Growing at Work
Nobody knows exactly how this will go. Everybody can decide how to prepare.
Headlines swing between AI taking every job and AI changing nothing. Neither helps a professional deciding what to learn this year. This session sets out calmly what is known and what is not, looks at which parts of different kinds of work are most likely to change, and helps each person form a modest plan for learning, practice and judgement. It makes no predictions about any individual job.
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Anxiety is a poor guide to what to learn.
Surveys of employers point to a lot of change in skills. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025, drawing on over 1,000 employers, reports that on average about 39% of existing skill sets are expected to be transformed or become outdated between 2025 and 2030, and lists AI and big data among the fastest-growing skills. That is an expectation reported by employers, not a forecast for any one person or job.
What is more certain is that tools are changing how many tasks get done, and that employers are asking people to use them. Professionals who understand the tools and their limits, and who keep the judgement and the relationships that tools do not supply, are better placed than those who ignore or fear them. The session helps people start from where they are, and is honest that the situation is changing and that no speaker can see its end.
What the session covers
34 topics across 7 areas. Seven parts, from the facts to a plan. 6 apply to almost any business; the rest only in a particular case.
What We Know and What We Do NotSeparating evidence from headlines.5
- What employer surveys say, and what they cannot tell you
- Why predictions about specific jobs are unreliable
- Tasks change before jobs do
- The difference between a tool that helps and a job that disappears
- Why the pace varies by field, company and role
Breaking Your Role into TasksA job is a bundle of tasks, and they are not equally affected.5
- Listing what you actually do in a normal month
- Which tasks are routine, which need judgement, which need people
- Which could be done faster with a tool, and which not safely
- What would you do with the time saved
- Where your employer is likely to expect change
Using AI Tools WellA skill to practise, like any other.5
- Starting with one real task in your own work
- Giving clear context and checking the result
- Treating output as a draft that you are responsible for
- Knowing where the tool is likely to be wrong
- Keeping a note of prompts and approaches that work
Limits, Risks and ConfidentialityWhere people get into trouble.5
Rules differ between employers and are changing. Check your company's policy before using a tool on work material, and ask your manager if there is not one. The session does not give legal advice.
- Not putting confidential, customer or personal data into a tool without permission
- Your employer's policy on AI use, and asking if there is none
- Errors presented with confidence
- Copyright and attribution questions
- Being open about where you used a tool, as your workplace expects
Skills That Tend to Hold Their ValueLikely, not guaranteed.5
- Judgement about what is worth doing and what good looks like
- Understanding a customer, a team or a situation
- Communication and trust with real people
- Analytical thinking and checking
- Domain knowledge that lets you tell when a tool is wrong
A Learning Plan You Can Keep UpSmall and steady beats ambitious and abandoned.5
- One tool, one task and one month to start
- Learning with colleagues rather than alone
- Reading a few reliable sources, not every headline
- Using free and low-cost options before paying for courses
- Telling your manager what you are learning and why
If You Feel Anxious About Your JobIf it appliesA reasonable response, and some practical steps.4
If worry about work is affecting your wellbeing, talk to a doctor or a qualified professional. In India, Tele-MANAS, 14416, is free and available 24 hours a day.
- Looking at your own role rather than the headlines
- Keeping your resume, network and savings in reasonable shape
- Talking to your manager about where the work is heading
- Knowing where to find help if worry is affecting your sleep or health
Questions to take away
- Which of my tasks would I be glad to do faster?
- What do people come to me for that a tool cannot give?
- What does my employer's policy say about AI tools?
- What is the one thing I will try this month?
- Who can I learn alongside?
What this session is not
- Not a prediction about any person's job
- Not a technical course on building AI systems
- Not an endorsement of a particular tool
- Not legal advice on data protection or copyright
- Not a reason to panic, or a reason to relax
How the session runs
A practitioner who uses AI tools in their own work explains what has changed in their field and what has not, and demonstrates a few practical uses with their limits. Participants then break their own role into tasks, try a tool on one non-confidential task, and write a short learning plan. We ask participants not to enter confidential material into any tool during the session.
What your students leave with
- A balanced picture of what is and is not known about AI and work
- A breakdown of their own role into tasks, and which are most affected
- Practice using AI tools on a real piece of their work, with checks
- An understanding of the limits, risks and confidentiality rules to respect
- A short learning plan they can keep up alongside the job
- A sense of which human skills tend to hold their value, and why
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
You do not need to predict the future of work. You need a plan for the next few months.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.