How AI will reshape organisations and jobs

17 Aug, 2025

Across the work we are doing internally at my own consulting business and recently through our AI work with large enterprise clients in Australia, I’ve seen first-hand what’s coming. Internally, as we’ve automated parts of our practice through a range of AI initiatives — my own productivity has jumped by 50%. At a major bank, where we are helping redesign the software delivery lifecyle (SDLC) process, what used to take weeks of manual effort now takes minutes. At a major miner, we're innovating on a feasibility study process that takes up to nine months, which can now be dramatically shortened, freeing up experts to focus on higher order challenges, not just report writing.

These lived examples beg the question: will AI disrupt or augment? How should boards, executives, and workers respond to the innovation that’s coming our way? How will AI change organisations?

TL;DR

• US labour markets lead Australia — the data there shows that
  • AI is touching most roles. Many people are either being augmented, displaced, or migrating into brand new roles. This market appears still early in its transition
  • Generative AI is flattening hierarchies and automating repetitive work
  • Clerical, administrative, and routine service roles are most at risk; STEM, healthcare, and creative roles are resilient. More software is being demanded than ever before with the demand for software engineers increasing with the nature of the role changing
• AI could augment more jobs than it replaces in Australia (at least through 2030), but the longer-term impact is dependent on the pace and shape of the innovation curve
• The biggest winners will be people and organisations who learn fast and adapt. There are a number of important new strategies and behaviours to adopt now

Context: Understanding the 2025 Organisational Shift

In 2024, 71% of organisations were already using generative AI in at least one function[^1]. Adoption has outpaced most previous technology waves. There is a structural shift happening in how organisations are built and run. Fewer layers of middle management, increasing reliance on AI, and new hybrid roles where humans supervise machines, not just people.

We are still at the start of the journey. There is still a long tail of organisations yet to adopt. Some are dabbling but not yet sure on the strategic path that best suits their business. Some boards and executives are unsure how far the innovation curve will run. Are we in a hype bubble, or on the verge of a more fundamental shift?

Evidence suggests at least another 12–18 months of accelerated capability growth as more compute comes online and model intelligence and agentic capabilities improve (based on the pace of frontier lab progress, and the rate of open source and academic paper published progress - more here). Organisations need to embrace the opportunity, as their competition is, but balance a rapidly shifting environment while delivering value to customers and shareholders.

How AI is Reshaping the Workplace

AI will likely impact almost every role.

Doctors are increasingly leveraging AI scribes and, according to recent media reports, nearly 40% of clinicians in the US say they have experimented with ChatGPT or similar tools to assist with medical tasks over the past six months. In agriculture, we’re seeing AI help farmers analyse soil data and optimise water use; in education, generative AI is drafting lesson plans and automating feedback; in government and defence, AI is being trialled for intelligence analysis and service delivery; in logistics and supply chain, AI is reshaping demand forecasting and routing; and in biology and medicine, AI models are speeding up protein folding research and drug discovery.

AI and the Labour Market: Comparison of US and Australian Trends

• United States: Around 80% of US workers could see at least 10% of their tasks affected by AI; nearly 1 in 5 may see more than half their work impacted. Clerical, secretarial, and customer service roles are shrinking rapidly. Yet demand for healthcare, tech, and skilled trades is rising.
• Australia: Automation potential jumped from 44% of work hours in 2019 to 62% in 2023. By 2030, around 1.3 million Australians (9% of the workforce) may need to transition to new jobs. As in the US, clerical and service roles are declining; STEM, healthcare, and construction roles are resilient or growing.
• Shared patterns: Women and lower-wage workers are disproportionately exposed in both countries, since they are overrepresented in at-risk roles.

Locally, the story is about opportunity as much as risk. Australia’s productivity growth has been sluggish (~0.4–0.6% annually), but generative AI could boost it by up to 1.1% a year. That’s a potential return to 1990s levels of economic growth. Sectors like banking, education, and public services are already piloting AI in ways that could free up human workers for higher-value activities.

But the risk is uneven impact. Bank tellers, clerical staff, and retail workers are vulnerable, while data scientists and AI auditors are in hot demand. Without targeted reskilling, the benefits of AI could widen inequality.

Roles impacted by AI - 2025

Australian enterprises are still grappling with deciding on the right AI strategy, or not considering it yet at all. This is exacerbated by the fact technology/digital expertise remains under-represented on Australian boards - only ~7-8% of board directors from the ASX:300 had a technical background in 2024 (see Governance Institute of Australia and Heidrick & Struggles reports in Sources & Footnotes). This tech literacy gap matters as AI becomes board-level strategy.

