For the already anxious, this year has provided plenty more fodder for AI-related unease. A wave of AI-connected layoffs continues to impact the tech sector. Companies have been quietly reworking performance criteria to include usage of the technology, with some warning that AI refuseniks’ days are numbered. And Meta’s CEO is reportedly helping to train an animated, AI-powered version of himself that could converse with employees in his absence.
Mark Zuckerberg previously told investors in January that he expects 2026 to be the year that AI “dramatically changes the way we work”, typifying the bullishness that characterises tech execs’ pronouncements on the technology. But the evidence suggests that this assuredness is somewhat lacking in the average boardroom, as executives continue to grapple with how to realise tangible value from AI.
“The assumption is we’re on this path where great quantifiable benefits will materialise but haven't yet,” says Andrew Palmer, The Economist’s Bartleby columnist and host of the Boss Class podcast, who adds that the current experimentation phase is essential to reach the endpoint of “either nirvana or disaster depending on your point of view”.
This week, Palmer joins Leadership Lessons to talk about some of the burning questions surrounding the technology, such as whether AI is set to hollow out middle management, how you can AI-proof your career, and who wrote his column better: him or a chatbot?
Credits:
Presenter: Antonia Garrett Peel
Producer: Inga Marsden
Artwork: Jenny Hardy