"There have been a handful of moments across the history of work when we have experienced a huge shift in the skills our economy values most," LinkedIn Workforce Expert,  Aneesh Raman  told a summit of global talent leaders in Asia and Australia this week, "we are entering one such moment now due to advances in A.I."

Over the coming years, A.I. will change not just the skills we all need to learn to stay competitive  but the very definition of work itself. Conversations around A.I. on LinkedIn have increased 70%, job posts mentioning A.I. are up 21X, and skills for all jobs are projected to change by 68% by 2030. 

Yet as organizations excitedly test out the core capabilities of A.I. to figure out what A.I. can do for us, somehow people have become an afterthought in the conversation. It’s becoming clear that advances in A.I. will force us to confront a much deeper question about ourselves:  What are our core capabilities as humans?

If we answer that question from a place of fear about what’s left for people in the age of A.I., we can end up conceding a diminished view of human capability. Instead, it’s critical for us all to start from a place that imagines what’s possible for humans in the age of A.I. When you do that, you find yourself focusing quickly on people skills that allow us to collaborate and innovate in ways technology can amplify but never replace. And you find yourself with agency to better manage this moment of historic change.

The future of work is human

Technical and data skills that have been highly sought after for decades appear to be among the most exposed to advances in A.I. But people skills that we have long undervalued as “soft,” will very likely remain the most durable. That is a hopeful sign that A.I. could usher in a world of work that is anchored more, not less, around human ability. And that the future of work will remain fundamentally human-centric.

These "soft skills" are fast becoming the hard currency of the future workplaceAs AI takes on more technical tasks, the value of our human skills like empathetic leadership, communication, and creative problem-solving will only increase.

LinkedIn’s new 2024 Workplace Learning Report confirms this changing dynamic of skills in the age of A.I., with 95% of L&D pros in ANZ and 94% in Southeast Asia agreeing that human skills, or soft skills, are increasingly important. Communication is already the most in-demand skill across jobs on LinkedIn globally and across APAC – including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines and Singapore.

Even experts in A.I. are observing the skills we need to work well with A.I. systems, such as prompting, are similar to the skills we need to communicate and reason effectively with other people.

Over 70% of executives at LinkedIn last year said soft skills were more important to their organisations than highly technical A.I. skills.

And the top five skills hiring managers in APAC consider most important in the era of A.I. include problem-solving abilities, communication skills, critical thinking, A.I. skills and IT & web skills. Revealing this demand for talent who can balance their technical know-how with soft skills to work effectively with A.I.

Talent leaders agree. David Hendrick Jr, Executive Director from National Healthcare Group says, “In the age of A.I., where technology reigns supreme, the true currency of success lies not in the circuits and codes, but in the artistry, curiosity and agility of soft skills – for they are the bridge between innovation and humanity, guiding us through the ever-changing and evolving landscape of progress.”

Critically, this shift involves bringing the same level of rigor to training around people skills that we have brought to technical skills. Now, as we begin to understand the capabilities of AI, it looks like the social abilities that are unique to us as humans will become central to work.

Scott Marshall, Head of Organisational Capability at Australian energy company Woodside, explains how the organisation is thinking about both soft and AI skills to build a future-ready workforce.

“Supporting the development of our people both technically and in leadership capabilities is front and centre for Woodside. Recognizing the different ways in which people learn, the future skills required and ensuring a blend of methods to support that learning is critical.

Our LinkedIn user data shows that our people are engaging across leadership capabilities, technical skills and in new technology capabilities such as AI. We’re seeing a shift towards AI learning within LinkedIn Learning, with 60% of learned content in the last 6 months alone. This demonstrates the importance to our people and eagerness to upskill. We also have 500 people who have actively engaged the LinkedIn AI-powered coach to create a specific career goal for their own development objectives.”

The opportunity for talent leaders 

The integration of AI into the workplace is not just a technological challenge; it's a talent opportunity. Talent leaders have a pivotal role to play in shaping a future where technology doesn’t diminish human potential, but brings out the best in people.

For talent leaders, AI is an opportunity to rebuild and rethink playbooks for the future. The simplest way to get specific is to realise old playbooks won’t work in the new world of work and it’s time to write new ones. To play a strategic role in designing a workforce that is skilled for the age of A.I., because the people you have will be even more important than the technology they’re using.

There are a few key ways talent leaders can think about their new role amidst this moment of historic change: 

LinkedIn has evolved from a match-maker between job seekers and companies to providing personal assistance to each side for optimal operation.
AI allows recruiters to focus more on strategic human work, freeing them from mundane tasks.

AI literacy and learning AI skills are crucial as employers have changed the skills they’re looking for. LinkedIn courses to help professionals and companies learn these skills.

AI should be seen as a productivity tool in the workplace, with experiences like ChatGPT providing broad knowledge access.

Most employers anticipate significant growth from AI and are leaning into it.

The world of work needs to adapt to a more skills-centric use case, but it’s still about empowering people to learn those skills and do the job they are passionate about.

AI can help sales people focus on selling and interacting with people, rather than filling in CRMs and tables.

AI literacy is the biggest gap currently seen by employers, highlighting the importance of fostering a culture of continuous learning.

Micro-credentials offer a powerful path to pick up more skills without completely changing your profession and degree.

The skills needed for jobs have been changing even before AI, which has acted as a catalyst for this change.

The shift to a relationship economy

The knowledge economy that we have lived in for decades emerged out of a goods economy that we lived in for millennia, fueled by agriculture and manufacturing. Today the knowledge economy is giving way to a relationship economy, in which people skills and social abilities are going to become even more core to success than ever before. That possibility is not just cause for new thinking when it comes to work force training. It is also cause for greater imagination when it comes to what is possible for us as humans not simply as individuals and organizations but as a species.

 With the right intent and energy, the age of AI can be the age of human potential, with a labour market where people are valued for the unique skills they have, enabling us to deliver new levels of human achievement across so many areas that affect all of our lives.We just have to decide to believe in the potential of humans with the same conviction that we believe in the potential of AI. 

To build a human-centric AI future,  start with your own soft skills

As we shift from the IQ currency of the knowledge economy to the value of EQ in the coming relationship economy, AI will provide new opportunities to credential these soft skills. Just as people skills will be at the centre of individual growth, people-to-people collaboration will be at the centre of company growth. As well as hiring for these soft skills, HR will need to keep their skills as sharp as technology evolves to retain them.

The 2024 Workplace Learning Report for ANZ and SEA found the fastest-growing soft skills for L&D pros to succeed in 2024: