AI and humans will work together in the future
There are two sides to the coin when it comes to AI and jobs. For Asana, however, AI technology will enhance workers and be a collaborator.
While some see AI technology as a threat to jobs, others see it as an opportunity.
The debate about how AI will affect people's jobs comes amid many vendors laying off workers and citing AI as a reason. For instance, Duolingo, a language learning company, laid off about 10% of its contract workforce in 2024. It also announced a shift to an "AI-first" approach last month. Cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike also recently said it will cut about 5% of its workforce and noted how AI reshapes industries.
These examples show that the effect of AI technology on the workforce is apparent. However, many say humans do not have to see AI technology as their impending replacement. Instead, it can be a collaborator.
"Reimagine a workforce of the future, which is a combination of humans and AI agents," said Saket Srivastava, CIO at work management platform vendor Asana, on the latest episode of Informa TechTarget's Targeting AI podcast. "Perhaps every human like you and me could have their own AI assistant, co-worker or teammate."
As a work management technology vendor, Asana has long applied machine learning and natural language processing to its Work Graph platform. Work Graph is made for collaborative, cross-functional work.
With the enthusiasm for GenAI, Asana has introduced an AI studio, a no-code platform where teams can build workflows with AI agents for more productivity.
Srivastava said that while AI technology could be a future collaborator for workers, many organizations need to prepare their workforce now.
"The biggest challenge or an opportunity that any organization has is how to ready up your workforce to consume and participate in this generative AI world," he said. "Jobs will change. It doesn't mean all jobs will change, but many will change over time. How do you provide that support to your workforce and show them a path on how their skills are still utilized, and we do more with and way beyond what we were able to do?"
Srivastava added that organizations also need to know which use cases require AI technology and which do not.
Esther Shittu is an Informa TechTarget news writer and podcast host covering AI software and systems. Shaun Sutner is senior news director for Informa TechTarget's information management team, driving coverage of AI, analytics and data management technologies, and big tech and federal regulation. Together, they host the Targeting AI podcast series.
