Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are the central disruptive technologies that will transform work and workplaces, and this disruption is already underway.
However, technologies like autonomous vehicles (AVs) and the Industrial Internet also have important roles to play.
Today’s tech majors are generally best positioned to thrive in the future of work because they span multiple disruptive technologies while benefitting from significant scale, according to GlobalData.
GlobalData’s latest Strategic Intelligence report, “The Future of Work”, reveals the major trends shaping the future of work theme, from the AI bubble debate and tariffs to fears over mass permanent job displacement.
Jordan Strzelecki, strategic intelligence analyst at GlobalData, comments: “AI remains the hottest enterprise tech trend and will play a pivotal role in the future of work. After early experimentation with generative AI, enterprises have shifted focus to agentic AI as they seek meaningful returns on AI investments.
“Agentic AI systems can act autonomously, making decisions and taking actions with limited or no human supervision. Adoption is at a tipping point, accelerating across all major sectors as enterprises move from proof of concept to commercial deployment.”
Rapid advances in AI have fueled fears of mass job losses. Technological leaps throughout history have triggered panic over permanent mass unemployment, yet have proved to be net job creators over time.
AI pessimists argue this time might be different because AI – especially agentic AI – can automate complex cognitive work typically performed by white-collar employees.
Strzelecki adds: “The impact of AI on employment is not predestined, but the assumption is that it will ultimately create more jobs than it destroys, although what these jobs will be is not yet fully understood.
“That said, AI will fundamentally transform labor markets as agentic AI scales. Winners and losers will emerge across all sectors. Some jobs will be augmented or eliminated, while new ones will be created, although this process could take decades.”
The report also sets out GlobalData’s future of work framework, which highlights the technologies disrupting work and workplaces.
The future of work will reshape both factories and offices, encouraging greater collaboration between humans and technology and empowering workers with new skills. It will entail profound economic change but also poses significant social and ethical challenges.
Each category in GlobalData’s future of work framework focuses on a specific role that technology can play. However, in reality, the future of work will involve the intersection of multiple technologies to the extent that the boundaries between these categories will become blurred.
Strzelecki concludes: “Companies will need to upskill and reskill workers for the new world of work, but this is easier said than done. Labour laws will need to be updated, ethical parameters for technologies like AI must be clarified, and regulations will be needed to ensure the equitable distribution of AI capabilities.”