is very important, especially for executive roles in the corporate world.
3. Robotics and Physical Automation
Automation, once confined to manufacturing, now spans every sector. From Amazon’s automated warehouses to robotic surgical aids in hospitals, if there is room for a robot, you’ll start seeing a robot.
Understanding robotic capabilities, and its application in business can help you transform your organization, and in the process, gain control over the physical creation of value. Very powerful.
4. Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR)
VR and AR are increasingly used in industries like healthcare, education, and entertainment. These immersive technologies offer new ways to train employees, simulate real-world scenarios, and enhance customer engagement.
They are also the shiny new consumer object which will become more and more ubiquitous…
What social media was in the 2010s, VR/AR is going to be in the 2030s – a wildly fast growing opportunity and a new blue ocean for investors. If you’re ahead of the curve in VR/AR, you can be part of that transformation in your organization, gaining substantial leverage.
Career Strategies in the Age of Technological Disruption That Leverage AI Creep
In the light of these disruptions, here are a handful of specific, actionable steps you can take today, so that you can be in the right place at the right time when AI creep hits.
1. Embrace Lifelong Learning and Upskilling
Adaptation is key. Given the rapid evolution of necessary skills, you need to invest in learning programs focused on analytical, creative, and technical skills.
Of course, dear reader, this is on top of the career skills we assume you are already developing by following our programs and publications.
If you want to win a car race, you need to know how to drive…
2. Focus on Industry-Resilient Skills
The World Economic Forum indicates that analytical thinking and creativity will be top priorities, comprising over 18% of corporate training (source).
Developing these and other “evergreen” and in-demand skills can protect your career against job displacement due to automation.
Remember: you need to be employed, and in the room when the AI led downsizing happens. If you’re part of the group that gets canned, it will be much harder to get back in that room.
Job security is paramount for this strategy.
3. Leverage Technology Integration and Interdisciplinary Skills
The future workforce demands professionals who can bridge technological and operational knowledge.
As emerging technologies integrate with each other, those with interdisciplinary skills – combining technology, strategy, and project management – will have a competitive edge in securing high-paying roles.
Another point for the Five Core Skills and Seven High-Value Disciplines.
4. Build a Professional Brand in Emerging Fields
Specialization in emerging tech fields (e.g., AI ethics, blockchain security) can differentiate you in the market.
You don’t need to be the world’s goto expert. But you do need to be positioned sufficiently as an expert that your organization sees you as an expert and can legitimize putting you into positions where you can build leverage.
Start small. You don’t need to go get another degree. You can actually showcase a deep understanding of these fields simply through professional certifications, industry contributions, or thought leadership.
Just remember: You’re no longer marketing yourself as a simple “accountant”…
You’re positioning yourself as an “AI-powered accountant,” a “blockchain-savvy accountant,” or a “VR-enabled accountant,” depending on the niche you choose.
This is all about standing out in a rapidly changing job market.
Conclusion
Emerging technologies are a double-edged sword for high-paying careers.
While they open up lucrative opportunities in AI, data science, robotics, and cybersecurity, they also necessitate continuous learning and adaptability.
You WILL need to work harder, try harder, compete harder…
Except now, the reward isn’t a stable, respected, professional career working from a cubicle, or an open office desk among a team of peers and colleagues.
Those jobs are going to disappear.
Now it’s basically the corner office or bust.