Got AI-ptitude? These are the top work skills you’ll need for an AI future

Thanks to the huge success and adoption of generative AI, workers are now alert to the impact the technology will have on the future of jobs.

Some may worry that their roles might be replaced by bots, but according to Microsoft’s most recent Work Trend Index Annual Report, leaders are two times more likely to say that AI’s real worth is as a tool to boost productivity––and not to cut headcount.

While workers may be worried about their jobs (49% of survey respondents saying they fear AI will replace their role), quixotically, 70% of workers are also happy to delegate as much work as possible to an AI tool, in order to lessen their workloads.

It is those organisations that embrace AI which will usher in a new wave of productivity growth and value creation. “This new generation of AI will remove the drudgery of work and unleash creativity,” says Satya Nadella, Microsoft chairman and CEO

“There’s an enormous opportunity for AI-powered tools to help alleviate digital debt, build AI aptitude, and empower employees.”

Best of both 

The best of both worlds is what employees want: a secure pay cheque and a helping hand for those tedious tasks that AI can be so good at.

But there is a gap between these desires. As organisational psychology professor Adam Grant comments in the report, “It’s fascinating that people are more excited about AI rescuing them from burnout than they are worried about it eliminating their jobs.”

Seventy six percent are comfortable using AI for administrative tasks, 79% say they’d be happy to use it for analytical work, and 73% said they’d use AI for creative work. Workers also want AI to help with information and answers (86%), while summarising meetings and action items is a chief desire for 80%.

New skills now

But right now, 82% of leaders say their employees will need new skills to be prepared for the growth of AI––or in other words, to take advantage of it. 

So what will you need to develop to establish your new-found ai-ptitude? 

In order to effectively work alongside AI tools, workers will need to develop critical thinking and analytical judgement skills, as well as delve into their complex problem solving abilities. Plus, creativity and originality––something AI currently sorely lacks––will be new core competencies.

Already, there are 33 times as many job postings mentioning topics like generative AI and GPT than there were one year ago, so the time to develop these competencies is now.

If you’d like to take advantage of your existing skills or move to a company where you can develop them, then the Silicon Canals Job Board is the perfect place to start your search. See three exciting open roles below.

Scrum Master (m/f/d), ConSense GmbH, Aachen

ConSense GmbH is looking for a Scrum Master to be a coach and mentor for the agile mindset, and contribute to continuous optimisation by taking on the methodological responsibility for the Scrum processes. You should have completed relevant training courses (e.g. Certified Scrum Master, Professional Scrum Master) or have already worked as a Scrum Master, are a communicative team player with good moderation skills, and are experienced in dealing with Jira, ClickUp or other agile project management tools. See more on this role here.

DevOps, Recrulab, Lyon

Recrulab is looking to hire a DevOps for a company that is a player in energy transition. You’ll work daily with Kubernetes and Docker, setting up relevant and effective monitoring, and working with the development team to improve CI/CD processes (Jenkins). You’ll take charge of the scalability, resilience and stability of the infrastructure and provide solutions to testability issues, ensure the continuous improvement of R&D architectures and approaches, and advise on innovation. You should have experience in a DevOps Engineer position, be familiar with Docker as well as CI/CD and monitoring tools, and a mastery of Kubernetes would be a real asset. Apply for the job here.

Senior Software Engineer – Data Application Platform, Fivetran, Amsterdam

Fivetran is building data pipelines to power the modern data stack for thousands of companies. It is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join its core platform team who will focus development on practical and relevant system improvements, contribute to the development and planning of the platform roadmap, collaborate with a small but mighty core team, and with a broader set of stakeholders, as you work across the project lifecycle: requirements, design, prototype, implementation, review, release, and monitoring.

See all the details here.For thousands of open roles, check out the Silicon Canals Job Board