Technology leaders have warned employees in recent years that artificial intelligence will threaten every job, from programming and customer service to law and finance. But Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb, believes that the biggest risk is not the technology itself, but the refusal to evolve with it, Fortune magazine reports.
In Chesky's view, there are two types of employees who “will not survive the age of artificial intelligence.”
“The two categories of people who won't make the transition to AI are the managers who deal exclusively with managing people. There are the people who are rigid and don't want to change and evolve,” Chesky recently said on the “Invest Like The Best” podcast.
Earlier, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that AI could affect half of entry-level office work.
And Microsoft's head of AI, Mustafa Suleyman, has come up with a timetable, predicting that “most, if not all” office tasks will be automated by AI within 12 to 18 months.
How the AI threatens the bosses
But Chesky offered a more optimistic outlook for the future, with the caveat that adaptation is the key to success.
Chesky explained that as artificial intelligence transforms company structures and the way employees do their jobs, bosses must adapt to the new era. He specifically mentioned personnel managers – now any boss will need to be a “hybrid personnel manager” to be successful.
This means that bosses will need to take a more technical approach and keep a connection with the end product, rather than solely focusing on leading the team. To keep their positions, they must be effectively involved in the “context” of the work.
“I don't think personnel managers will have any value in the future. When I mean personnel managers, I mean people who just manage people,” Chesky continued.
Airbnb's CEO said it's good to build relationships with staff, but now, simply supervising people isn't enough — it's all about managing employees throughout the business.
And ordinary employees who think they can avoid new technology won't have it any easier in the age of artificial intelligence, Chesky predicted.
Fortunately, he said, it's very easy to master the tools and keep up with the times, as long as professionals have a “growth mindset.”
