Humans, AI and Robots:

The ‘art of the possible’ in human-AI collaboration is rapidly evolving. Organizations have an opportunity to amplify intelligence and adjust capacity by integrating human insight with AI precision and robotic efficiency. This integration requires a clear understanding of the challenges AI is uniquely suited to address, the areas where human expertise excels, and the circumstances that benefit most from a purposeful and collaborative blend of both. It also involves preparing individuals to lead their own agentic and robotic teams and equipping them for that future, while continuously applying this knowledge across the enterprise as these factors evolve.

The economics of work and workforce will shift in concert with the proliferation of gen-AI-powered digital and robotic agents. To manage these dynamics well, business leaders must first understand the economic impact of each workforce component—on individuals, operational teams, functions and sub-functions, as well as across the value chain. Then, they need to anticipate and optimize the overall effects of these impacts on the company’s financial statements, including profitability, asset efficiency and return on invested capital (ROIC). The C-suite’s ability to balance value against cost, while prioritizing the human experience at work, will push some companies far ahead of others in performance and profit.

For businesses to develop their “change muscle”—the ability to maximize the interplay between human ingenuity, AI and robotics capabilities—executives must lead in new ways by becoming architects of continuous change, ensuring the company is always future-ready. This will call for a new approach to talent, incorporating predictive workforce planning, prioritizing adaptability over fixed skillsets and implementing AI-driven, personalized learning. It will also require continuously testing and refining the balance between human and AI contributions. To succeed, organizations will need the trust of their people, so leaders must create an environment where people can do work they love in a way that supports innovation and growth.

As with the industrial revolution and other major technological shifts, this emerging transformation will have broad impacts on society. Questions are already arising about anticipated imbalances in skills and labor, the need for educational and corporate training reforms, geographic and geopolitical impacts, human dignity and autonomy, socio-economic gaps, discrimination and bias. These challenges highlight the need for alignment across four key areas: corporate governance policies and standards (both within and across industries); governmental regulations (cross-industry and cross-border); the processes and practices needed to adapt the human workforce to a new approaches to work (across educational systems and enterprise training); and the responsible and ethical rules and guiderails (that will direct the use of these technologies at scale). If business, government and institutional leaders collaborate with intent and purpose, the transformation of work can significantly benefit society as a whole.