As generative AI enables individuals to take research and analysis through planning and execution on their own, managers will increasingly be evaluated not by the number of people reporting to them, but by their track record of solving customer problems and moving the business forward. The first installment of this series examines specific ways managers can create value in the age of AI and the career actions they can take.
Managers who have begun using generative AI feel that they can now handle much of the research and analysis, document preparation, and requirements definition they previously delegated to subordinates, and evaluations based on the number of people they manage are beginning to lose their force. There is growing recognition that it is important to direct the capacity created by AI's replacement of some tasks toward customer and business challenges.
Although AI adoption is spreading, few companies have begun redesigning their organizations and talent strategies, and little progress has been made in redesigning managers' areas of responsibility and evaluation criteria. In practice, the focus remains on using AI to make traditional administrative work more efficient, and some have pointed out that managers' roles will not change significantly if that is the limit of the effort.
As a manager becomes able to work with AI to conduct market research, organize issues, prepare proposals, design operations, and create prototypes, a small organization that functions as an “AI-enabled small team” becomes realistic. Research and field experiments are beginning to produce examples of individuals using generative AI to achieve results comparable to those of conventional teams, suggesting that AI could accelerate decision-making and execution by reducing organizational friction.
AI is not万能, however, and it is essential to use it in appropriate situations. Cases have shown that AI's accuracy can decline on complex management issues, requiring managers to design how to divide work between areas suited to AI, areas requiring human expertise, and dialogue with customers and frontline personnel, while taking responsibility for the final decision.
Managers in the age of AI will be judged not by the number of people they manage or the volume of work they process, but by whether they have moved forward on important issues that need to be solved. Three career actions are proposed: work with AI on one task from start to finish, record how the time saved was reinvested, and build a track record of moving work forward rather than merely a track record of using AI. Accumulating these achievements is presented as a way to demonstrate market value.