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Many organizations, such as my own, are exploring ways in which generative AI can help to solve business problems and increase efficiencies by automating repetitive tasks across functional departments. We are starting small with departmental chatbots to help deliver real-time answers and directions to everyday queries and questions from staff.
A recent Harvard Business School study finds that using gen AI can flatten the corporate hierarchy and streamline productivity by freeing managers from some tasks of project coordination—but first companies must determine what to automate, and who will benefit the most. The research was conducted by a team led by Harvard Business School professor Manuel Hoffmann, who wanted to understand how people use gen AI, and the team’s conclusions suggest the technology is helping individual contributors take on tasks once done by managers.
From 2022 to 2024, the researchers studied 50,032 global software developers, of whom half used GitHub Copilot, an open-source gen AI code-writing system. They found that having access to Copilot caused people to shift task allocation toward their core work and away from project management activities. Coding activities as a percentage of all work activity increased by 5%, while project management as a percentage of all activity dropped by 10%. While this study looked at the impact of gen AI on managerial roles, there is ongoing concern in many markets that AI will replace numerous entry-level positions. Those types of entry-level roles are best positioned to upskill on the use of gen AI to enhance and not supplant those jobs. Having general AI prompting skills right out of college or through on the job training will help to encourage the ethical and effective use of this technology.
One can surmise that the rapid technological changes coupled with uneven accessibility to proper training and resistance to change has brought about a dynamic whereby workers are unsure or unskilled in how to best use gen AI to make their work easier or are intimidated by a technology that many perceive will replace some jobs in the future. The upskilling of current employees is predicated on both their desire to embrace this emerging technology and to have the willingness and capacity to relearn approaches to get their jobs done better with gen AI. Strategies to help mitigate some of these challenges include encouraging microlearning and modular training to allow short, focused courses on AI concepts, incorporating on-the-job training with hired consultants or the company’s IT experts, as well as encouraging—and rewarding—continual professional development on an organizational scale.
At the macro-level AI will not just replace jobs, it will redefine them. The future workforce will need hybrid skill sets combining technical proficiency, ethical awareness, and adaptability to be competitive and keep their organizations thriving. Companies that invest in inclusive, scalable upskilling programs will have a competitive edge.
Reference: “How AI is Redefining Managerial Roles,” Harvard Business Review, July/August 2025 Magazine. https://hbr.org/2025/07/how-ai-is-redefining-managerial-roles