Working Towards
the Future
AI optimism and the
future of how we work
This report has been prepared by TCS futurists and is based on a survey
of prominent futurists, execuves, and foresight professionals around the
world. Parcipants answered quantave and qualitave quesons to
inform a vision for AI and the future of how we will work across industries
and job funcons in the coming years.
The ndings demonstrate overall opmism around AI’s impact in the
workplace. Connued adopon of Generave AI and other forms of AI in the
enterprise in 2024 will lead to posive, incremental changes in work, with
tremendous transformaon of the work experience in the years to come. In
general, parcipants viewed the future of working in nearly all industries as
safer and more sasfying, empowering workers of all types to focus on what
makes them passionate and nd meaning in what they do.
[Note: Generave AI was used throughout the development of this report
to help analyze responses, idenfy trends, and dra copy, with close
supervision and collaboraon with TCS futurists.]
Overview
3
Findings for the future:
Overall optimism
Most futurists are opmisc about the changes AI will bring to the way
we work. The survey found an overall consensus that AI will signicantly
improve work experience with possible outcomes such as shorter work
weeks, uid careers, the advent of AI therapists, hybrid/remote work in
roles that were not possible before, and other novel benets.
• Opmism for the future of working: 90% of our surveyed futurists
are opmisc about the changes AI will bring with nearly half
(40%) being very opmisc.
• AI’s contribuon to worker health and wellness: 72% of
parcipants see AI making signicant, posive contribuons to
employee health and wellness.
• Autonomy and new ways of working: 70% of respondents
ancipate the potenal for jobs previously onsite to go hybrid/
remote due to AI adopon.
Ambient AI is already having an impact in the enterprise, and connued
2024 adopon will demonstrate the potenal to transform many job roles.
Survey respondents ancipate that AI will ulmately introduce new types of
entry level jobs, transform how companies upskill and reskill, and make jobs
that are tradionally physically demanding or dangerous much safer.
• Entry level job transformaon: 90% of surveyed futurists ancipate
that entry level jobs will look much dierent in the future.
• Empowered employee upskilling and reskilling: Ambient AI could
play a crucial role in facilitang rapid skill acquision, making it
easier for employees to adapt to new roles and technologies.
• Physically demanding or dangerous jobs: In the near term, an
AI connected to sensors, cameras, etc. could serve as a warning
system for early indicaons of risk to human workers.
of our surveyed futurists
are opmisc about the
changes AI will bring with
nearly half (40%) being
very opmisc.
90%
of parcipants see AI
making signicant,
posive contribuons
to employee health and
wellness.
72%
of respondents ancipate
the potenal for jobs
previously onsite to go
hybrid/remote due to AI
adopon.
70%
4
AI will provide all types of workers—from entry level to CEOs to small
business founders—with equal access to informaon and capabilies.
As we move forward, strategic and creave work will be democrazed for
organizaons of every size and employees of every skill level, ulmately
transforming the work experience to center on collaboraon with AI
assistants, and one day, AI co-workers.
• Small business impact: 75% of respondents ancipate that AI
adopon will enable small businesses to expand into new markets
and reach a broader customer base.
• AI in the daily work experience: 60% of futurists surveyed foresee
companies providing AIs to employees, while 40% ancipate a
“Bring Your Own AI” (BYOAI) model.
• AI assistant vs. co-worker: AI will level the playing eld by
providing all levels of workers from entry level to CEOs with equal
access to informaon and capabilies, leading to higher levels of
employee engagement, ideaon, and innovaon across all levels.
From an industry perspecve, futurists see markeng and
communicaons elds experiencing the earliest AI-led transformaon,
followed by healthcare and educaon, banking and nancial services,
and IT and soware development. While how soon each industry will be
transformed will be dependent on a number of factors, the industries that
will benet most will embrace the ability of AI to help workers focus on
work that is more human, creave, and strategic.
• Markeng, communicaons, and digital content: Ranked by 43% of
respondents as most likely to see the rst posive transformaon.
• Banking and nancial services: Ranked highly based on
transformaon of customer service and reliance on data-intensive
applicaons.
• Healthcare and educaon: Ranked highly based on transformaon
of customer experiences and potenal for employees to focus on
essenal care-giving acvies.
• IT and soware development: Ranked highly based on potenal for
technical employees to broaden skillsets and leadership capabilies.
