The AI Revolution: Adapting Employment Strategies
The rapid rise of artificial intelligence is forcing workplace leaders to strike a delicate balance between prioritizing people and profit-making. According to Pedro Uria-Recio, chief data and AI officer at CIMB Group, companies have a responsibility to protect jobs as the AI boom could drive unemployment and “potentially exacerbate inequality.”
At the GITEX Asia 2025 conference, Uria-Recio emphasized that companies should not only equip employees with the right skills to handle the AI revolution but also work to create new employment opportunities. “There is a huge wave of change, and unfortunately, some people might be left behind,” he warned.
The Challenge of Adapting to Change
Tomasz Kurczyk, chief information technology officer at Prudential Singapore, shared a different perspective, suggesting that protecting employment might not be the right mindset. “The question is: ‘What can we do to make sure that we adapt employment?’ Because it’s like trying to prevent a tsunami wave. We know protection will not necessarily be effective. So it’s thinking really how we can adapt,” Kurczyk said.
The Impact of AI on Jobs and Society
The U.N. Trade and Development agency reported in April that AI could affect 40% of jobs worldwide and widen inequality between nations. As companies ramp up efforts to transform their workforces, 82% of leaders say they’re confident that they’ll use digital labor such as advanced generative AI tools to expand workforce capacity in the next 12–18 months, according to the 2025 Microsoft Trend Index.
However, experts also warn about the unintended consequences of AI, including the potential to accelerate bias. “AI is able to take data and accelerate the bias at light speed … The data is created by humans, one way or another…so the data inherits our bias as well,” Kurczyk noted.
A Path Forward
Despite concerns, experts remain optimistic about AI’s impact on society. Kurczyk believes that AI will become “free” for all, opening up incredible opportunities globally. “I believe that AI will become [free] for all, and this will open incredible opportunities for everyone across the globe,” he said.
To mitigate the risks associated with AI, educational institutions, governments, and corporations will need to work together to prevent existing inequalities from being propagated. As Uria-Recio put it, “Later… we started to [think] mobile-first. I think the mindset now has to be AI-first, but keeping humans in the loop.”
