Building the Context
According to KPMG, nearly half of large U.S. companies with at least $1 billion in revenue expect to invest at least $100 million over the coming year to fully enable generative AI across their operations.
While another Gartner forecast says that by 2027, over 75% of hiring processes will require candidates to demonstrate workplace AI proficiency. The prompting skills and the ability to integrate different AI technologies for whatever they do, day to day.
The Question
These statistics bring us to today. How organizations, individually and collectively, along with us, professionals, in every field, can and must act to face what’s coming? Are we tactically planning correctly for this shift?
The speed of technological change, fueled by generative AI and autonomous agents, is forcing business leaders to confront this uncomfortable truth. It has become clearer that we’ve entered an era in which success relies on managing the “AI Skills Paradox” for navigating the fragmentation of global trust to thrive.
By ChatGPT definition, “AI Skill Paradox”, is the conflicting reality that as AI becomes more powerful, it simultaneously increases the demand for uniquely human skills (like creativity, empathy, critical thinking) while also risking the erosion of basic human cognitive abilities (like memory, problem-solving) if used passively, creating a gap between those who leverage AI for growth, and those who become over-reliant, eventually leading to “outdated knowledge”.
Therefore, the biggest challenge for organizations ahead is not technical competence, but human and the strategic formation of how they, individually, get things done. Not only by focusing on isolated initiatives, but more towards a comprehensive approach.
In other words, companies and employees, like us, must invest in AI literacy not only to stay competitive but also to enhance productivity. Tactically, between teams, so that this investment is holistic enough to face tomorrow. Without compromising our essential human attributes!
Be Careful – It’s Thine Line
Because we are not yet sure of what AI and quantum computing will offer in the next 5 years, simultaneously, over-reliance on GenAI for complex tasks, a process known as cognitive offloading, is eroding critical human abilities like evidence evaluation and problem decomposition.
The Deloitte “Consultation Report of 2025” which contained significant errors, false citations, and misleading insights that affected the Australian and Albanese government, is a prominent example of a growing list of AI controversies, and even scandals.
Many business leaders understand how this risk is so high and that’s why Gartner predicts that during 2026, 50% of organizations will require “AI-free” skills assessments to ensure staff retain the “human edge” in critical thinking.
For this reason, your strategy must safeguard, preserve the human judgment! Again, as a singular individual and as an organization as a whole. The strategy must balance rapid development with ongoing training in validation and cognitive resilience, especially for early-career employees who are most susceptible to skills atrophy.
Takeaway
Whether AI or not, the era of “let’s adopt the technology” is over. Systemic reinvention that effectively balances humans’ competencies, brain, AI capabilities, and governance frameworks is what we should strive and plan for.
Robust governance by redefining how work gets done. AI infusion shaped to have human beings as the main actor. Not the other way around.