Dr. Harrick Vin
CTO, TCS
Generave AI isn’t just about
producvity and scaling the
amount of work done. Instead,
it demonstrates the power of AI
to transform knowledge across
a business for every worker,
ulmately increasing the quality
of work done, irrespecve of
experience and skill level.
of respondents ancipate
that AI adopon will
enable small businesses
to expand into new
markets and reach a
broader customer base.
75%
of futurists surveyed foresee
companies providing AIs to
employees.
60%
Working Towards the Future
AI optimism and the future of how we work
Assist
Augment
Transform
Marketing/
Communications
Transformation
Entry Level
Elevation
Small/Mid
Business Digital
Upleveling
Banking and Financial
Services Transformation
Smart Reskilling/
Upskilling
Worker Wellness
Assistants
Customer Service/
Chatbots
Care Economy
Automation
AR/VR Robot
Remote Control
IT Experience
Transformation
Ambient
AI
Digital Twin
Coworkers
6
Working towards techno-optimism
• 90% of surveyed futurists are opmisc about the changes AI will
bring and nearly half of those are very opmisc.
• 72% of parcipants see AI making signicant, posive contribuons
to employee health and wellness.
• 70% of respondents ancipate the potenal for jobs previously
onsite to go hybrid/remote due to AI adopon.
The role of a futurist in the enterprise is to envision possible futures
and help companies prepare for what may come next. In today’s world,
technology trends oen lead this conversaon, and it’s no surprise that
the potenal of AI and the early impact we’re seeing with Generave
AI generates both celebraon and concern. Overall, the survey and our
analysis of the results show a tendency towards opmism about what will
happen next regarding AI and how we work.
It’s worth nong that opmism is not always the norm for futurists. Our
work oen balances techno-opmism, the belief that technology can
connually be improved and can improve the lives of people, making
the world a beer place, with techno-pessimism, the belief that new
technologies create as many, if not more, problems than they solve.
This is a queson I have asked audiences online and at events year over
year: When it comes to technology as the answer for broad societal
problems, are you posive, negave, or both? Answers tend to be posive,
which has increased over me. For example, in informal polling in 2016
about 43% of those in audiences had a posive outlook, 38% both, 15%
negave. Since then, the percentage of those with a posive outlook has
gone up by 10%.
Opmism for the future of working
In this context, a techno-opmist would believe that AI and other
technologies are the answer to improving current workplace woes: a lack of
engagement, poor work/life balance, inequality, etc. It is compelling, then,
to compare my polling with the results of this survey specically focused
on AI and work: 90% of our surveyed futurists are opmisc about the
changes AI will bring and nearly half of those are very opmisc. In this
context, futurists are signicantly more opmisc about tech’s impact on
the way we work in comparison to tech’s larger implicaons for the future.
Gray Sco
Futurist
If AI is used properly it should
enlighten humanity... It will
enable us to work much faster
and more eciently, [and]
shorten the workload and the
me it takes to complete tasks. I
see a three-day workweek in the
next 15 years if this pace of AI
development connues.
Frank Diana
Principal Futurist, TCS
David Smith
CEO, Global Futures &
Foresight
[AI will enhance the work
experience through]... less boring
work, more challenging, but
sasfying work.
7
David Espindola
Futurist, Founder, and
Principal, Brainyus
Ulmately, AI may be able to
do all the tedious, dangerous,
or physically demanding
jobs, eliminang most of the
undesirable work so that humans
can focus on doing work that is
rewarding and pleasurable.
Robert Caldera
Managing Principal
(Owner), Future | Shift
...every employee will essenally
have a therapist at their ngerps
to help get through dicult mes
at work.
Anthony
Scrignano
PhD, Distinguished Fellow,
The Stimson Center
My hope is that we do not use
AI to work less, but to focus on
problems that do not get the
right aenon due to resource
constraints.
This opmism seems to largely come from a belief in the ability of AI to
transform work for a world where workers work on what makes them
happy, interested, and passionate. The consensus is that work will certainly
transform, some jobs will be created, and some jobs will go away. There
are areas of concern, but a historical perspecve suggests that these will
be overcome. Periods of great invenon go in two direcons: construcve
and destrucve. It is incumbent upon society to migate risk while
enabling those innovaons that advance human development, to allow for
opportunity while liming the disruptors.
