According to McKinsey Global Institute estimates, automation in the ten largest economies in Europe – responsible for over 75%. GDP and employment in the region – may generate up to USD 1.9 trillion by 2030. additional economic value. This potential applies to both AI agents in tasks requiring analysis and robots in manual work.
Changes are not just about replacing people with technology. Okay. 75 percent skills sought by European employers today occur in both tasks susceptible to and not susceptible to automation. Competencies such as problem solving, writing and research will not disappear – but they will be increasingly used in conjunction with AI.
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Poland among the leaders of change. The structure of the industry is decisive
In Poland, approximately 61 percent is technically possible to automate. current working hours – this is one of the highest results in Europe. This is due to the large share of industry and logistics in the structure of the Polish economy.
At a moderate pace of implementation, automation may bring approximately USD 105 billion to the Polish economy by 2030. additional value, especially in industrial processing and in operational and production roles. However, this is only a technical potential – it does not mean mass layoffs or a sharp increase in productivity. First of all, the way work is performed will change: some tasks will be taken over by machines, some roles will be transformed, and new activities will appear.
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Boom in AI competences. Poland is one of the leaders of change
McKinsey analysts point out that not only the scope of automation is changing, but also the work model. The largest group in Poland is to be the so-called agent-centric roles (29%), in which employees will perform tasks in close cooperation with AI agents, supervising their operation, interpreting results and making decisions.
Throughout Europe, the demand for competences related to artificial intelligence has increased fivefold since 2023 and already appears in job offers covering approximately 5%. positions. Poland – next to Great Britain – is one of the countries that is fastest increasing the demand for such skills. The number of people working in roles requiring AI proficiency increased as much as 7.5 times between 2023 and 2025.
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At the same time, analysts predict that most competencies will remain resistant to automation. About 85 percent skills will continue to be used by Polish employees, although often in a changed context and with the support of AI tools. The Skill Change Index for Poland is 32.0 – this means that approx. work related to key skills could be automated by 2030.
However, these are only predictions. The reality is no longer so rosy.
Polish companies are cautiously implementing AI
According to the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, the use of artificial intelligence in Polish companies is still a niche phenomenon. According to the latest Human Capital Balance, in industries with the greatest potential for automation, only approximately 23 percent enterprises use AI tools, and 77 percent still doesn't use them. More than one third of companies currently do not see the need to implement such solutions.
Polish companies are at very different stages of adapting new technologies. The largest group are “Traditionalists” (46%) – organizations with low technological maturity. 36 percent are “Technological Newbies” who are experimenting with artificial intelligence but have not yet implemented it on a large scale. Only 12 percent are “Digital practitioners”, and only 6 percent — “Pioneers of innovation”, treating AI as a competitive advantage.
The biggest barrier is competence
Only about 25 percent Polish companies declare access to qualified IT staff capable of implementing and maintaining artificial intelligence. Even among companies already using it, almost half (47%) point to a shortage of specialists.
The main reasons for recruitment failure are candidates' lack of experience (79%), lack of appropriate education (75%) and competence mismatch (61%). Almost half of companies (48%) do not take any action to reduce these gaps. About 23 percent invests in the development of employee competences, 15 percent uses outsourcing, and 10 percent recruits new employees.
“Soft” cooperation with AI is worth its weight in gold
The greatest demand concerns competencies related to data processing and analysis – key not only for programmers or machine learning engineers, but also for AI security specialists, business analysts and software engineers. Soft skills are also becoming more and more important: the ability to learn and adapt, change management and communication using artificial intelligence, including skillful prompting.
AI develops overtime. A grassroots revolution in companies
Competencies related to artificial intelligence are often developed outside formal structures – in private experiments with generative tools, after working hours and without the support of IT or HR departments.
For employers, this is both an opportunity and a challenge. On the one hand, there is a growing group of grassroots innovators in organizations who can use new technologies. On the other hand, the lack of clear rules means risks, including: related to data security and unequal access to tools.
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The authors of the McKinsey Global Institute report emphasize that simply adding AI to existing processes rarely brings an increase in productivity. The best results come from companies that redesign workflows and how tasks are performed.
A company's readiness to use AI depends not only on IT infrastructure, but also on data quality. Expanding technological systems without structured data may reduce implementation efficiency and increase operational risk.
The Human Capital Balance study shows that the success of AI implementation is determined not only by the level of investment, but also by the organizational culture supporting innovation, experimentation and the development of new competences.