Adapting to AI: Practical Strategies for Businesses and Workers

There are some key themes emerging:

• Flatter structures: Gartner projects 20% of enterprises will use AI to flatten hierarchies by 2026. Many middle-management tasks—status reporting, information routing—are easily handled by AI. Managers aren’t disappearing, but their roles are shifting towards strategy and innovation. AI tools are augmenting analysis, improving communication, and enabling more streamlined organisational structures
• Unbundling work: Companies are analysing jobs at the task level: what can AI automate, what still needs human judgment. This modular view of work is reshaping HR, training, and performance management
• Customer experiences: New revenue opportunities are opening up, offering new customer and product experiences, and prompting a rethink of traditional business models, and how teams are organised and the skills required. Channel and marketing strategy is being rethought as AI disrupts SEO patterns and how to grab attention from consumers, impacting team design. Frontier lab experiences are changing consumer expectations on the types of AI experiences they should have
• New AI roles: Prompt engineers, AI auditors, ethics leads—these jobs didn’t exist five years ago. Now they’re appearing in job ads globally
• Culture of learning: Continuous upskilling and experimentation are no longer optional—they’re baked into how work gets done. Globally, surveys show around 40% of the workforce will require reskilling in the next three years because of AI implementation.
• Culture of trust and oversight: As AI takes on more tasks, organisations must double down on transparency and accountability

Why Human-AI Collaboration Is the Future

AI is more likely to reshape jobs than erase them—initially. McKinsey estimates only ~25% of hours in Australia will be automated by 2030. In the US, Forrester projects 2.4m jobs replaced but 11m transformed by 2030. Studies show workers with AI tools are more productive (14% faster in customer support, 35% faster onboarding for new agents).

That means most of us will still have jobs—but the mix of tasks will change. The winners will be those who adopt AI early and develop complementary human skills.

What AI Means for Individuals, Leaders, and Policymakers

• For individuals: Learn to use AI now. It’s becoming as fundamental as spreadsheets or email. Double down on human skills (judgment, creativity, and communication). Focus on business value creation, and start to think about how the processes around you will change, and how you can inform that change as you pick up these new skills
• For leaders: Learn to use AI now. Redesign org charts around flatter, AI-augmented structures. Invest as much in people and training as in tech. Look for low-hanging fruit to build AI competency—quick-win processes that can deliver ROI in short time frames
• For policymakers: Again - learn to use AI now. Prepare for job churn. Support reskilling programs, particularly for women and lower-wage workers. Consider Australia's role in the new AI economy—data centres are the shovels in this gold rush. Compute is the main bottleneck in global AI innovation. Australia, with its vast resources and access to renewable energy, has an opportunity to play a role— while creating wealth, jobs, and seeking synergies with our defence, enterprise, and educational institutions. Treat AI as a lever for productivity revival, but manage the transition so it doesn’t leave vulnerable groups behind

The Big Questions: Navigating AI’s Impact on the Future of Work

• Will AI reinforce inequality, or can we design transitions to spread the gains?
• Should boards add “AI literacy” as a formal requirement for directors? How does strategic thinking and execution shift in a world where AI increases the speed of change and lowers the barriers to entry?
• How should Australia nurture the AI ecosystem to both create wealth in Australia, but play a bigger role on the Global stage?

Preparing for AI in the Workplace

For boards, execs, and workers alike: don’t wait. Experiment, learn, and redesign workflows now. Jobs won’t vanish overnight, but the task mix will shift quickly. Curiosity and an ever-learning mindset will help steer the ship through unknown waters.

Sources & Footnotes for AI and Organisational Transformation

1. Generative AI’s Impact on Organisational Design and the Future of Work (2024).
2. OpenAI & University of Pennsylvania (Eloundou et al.), GPTs are GPTs: An early look at the labor market impact of LLMs (2023).
3. McKinsey Global Institute, Generative AI and the future of work in America (2023).
4. McKinsey Australia & New Zealand, Generative AI and the future of work in Australia (2024).
5. World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report (2023).
6. PwC, AI Jobs Barometer (2024).
7. Forrester, Generative AI Jobs Impact Forecast, 2023 (US).
8. Brynjolfsson, Li & Raymond, Generative AI at Work (NBER Working Paper 31161, 2023).
9. Gartner, AI predictions through 2029 (flattening orgs).
10. American Medical Association, How doctors are using AI in 2025—and what it means (2025).
11. BMJ Health & Care Informatics (2024), Use of AI chatbots by GPs in the UK.
12. Governance Institute of Australia, 2024 Board Diversity Index.
13. Heidrick & Struggles, Board Monitor Australia & New Zealand 2024.