Examining the most posive ways that work will transform for humans
going forward, parcipang futurists highlighted a few key areas, including
AI as an enhancer for workers’ physical and mental health.
AI’s contribuon to worker health and wellness
Approximately 72% of parcipants see AI making signicant posive
contribuons to employee health and wellness. As parcipants pointed
out, enterprise apps already exist to help employees self-monitor and
manage stress and mindset. As these apps grow in funconality and
popularity, they will be increasingly adopted by businesses as a form of
employee benet. An AI assistant dedicated to work wellness will oer
guidance on health maintenance, hydraon, and breaks during work
hours, for instance. Looking further to the future, an AI assistant could
monitor the tone of your voice during a conference call, idenfy stress, and
recommend a 15-minute walk aerward.
Autonomy and new ways of working
Beyond these novel benets, when it comes to AI, there is a clear
expectaon that we will start working in dierent ways, for dierent reasons.
Nearly 90% of respondents express opmism about employees achieving
greater autonomy and exibility in how they work through AI benets.
Of course, the world has already experienced a transformaon via
hybrid and remote work in the post-pandemic world. However, 70% of
respondents see this trend connuing as AI enables jobs that could only
be done onsite previously to be hybrid/remote in the future. This will
dovetail with ongoing AI advancements to further shi managerial focus to
performance-over-me indicators for certain types of businesses.
8
These ndings seem to support the possibility of a four-day work week, a
conversaon that has been gaining mainstream aenon in recent years.
However, on this topic the experts are divided. While, as shown above,
most futurists ancipate that AI could reduce work me, many disagreed
about the likelihood of companies ocially instung it. As with the
original creaon of the ve-day work week, it may take substanal societal
and governmental pressure for this to happen.
There are a number of reasons to feel opmisc about where technology
is taking us, especially as it relates to AI and work. In the rst decades of
the 1900s we experienced a similar transformaon as new technologies
like steam power, and work philosophies like assembly lines challenged
the status quo, resulng in greater producvity but also new workers’
rights and higher quality of life for many. Based on the consensus of the
prominent futurists featured in this report, AI will have a similar disrupve
but net posive impact.
Puruesh Chaudhary
Founding CEO, Foresight Lab
Mundane/repeve/analycal
tasks would be made redundant
at an organizaonal level... hence
[the] workforce would be required
to perform higher order tasks,
which includes creavity and
the capacity to imagine to beer
strategize and plan. The concept
of 9–5 will change; work from
anywhere would be an
acceptable norm.
Sharad Agarwal
Chief Metaverse Officer,
Cyber Gear
We will all get more quality me
to spend with family... and focus
on things that make people happy.
Gray Sco
Futurist
The amalgamaon of vast
amounts of informaon will
change how we use AI in the
future. What was impossible only
ve years ago is now possible. As
quantum AI takes hold, we may
no longer need to worry about
searching the web anymore. Just
as libraries became an old way of
researching informaon, so too
will search engines in the future.
9
Ambient AI in the enterprise
• 90% of surveyed futurists ancipate that entry level jobs will look
much dierent in the future.
• Ambient AI could play a crucial role in facilitang rapid skill
acquision, making it easier for employees to adapt to new roles
and technologies.
• In the near term, an AI connected to sensors, cameras, etc. could
serve as a warning system for early indicaons of danger or to help
workers escape danger.
The integraon of AI in the workplace is undergoing a transformave shi
towards “Ambient AI.” In the context of work, this concept revolves around
the idea of AI being an omnipresent, seamlessly integrated capability in
daily work acvies.
Ambient AI is already making its way into our workplaces via typical tools
like email, calendars, and chat soware. Ambient AI, by its very nature, is
unobtrusive yet omnipresent, learning and evolving in the background.
Its potenal to transform the workplace spans various dimensions—from
redening the nature of entry level jobs, to enhancing the producvity
of exisng roles, to creang safer work environments for hazardous jobs.
The queson then arises, how will workers experience the benets of this
evoluon and how will it aect their roles across entry level jobs, reskilling,
and physically demanding or dangerous jobs?
Entry level job transformaon
All futurists surveyed ancipate that AI will result in signicant changes
to entry level jobs. 90% view entry level jobs looking much dierent in
the future. This change, however, is not necessarily about job eliminaon
but about transformaon towards more sophiscated, ecient, and
intellectually engaging roles. The entry level employee’s Ambient AI will
monitor their output for quality and errors to help them produce work at a
higher level than today’s workers, shortening the learning curve and more
rapidly improving skills to advance their careers. In eect, a new employee’s
AI will serve as a “force mulplier” to overcome their lack of experience.
Bill Quinn
Futurist, TCS
Joe Carson
CEO, Spend Strategies
Soon subject maer experts may
be able to ‘program in’ entry level
job process steps and pracces.
AI will be able to leverage past
acvies and their outcomes so
as to capture lessons that turned
out well and mistakes to avoid for
next me.
Deepak Seth
Adviser, AI-led
Transformation
We will become increasingly
dependent on [AI]... like how
people don’t know how to read
a paper map, it will become
so ubiquitous that we will take
it for table stakes... like how
life was without piped water
or automobiles or planes or
electricity. We take them for
granted. So will it be for AI.
10
However, one respondent envisioned the advantage AI will give entry level
workers as possibly creang conict with middle managers who didn’t
have the benet of an AI at their side during the early stages of their
careers. Middle managers may feel resenul as younger workers quickly
rise through the ranks and overtake them on the organizaonal ladder.
This possibility highlights the need for ongoing upskilling and reskilling,
leveraging AI so that all employees see the benet.
Empowered employee upskilling and reskilling
In his book Future Shock, the futurist Alvin Toer famously wrote, “The
illiterate of the twenty-rst century will not be those who cannot read and
write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” This quote has
never been more relevant than where we nd ourselves today at the dawn
of a new era in AI.
As the nature of work evolves, so too must the skills of the workforce.
Ambient AI could play a crucial role in facilitang rapid skills acquision,
making it easier for employees to adapt to new roles and technologies.
This aspect of AI could be parcularly transformave in industries where
the pace of change is rapid, or in industries where AI enables automaon
where manual labor was previously required.
One of the futurists surveyed envisions a world where companies will create
custom Generave AI soluons using data sets and text specic to their
business and the roles and responsibilies of their employees. This will
enable employees to ask quesons on complex topics related to their jobs
and learn very quickly. For example, if their job requires them to learn a new
system or an in-house methodology, they will be able to submit queries on
the topic that generate the specic informaon they need, when they need
it, in a very understandable form. Ambient upskilling technology will be built
into everyday tasks, instead of requiring dedicated training me.
Physically demanding or dangerous jobs
Regarding physically demanding or hazardous jobs, the role of AI is seen as
one of augmentaon and safety enhancement. While AI might not replace
these jobs enrely, it can be used to make them safer and more ecient.
For example, AI systems could monitor work environments for potenal
hazards, provide real-me safety guidance, and even automate some of the
more dangerous tasks, thereby reducing the risk to human workers.
David Smith
CEO, Global Futures &
Foresight
Low quality repeve tasks will
disappear… [work] shis from
lower quality to more senior
roles, plus all the jobs to teach
and integrate AI into workow.
Gayemarie Brown
Managing Director and
Founder, Wintam Place
Consulting
AI will replace most entry level
jobs. We will need to completely
overhaul our educaon systems
and work place assumpons
so that we begin internships at
a much younger age and think
about how we accelerate learning.
I think the current generaon
of college students should be
encouraged and supported to be
advanced thinkers, risk takers, and
leverage as much AI capability into
their roles.
Gray Sco
Futurist
AI will run in the background,
learn new skills, and update the
user knowledge base in real-me.
11
Every futurist in our survey envisions that eventually, most demanding
and dangerous jobs will be done by AI-powered robots. However, that
scenario is likely years away because those tasks require complex problem-
solving and roboc dexterity. In the near term, an AI connected to sensors,
cameras, etc. could serve as a warning system for early indicaons of
danger or to help workers escape danger. Imagine a scenario where a
reghter becomes lost in the smoke of a building re. An AI-enabled
heads-up display in their mask could display a digital twin of the building
to help guide them to safety.
Ambient AI represents a signicant paradigm shi in the workplace. Its
potenal extends beyond mere automaon, oering opportunies for
enhanced eciency, safety, and job sasfacon. As we move towards an
AI-enhanced future, the challenge for organizaons will be to harness this
technology in a way that not only improves operaonal eciency and
producvity, but also empowers employees, fostering an environment of
connuous learning, creavity, and innovaon. The integraon of Ambient
AI into the workplace is not just a technological revoluon but a catalyst for
a broader evoluon in how work is understood, organized, and valued.
Suhas Uliyar
SVP Product Management,
Oracle
AI-driven systems can enable
remote control or operaon
of machinery in dangerous
environments, reducing the
need for direct human presence
in hazardous locaons. AR and
wearable AI devices can guide
workers through complex tasks,
providing real-me data and
instrucons, enhancing safety in
dangerous situaons.
Jamais Cascio
Futurist
...ideally AI could, when
connected to sensors/
cameras, serve as a warning
system for early indicaons of
danger or if condions aren’t
as safe/ready as they appear.
Think of it as a ‘Spider-Sense’
for workplace hazards.
Puruesh Chaudhary
Founding CEO, Foresight Lab
[AI will assist upskilling for
workers to] improve their
capability by providing them
assisted learning opportunies
to gain professional advantage.
12
Your AI co-worker
• 75% of respondents ancipate that AI adopon will enable small
businesses to expand into new markets and reach a broader
customer base.
• 60% of futurists surveyed foresee companies providing AIs to
employees, while 40% ancipate a “Bring Your Own AI” model.
• AI will level the playing eld by providing all levels of workers
from entry level to CEOs with equal access to informaon and
capabilies, leading to higher levels of employee engagement,
ideaon, and innovaon across all levels.
Today, we live in a me where AI has emerged as a transformave force
reshaping our workplaces. Our recent survey ndings from futurists and
business leaders reveal an expectaon that AI will rapidly transion from a
novelty tool to an autonomous collaborator akin to a co-worker.
Small business impact
The integraon of AI into the workplace is moving quickly from a vision to
a current reality. AI, capable of understanding context and execung a wide
range of tasks, is already shaping our workplaces, and will soon be capable
of supporng autonomous operaons through GPTs and third-party
soware plaorms.
This evoluon is ancipated to level the playing eld in business by
democrazing business operaons, enabling even small- and medium-
sized teams and organizaons to operate with the eciency and creavity
previously reserved exclusively for larger organizaons with more
resources. In fact, 75% of respondents ancipate that AI adopon will
enable small businesses to expand into new markets and reach a broader
customer base.
AI in the daily work experience
I am a frontline witness to this workplace transformaon. I use generave
AI daily in my work as a futurist at TCS. I use it to scan the globe for
emerging trends, developments, risks, innovaons, and emerging
technologies. I look for new use cases and development melines, and
then research each of their interdependencies and how they will converge
Kevin Benedict
Futurist, TCS
Robert Caldera
Managing Principal
(Owner), Future | Shift
Every employee will be supported
by an AI assistant, making it like
you’ve doubled or even tripled
your workforce without adding
any extra headcount.
David Espindola
Futurist, Founder, and
Principal, Brainyus
AI will provide leverage to small
businesses, eliminang barriers
that would otherwise prevent
them from compeng with larger
companies. The enre denion
of a small business may change,
as eecve companies with
very few employees will be able
to have just as much impact or
generate as much revenue as
companies that today require a
large number of employees.
13
with other developments and trends likely to shape our future. I ask AI
to format content, to organize lists, to make judgments, and to priorize
based upon my needs. I ask AI to nd historic paerns that might inform
future impacts. Aer bringing this research together, AI helps create
illustraons, photos, charts, and designs that help with my presentaons.
It is truly my AI assistant.
In addion to the ulity menoned above, when it comes to ideaon
and brainstorming, our emergent human-AI collaboraon is eecve at
generang sparks of creavity and imaginaon. Today, I am thinking new
thoughts because of this collaboraon. I am discovering new paerns and
trends. I am pursuing new ideas. This human-AI collaboraon enables me
to discover new paths to be explored and provides me with the resources
to follow it.
As discussed already, futurists overwhelmingly believe that AI assistants
will be adopted by both companies and individual workers. Yet there was
no consensus on exactly how it might be organized. Will individual workers
select and customize their assistants in a “Bring Your Own AI” (BYOAI)
model? Or will companies be primarily responsible for training and
maintaining each AI? In our survey results, 60% of futurists ancipate
the companies would take responsibility, while 40% ancipate the
BYOAI model.
It is reported that OpenAI is already working on agent soware, a form of
AI assistant. I ancipate we will see both evolve—personal digital agents
that we individually control and use in our personal lives, and employer
supplied digital assistants that provide secure access to restricted company
data, plaorms, and applicaons, while also protecng condenal
company data and compeve secrets.
AI assistant vs. co-worker
Today, human-AI collaboraon seems to be more about humans direcng
AI to complete dened tasks. As we humans connue to learn and adapt,
we will be able to capture more value and ulity from these AI assistants.
However, it will not be long before AI itself will advance from a passive tool
to an acve co-worker that knows us, knows our rounes, and knows
our jobs. Soon these AI assistants will be transformed into autonomous
co-workers fully engaged and working alongside us.
Dr. Paul J. Bailo
CEO, PIP Consulting Group
AI will be like a laptop or mobile
phone... equal if not greater than
the impact of the mobile phone.
[AI will] eliminate the simple,
entry level jobs… AI will be your
co-worker, only no heartbeat.
David Espindola
Futurist, Founder, and
Principal, Brainyus
AI assistants will be available on
demand to help the employee
gain new knowledge, prepare for
a meeng or presentaon, and
consider possible alternaves to
address a parcular problem.
Jamais Cascio
Futurist
As many/most entry level jobs
require rote repeon as a
primary task, AI-based systems
could likely take over most of
these jobs. However, as long as
people prefer to interact with
a human, some/many of those
jobs will sll be done by people,
at least unl society grows
more comfortable with casual
interacon with AI.
14
As AI assistants evolve to true autonomous co-workers, we will see further
transformaon of the work experience as well as organizaonal structures.
The consensus from the survey is that full-edged AI will democraze the
workplace, leveling the playing eld by providing all levels of workers from
entry level to CEOs with equal access to public informaon and capabilies,
leading to higher levels of employee engagement, ideaon, and innovaon
across all levels.
If this happens, there is an implicaon that tradional hierarchical
structures may need to change to accommodate the enhanced autonomy
that AI could introduce. This could lead to a less command-and-control-
oriented work environments, and more collaboraon.
Jamais Cascio
Futurist
[AI assistants will most benet]
mid-level execuves across
industries that could use a
personal assistant but don’t yet
have the professional weight or
posion to qualify for a human
assistant. Any profession or job
that requires detailed informaon
about a parcular client or
issue, especially when the job
repeatedly interacts with the
subject [will benet from AI.]
Think here of a therapist. The
AI assistant serves as adjunct
memory, holding together
and making available all of the
relevant informaon about the
client/subject. The AI does not
interact with the client or subject,
but may observe and record.
Liseloe Lyngsø
Futurist, Founder, and CEO,
Future Navigator
[AI will make possible] beer
hybrid working with AI capture,
new at group formaon with
AI thought reading improving
teamwork and innovaon,
decentralized access to informaon
via personal AI. You will always
have a coach/co-worker in your
pocket. Either a replica of your boss
or someone else that can li and
help you.
15
AI across industries
• Futurists were most likely (43%) to select that markeng and
communicaons elds will see the earliest AI-led transformaon,
followed by healthcare and educaon, banking and nancial
services, and IT and soware development.
• AI will enable markeng and communicaons professionals to
focus more on creavity and strategy, factors which likely aracted
individuals to such roles in the rst place.
• Given the crical labor shortages in healthcare and educaon, it’s
likely AI will help ll the gaps so that the caring workforce can do
what they do best: unleash human potenal through helping others.
As a topic, AI is loaded with both ancipaon and controversy. The
exponenal interest Generave AI created turned quickly into enterprise
adopon. The queson is, what’s next? What will the impact of new forms
and widespread adopon of Generave AI be, and which industries will see
transformaon rst?
The tradional argument for AI adopon is all about producvity gains.
Throughout the past, technology-based producvity has promised speed
and eciency. But what if the impact this me is more human-centric?
Throughout this report, surveyed futurists and TCS experts have highlighted
an evoluon that benets the worker, making work more ecient, safer, and
fullling. This will not happen all at once, however. Industries that are data-
rich and tech-savvy will see the earliest posive outcomes.
When asked to rank industries by how soon their workforce will be
posively transformed by AI, 43% of futurists answered that markeng
and communicaons elds will see the earliest transformaon, followed
by healthcare and educaon, banking and nancial services, and it and
soware development. AI will transform each of these industries in
unique but connected ways.
Markeng, communicaons, and digital content
Experts highlighted broad markeng and communicaons funcons as the
rst areas to see posive transformaon of the work experience, based
on AI’s ability to automate content creaon, improve personalizaon, and
verify informaon.
Alexandra
Whington
Futurist, TCS
Graham Norris
Founder, Foresight Psychology
Finance, healthcare, and
educaon stand out for me, but
certain elements of all industries
can expect sudden transformave
developments... There’s a ne
line between being supported
by automaon and overtaken
by it, and those who are able to
quickly redene their roles will
benet the most. Healthcare
professionals, for example, should
be able to dene territory that is
best handled by AI and that which
requires a human role.
Suhas Uliyar
SVP Product Management,
Oracle
[AI will] make [small businesses]
more compeve with the big
business with being able to
automate without requiring
human capital.
16
While the automaon of administrave work is relevant for all professions,
survey responses highlighted the creave nature of markeng and
communicaons roles and suggested that AI will enable them to focus
more on creavity and strategy, factors which likely aracted individuals to
such roles inially. A marketer, for instance, can move from brainstorming a
creave approach to a campaign to rapidly deploying it, measuring impact,
and opmizing on the y.
However, AI-generated content is also capable of contaminang public
discourse with false claims and imagery. Therefore, one of the most crical
roles AI can play is in the vericaon of informaon, an essenal funcon
in an era marked by misinformaon. Here, AI will augment the media’s role
as a guardian of truth, helping journalists validate facts against trusted data
sources to maintain the integrity of research and media.
In broader media and entertainment, copyright and intellectual property
issues pose obstacles to generave AI. These issues will need to be solved
for to scale the value of AI in the publishing world, but there is potenal to
move into a new era at light speed.
Banking and nancial services
Banking and nancial services stand out as an industry on the cusp of
creave transformaon from AI. In parcular, our experts see improvements
led by AI bringing about more posive customer experiences.
In the realm of customer service, AI will empower consumers with self-
service opons, simultaneously freeing customer service representaves to
engage in more meaningful interacons. These changes will likely redene
customer relaonships, with AI serving as the rst point of contact, guiding
consumers to human agents when a deeper connecon is needed.
Beyond customer service, nancial businesses that rely on decision-making
and analycs based on real-me data processing and predicve capabilies
will see AI contribute to faster operaons and foresight capabilies.
Healthcare and educaon
Healthcare and educaon ranked highly for industry transformaon, and
it is notable that these specic industries cater to basic human needs.
They also fall into the category of the Care Economy, which is a fast-
growing segment of job growth. The Care Economy serves diverse human
ecosystems across a range of life experiences, so it has a huge reach.
Deepak Seth
Adviser, AI-led Transformation
Industries with a high work
component of leveraging
informaon [internal or external]
for customer/client interacons
will be most transformed by AI
in 2024.
Robert Caldera
Managing Principal
(Owner), Future | Shift
As rapid as AI is advancing
and embedding itself within
companies, true transformaon
will sll take a while and 2024 is
very early in that journey. That
said, in terms of where signs
of transformaon will begin
to be seen [in 2024], I see the
healthcare, pharmaceucal/life
sciences, and banking/nance
industries as those which will
make the biggest news in terms
of AI adopon and use.
Anthony Scrignano
PhD, Distinguished Fellow,
The Stimson Center
Educaon, health care,
manufacturing, insurance, digital
markeng, and many government
applicaons, especially defense
related [will be most transformed
by AI in 2024.]
17
Given the crical labor shortages in healthcare and educaon, it’s likely
AI will help ll the gaps so that the caring workforce can do what they do
best: unleash human potenal through helping others. Healthcare stands
on the threshold of similar developments, with AI poised to enhance
paent care by dislling vast datasets into aconable insights and helping
reduce administrave load.
This shi promises more than just operaonal eciency; it invites a move
towards a healthcare system where personalized care is enhanced, and
clinicians have the bandwidth to focus on the humans. This could be a
crucial dierenator for healthcare businesses, with potenal to simplify
digital transformaons that focus on customer experiences.
IT and soware development
AI has already impacted IT via AIOps, which leads to more automated data
centers, quicker resoluon of issues, and beer experiences for the user
and IT worker. When considering the implementaon of Generave AI and
other AI/ML applicaons, AI will ulmately drive technology professionals
to speak the language of business, and vice versa.
Workers that were previously only skilled in technical maers will feel
a greater need to develop a baseline understanding of other business
funcons, from HR to legal, in order to be eecve in the future. In short,
experts see AI being adopted by employees throughout an organizaon to
democraze access to technology, with the need for human oversight and
strategic implementaon remaining.
These “mechanics of the future” will specialize in the ability to see and
understand how the underlying technology is supporng the enrety of
the business—how dierent plaorms and systems stch together.
Ulmately, AI will have the greatest impact in industries in which it enables
humans to accomplish things they couldn’t do previously, removing
barriers of scale and complexity. Industries that embrace this potenal
and focus on enhancing human talent will see their workers ourish with
personal fulllment and job sasfacon.
David Espindola
Futurist, Founder, and
Principal, Brainyus
Educaon will connue to be
transformed as we focus on
helping students develop the
ability to work in collaboraon
with AI and other humans.
Suhas Uliyar
SVP Product Management,
Oracle
Clinicians, doctors, nurses, care
teams [will see the most value
from personal AI assistants within
the next ve years.]
Ashok Krish
Global Head, AI.Cloud
Advisory & Consulting, TCS
Technology careers in the future
will focus on cross-discipline
knowledge and integraon—
professionals will need to look
across a set of technologies
holiscally and understand how
to stch it all together—like a
mechanic who is not an expert
at one individual funcon of a
car but knows how everything
ts together to make it work and
perform opmally.
18
Methodology
TCS futurists are responsible for engaging with C-suite execuves, especially
Chief Innovaon Ocers, and business unit leads to help them understand
and prepare for future risks and opportunies. With Generave AI as the
major technology trend over the past year, TCS is helping customers navigate
the potenal and challenges of AI transformaon in the workplace.
The Working Towards the Future Report is based on a survey of prominent
futurists, including those below and others who elected to remain
anonymous:
• Anthony Scrignano, PhD, Disnguished Fellow, The Smson
Center
• David Espindola, Futurist, Founder, and Principal, Brainyus
• David Smith, CEO, Global Futures & Foresight
• Deepak Seth, Adviser, AI-led Transformaon
• Dr. Paul J. Bailo, CEO, PIP Consulng Group
• Gayemarie Brown, Managing Director and Founder, Wintam
Place Consulng
• Graham Norris, Founder, Foresight Psychology
• Gray Sco, Futurist
• Jamais Cascio, Futurist
• Joe Carson, CEO, Spend Strategies
• Liseloe Lyngsø, Futurist, Founder, and CEO, Future Navigator
• Puruesh Chaudhary, Founding CEO, Foresight Lab
• Robert Caldera, Managing Principal (Owner), Future|Shi
Consulng LLC
• Sharad Agarwal, Chief Metaverse Ocer, Cyber Gear
• Suhas Uliyar, SVP Product Management, Oracle
Graham Norris
Founder, Foresight
Psychology
I see great potenal for those
entering the job market to benet
from AI by learning how AI itself
can benet companies. They
will likely be able to move more
nimbly and accept new realies
more quickly than those who
have become accustomed to
established modes of working.
In the medium term, I think
role denions will change
substanally as AI becomes
another set of tools people
need to employ.
Gayemarie Brown
Managing Director and
Founder, Wintam Place
Consulting
AI will improve [physically
demanding or dangerous] jobs...
when they are integrated with
other technologies like sensors,
IoT, cloud and/or smart fabrics,
smart devices; for example, vitals
monitoring in toxic environments.
About Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulng, and business soluons
organizaon that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses
in their transformaon journeys for more than 55 years. Its consulng-led, cognive
powered, porolio of business, technology, and engineering services and soluons is
delivered through its unique Locaon Independent Agile™ delivery model, recognized
as a benchmark of excellence in soware development.
A part of the Tata group, India’s largest mulnaonal business group, TCS has more
than 608,000 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 55 countries. The company
generated consolidated revenues of US $27.9 billion in the scal year ended March 31,
2023, and is listed on the BSE and the NSE in India. TCS’ proacve stance on climate
change and award-winning work with communies across the world have earned it a
place in leading sustainability indices such as the MSCI Global Sustainability Index and
the FTSE4Good Emerging Index. For more informaon, visit www.tcs.com.
More information on Working Towards the Future: