IBM Institute for Business Value | Research Insights

Augmented work
for an automated,
AI-driven world
Boost performance with
human-machine partnerships
How IBM
can help

IBM partners with clients to address their unique

talent goals and challenges, dig deep to
understand their workforce realities, and create
strategies that unlock new levels of performance
inside their business. Together, we help deliver
business value and reimagine Human Resources
with AI at the core. For more information, please
visit ibm.com/consulting/talent-management

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 Key
takeaways

AI is ushering in the age of The AI revolution has reached

the augmented workforce— an inflection point.
Executives estimate that 40% of their workforce
when human-machine will need to reskill as a result of implementing AI
partnerships amplify and automation over the next three years.

productivity and deliver Structuring work strategically

exponential business value. is the secret to success.
Organizations focused on evolving their operating
model are already outperforming on revenue
growth.

Employees are motivated

by meaningful work.
Employees prioritize impactful work over
autonomy, equity, flexible work arrangements,
and growth opportunities.

1
 AI won’t replace people—but
people who use AI will replace
people who don’t.
As artificial intelligence (AI) ups its IQ, executives are grappling with
the implications for the enterprise. Rapid advancements in AI promise
to upend traditional business models—and transform the work
employees do every day.

In response, some business leaders are rushing to reorganize, elevating new skills
and specialties while deprioritizing those that have become obsolete. Others are
focused on hiring, trying to stock up on next-gen talent to close the skills gap. These
are appropriate short-term tactics, but they don’t address the bigger issue on the
horizon: many of the tasks people are doing today won’t be needed in the enterprise
of tomorrow.

AI and automation are creating a new division of labor between humans and machines.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) predicts this evolution will disrupt 85 million jobs
globally between 2020 and 2025—and create 97 million new job roles.1 This radical
shift is ushering in a new age. We call it the age of the augmented workforce—an era
when human-machine partnerships boost productivity and deliver exponential
business value.

Yet, this evolution is also widening the global skills gap. The WEF predicts that 44%
of workers’ skills will be disrupted between 2023 and 2028—up nine percentage
points from its last five-year projection.2

Generative AI could push that figure even higher. A recent IBM Institute for Business
Value (IBM IBV) survey found that 4 in 5 executives say generative AI will change
employee roles and skills.3 But only 28% of CEOs in our 2023 CEO Study have
assessed the potential impact of generative AI on their current workforce.4

2
While workers at all levels will feel the effects of As AI continues to evolve, its effects will likely
generative AI, lower-level employees are expected intensify across the board, including at the managerial
to see the biggest shift. More than three in four and executive ranks (see Figure 1). No level is immune
executives say entry-level positions are already being to the impact. This will force executives to rethink job
impacted, while only 22% say the same for executive roles, skill sets, and how work gets done.
or senior management roles.

FIGURE 1

A shifting foundation

Executives expect generative AI to have the

greatest impact on next-gen employees.

Impact by 2025

Extreme impact Significant impact Moderate impact

6%
Executive/senior 9%
management 12 %

3%
Mid-level 18 %
management 29 %

4%
First-level 13 %
management 42 %

6%
21 %
Experienced 48 %

18 %
29 %
Entry level 30 %

Q. At which organizational level will job roles be most impacted by generative AI in 2025?

3
What does that look like, and where should leaders While small changes may increase efficiency,
start? To answer these questions, this report draws automating bad processes won’t make them better.
on two extensive new studies—one with 3,000 global Instead of retrofitting automation to fit existing
C-suite leaders across 28 countries, another with workflows, executives must strip operating models
21,000 workers across 22 countries (see “Study down to the studs to deliver real productivity gains.
methodology” on page 26).
Based on our research and experience in the field,
We found that success is often driven by a shift in we’ve outlined a roadmap that helps executives lead the
perspective. In the era of the augmented workforce, augmented workforce through a time of change. We’ve
executives from top-performing organizations are identified three key priorities that can help them elevate
evolving the operating model to reflect new ways of employees and gain a competitive edge:
working (see Figure 3).
– Transform traditional processes, job roles, and
Organizations that have revamped their operating organizational structures to boost productivity and
model have outperformed their peers by putting new enable new business and operating models.
technologies at the core. Rather than simply bolting – Build human-machine partnerships that enhance
innovations onto an outdated model, they’re breaking value creation and employee engagement.
the business down to its most essential elements. But
– Invest in technology that lets people focus on higher
many have yet to do the hard work. They’re choosing
value tasks and drives revenue growth.
to automate the same activities they’ve always done,
rather than going back to the drawing board to find a
better way forward.

Automating bad processes won’t make them better.

Break the business down to its essential elements to
drive efficiency and deliver real productivity gains.

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5
Perspective

People skills
are essential in
the AI era
What’s the most pressing talent issue facing organizations today?
Building new skills for their people.

Executives in our survey estimate that 40% of their workforce will need to
reskill due to implementing AI and automation over the next three years. That
translates to 1.4 billion of the 3.4 billion people in the global workforce,
according to World Bank statistics.5

What sort of reskilling? On average, 87% of executives expect job roles to be

augmented, rather than replaced, by generative AI. That figure is closer to
three-quarters in marketing (73%) and customer service (77%)—and more than
90% in procurement (97%), risk and compliance (93%), and finance (93%).6

Intriguingly, STEM skills are plummeting in importance, dropping from the top
spot in 2016 to 12th place in 2023.7 As the need for technical acumen has
increased more broadly, many leaders may now see these skills as table stakes.
Looking to the future, executives are more focused on developing people skills,
with time management and prioritization, collaboration, and communications
topping the list (see Figure 2).

As technology becomes more user-friendly, employees are also able to do more

with less advanced technical skills. No-code software development platforms,
for instance, let people without a programming background create business-
critical prototypes and apps. Plus, as machines take over mundane tasks,
people can spend more time on the problem-solving and collaborative work
that require stronger people skills.

This pivot away from STEM skills highlights the volatility of the talent landscape.
It’s likely that the skills people need will continue to change, which is why
organizations must build a flexible structure that allows for evolution.

6
However, many organizations are struggling to identify Those that get it right have a lot to gain. Tech adopters
which skills already exist within their teams. Capturing that succeed at reskilling to accommodate technology-
and maintaining skills across the organization is only driven job changes report a revenue growth rate premium
the first step. To decide where to build talent—and of 15% on average compared to other tech adopters,
make internal mobility a feasible alternative to hiring— according to IBM IBV research. And the value added is
leaders need reliable workforce data. even greater for those that emphasize AI: they see a 36%
higher rate of revenue growth than their peers.8

FIGURE 2

A new skills paradigm

STEM skills drop in importance

as people skills rise to the top.

2016 2018 2023 Most critical skills required of the workforce

42%    42% Time management skills and ability to prioritize

40%    40% Ability to work effectively in team environments

38%    38% Ability to communicate effectively

38%    38% Willingness to be flexible, agile, adaptable to change

35%    35% Analytics skills with business acumen

33%    33% Ethics and integrity

33%    33% Industry/occupation specific skills

32%    32% Proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics

32%    32% Foreign language

31%    31% Capacity for innovation and creativity

31%    31% Basic computer and software application skills

28%    28% Proficiency in STEM

Q. What do you believe are the most critical skills required of the workforce today?

Sources: 2016 IBM Institute for Business Value Global Skills Survey; 2018 IBM Institute for Business Value
Global Country Survey; 2023 IBM Institute for Business Value Talent and Skills Global Survey

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 Becoming the enterprise
of tomorrow

You can’t run the enterprise of tomorrow with yesterday’s talent.

In the same vein, you can’t plug tomorrow’s talent into yesterday’s
operating model.

In the era of the augmented workforce, generative AI promises to open the door to
new opportunities—if leaders are willing to question the assumptions their business
models are built upon. In fact, recent IBM IBV research found that 83% of executives
say generative AI will reinvent the way their organization works.9

This may be why organizations redesigning their operating model have performed
better than their peers. Over the past three years, organizations that view the operating
model as the ultimate driver of enterprise transformation have outperformed in
profitability, revenue growth, innovation, and employee retention (see Figure 3).
Overall, this group outperforms their competition 44% more frequently than the group
focused on skills, which performs the worst. In fact, organizations that view skills as
the key enabler of enterprise transformation tend to underperform in multiple areas.

What drives this competitive advantage? Leaders are able to adapt their operating
model to support augmented work by:

– adopting product-focused ways of working,

– tapping data-driven insights, and

– enabling ecosystem collaboration.

Transforming the operating model can foster

business growth, innovation—and an empowered
workforce.

8
FIGURE 3

Transforming the world of work

Organizations that prioritize their operating

model as an enabler of transformation
outperform their skills-centric peers in
multiple dimensions.

55% higher

Profitability/efficiency performance

44% higher

Revenue growth/effectiveness performance

19% higher

Innovation performance

33% higher

Employee engagement performance

Q. For each of the following, how does your organization’s performance compare
to that of your competitors over the last three years?

9
Outcomes define operations—
not the other way around
Operating model leaders have made more progress But internal process mining must be used in conjunction
in adopting product-based operating models and with external benchmarking to deliver the deeper
agile ways of working—meaning teams are given insights executives seek. And many organizations still
goals to meet, not tasks to complete. Almost one in struggle to define benchmarks in a way that translates
three (30%) of these outperformers have transitioned across the ecosystem. While 75% of executives agree
their entire organization to this way of working, and that common definitions are essential for accurate
an additional 8% have gone beyond the walls of their benchmarking, 44% say their organizations lack the
enterprise to align this process with ecosystem common definitions or process frameworks needed.11
partners.
Ecosystems enable open innovation
They also invest in reskilling (57%), as opposed to
hiring from the outside (43%), more than all other
When each organization’s purpose and capabilities are
groups. Rather than staffing up on in-demand skills
clearly defined, leaders can streamline work across the
and figuring out what to do with them later, operating
entire ecosystem. This de-duplication lets partners
model outperformers are prioritizing purpose and
simplify and automate across the network and deliver
clarity by defining how processes and job roles need
more meaningful business results. Our study found that
to change.
69% of executives say their organization has seen
stronger financial results due to its participation in
Data fuels transformation ecosystem partnerships.

Redefining the future of work starts with under- Organizations can shrink the skills gap by leveraging
standing how jobs are done today. Enterprise data their partners’ talent, as well. Nearly two out of three
can help leaders shorten the distance between point executives (65%) say their organization can access more
A and point B—if they can turn those terabytes into relevant, high-demand skills due to its participation in
meaningful insights. ecosystem partnerships. And when asked to make
tradeoffs, respondents expect innovation and tech
Process mining, which uses large data sets from talent to be the top two outcomes of engaging with
multiple systems to analyze the effectiveness of ecosystem partners.
business processes, can help inform which changes
will make the biggest impact (see “Max Mara taps But value does not automatically emerge from
data to streamline operations” on page 11). Recent ecosystem engagement. Each organization must be
IBM IBV research found that 65% of executives are clear about where, when—and for how long—they need
already using process mining to improve how work is specific skills support. Ecosystem talent strategies
done in their organizations. Roughly the same portion should be data-driven, which makes interoperability
say they’ve seen significant improvement in employee essential.
engagement, customer satisfaction, and innovation
due to process mining.10

10
Case study

Max Mara taps

data to streamline
operations
When customers shop online, they don’t want to wait weeks for their order to
arrive. But if a company’s back-end operations aren’t firing on all cylinders, that
can translate to delivery delays.

As online orders soared in the wake of the pandemic, Italian fashion company
Max Mara knew it needed to address back-end bottlenecks to ensure customer
satisfaction. In assessing its options, Max Mara’s digital ops team considered
traditional process redesign approaches that relied on business intelligence
systems and frontline insights from business analysts, process owners, and
other stakeholders to get to the bottom of process flow issues.

Max Mara recognized that to improve its order-to-cash processes, it needed the
ability to not only identify quickly and accurately where the problems were, but
also which fixes would yield the highest ROI. The digital ops team saw advanced
process discovery tools as the right approach.

But ultimately, process decisions—whether it’s augmenting a job role or

automating workflows—require real, actionable data from the processes
themselves. By partnering with IBM to address bottlenecks, Max Mara has
reduced customer service resolution times by 90% compared with manual
approaches and cut average cost per resolution by up to 46%.12

11
 Give the people what they want

Bridging the disconnect between executives and employees can

boost engagement and bottom-line results.

Automation and AI promise to change the nature of work—and make both

people and technology more valuable than they were before (see Figure 4).13
But driving growth with the augmented workforce requires more than just clear
business goals. Leaders must understand what people really want from their
work—and use technology to help improve their experience. This can also
require organizations to refresh business values and the code of ethics.

By comparing the results of our employee and executive surveys, we’ve

uncovered insights that executives can use to increase engagement and
boost productivity with automation and AI.

Generative AI will augment far more employees than it

will replace—87% of executives believe job roles are more
likely to be augmented than automated.

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FIGURE 4

Powers combined

Human-machine partnerships
create more value than either
can alone.

Humans offer Machines

capability The human-machine partnership provides deliver scalability
through empathy the best of both worlds, offering through AI, IoT,
and creativity personalization, foresight, and acceleration and robotics

Source: “The need for a modern, dynamic HR operating model.” IBM Consulting.

13
Embrace experimentation Supercharge middle managers
to cultivate change As organizations develop higher-value human-machine
partnerships, job role confusion becomes pervasive.
The human-machine partnerships that will drive
Which tasks require a human touch? What is an
advantage tomorrow are being developed today. That
acceptable margin of error? And where does responsi-
means workers need to be willing to experiment with
bility fall if machines—or humans—don’t live up to
new approaches to understand what works—and
expectations?
tech-savvy enough to troubleshoot along the way.
Nearly 60% of workers say they’re confused about their
Employees believe their teams have the tech skills
job roles and reporting structures. But this perplexity is
needed to complete their daily work in an evolving
far less acknowledged by executives than employees:
landscape—only 21% see a lack of technical
only roughly 40% agree that this challenge exists.
proficiency across their team as a major daily
challenge. Yet executives cite technological illiteracy To help employees better understand their purpose,
as their second greatest talent-related challenge— organizations need more engaged and responsive
surpassed only by the need to build new skills. middle managers. While reflexively critiqued by “lean”
proponents, middle management’s unique position on
When taken in tandem with the reduced focus on
the org chart gives them increased importance in the
STEM skills, we must dig deeper to get to the root of
enterprise of the future. They can help employees
this technical challenge (see Figure 2). The fact is,
navigate the uncertainty around new technologies while
digital transformation requires intentional organiza-
also keeping work aligned to strategic goals.
tional change management. While it’s easy to assume
that people aren’t adopting technology because they With AI automating many traditional tasks, middle
don’t know how to use it, it may just be that they’re managers can do more leading and less administrating.
resistant to change—and afraid of being replaced. They can also model the adoption of agile ways of
working.
Executives may be able to spur adoption by showing
employees that they aim to add value, not just reduce Global CEOs already see the value in this approach.
costs. Leaders can foster a culture of experimentation Recent IBM IBV research found that 65% are investing
and innovation by communicating that they’re willing to improve people manager skills and 72% plan to
to accept a few missteps along the way. A culture of increase their investment by 2025.15 Yet, our survey
not penalizing failure—an environment of open revealed that only 41% of organizations have defined
innovation—provides a 10% revenue growth bump in new roles for middle managers to serve as coaches for
the context of technology adoption and digital trans- cross-functional teams.
formation, IBM IBV research shows. What’s more, AI
users that don’t penalize failure achieve a 22% higher
rate of revenue growth compared to other AI users.14

14
Elevate human employees
Overall, generative AI will augment far more Additionally, when asked to select whether the work
employees than it will replace—87% of executives they do, the employer they work for, or the people they
believe job roles are more likely to be augmented work with was most important to them, nearly half of
than automated. In this environment, AI has the employees say the work they do is far more important
potential to transform the employee experience. It than who they work for or who they work with regularly.
can automate mundane tasks, letting people focus on
what they are passionate about, and create exciting So far, it seems, employers have missed the memo. The
new job roles and career paths. executives we surveyed rank impactful work lower than
nine other non-compensation attributes when assessing
But employees may think that, by partnering with AI, which factors matter most to their workforce.
they are training their replacement. Leaders can
combat this initial resistance by highlighting how AI This disconnect is poised to cause problems as
can help people focus on more meaningful work— executives rush to automate as many tasks as they can.
which is something employees crave. If leaders don’t plan human-machine partnerships with
impactful work in mind, they might miss opportunities
When asked to make tradeoffs, foundational factors that will help people work smarter and more
such as salary, benefits, and job security still top the strategically (see “IBM HR empowers employees to
list of employee priorities. But when asked to select deliver more value” on page 18). How employees will
the most important work attributes out of a list that use—and benefit from—technology needs to be
doesn’t include those factors, people put impactful considered as carefully as the tech investment itself.
work above all other attributes, including autonomy,
equity, flexible work arrangements, and growth
opportunities (see Figure 5).

15
FIGURE 5

Meaning takes center stage

Employees prioritize impactful

work—but executives are focused
on other attributes.

Employee

Executive

45% 23% 43% 49% 38% 42%

Impactful work Growth Compensation aligned
opportunities to performance

38% 44% 38% 50% 20% 40%

Autonomy Flexible work Clear performance
arrangements metrics

16% 25%
Experience with
latest technology

Executive Q. Which of the following are most important to your employees?

Employee Q. Which of the following work attributes are most important to you?

16
Nearly half of employees believe the work they do
is more important than who they work for or who
they work with.

17
Case study

IBM HR empowers
employees to deliver
more value
What are the key roles people must play in the augmented workforce? And how can
HR optimize human-machine partnerships?

Every day, we work with our clients to answer these questions. But few organizations
have cracked the code. To anticipate the challenges our clients will face during this talent
transformation, IBM HR is blazing a trail that our clients can follow.

But that doesn’t mean integrating AI and automation into our daily work has been easy.
From creating a next-level digital assistant to streamlining IBM’s promotion process, we
knew technology could save employees time and make it easier for them to deliver on
strategic goals. However, getting the most from AI and automation required pulling data
for thousands of employees—stored in multiple massive spreadsheets—into a single,
unified system.

With this data in hand, IBM HR was able to use a digital worker to compile employee data
into a dashboard that managers could use to assess performance and help employees
make progress toward personal goals. The digital worker gives managers the information
they need to make smarter, faster decisions—it doesn’t make the decisions for them.

Recommendations for promotions and pay raises are always made by people, not
machines. And we help ensure those decisions are based on reliable data by aligning with
the five principles of AI ethics:

– Explainability. We earned and maintained trust by making clear that promotion

decisions are made by humans.

– Fairness. We applied rules consistently and displayed the same data for each
employee.

– Robustness. We guarded against adversarial threats and potential incursions

to keep systems healthy.

– Transparency. We shared information with stakeholders in multiple roles

to reinforce trust.

– Privacy. We safeguarded data through the entire lifecycle, from training

to production to governance.

In one North America pilot, IBM HR saw impressive time savings. We were able to reduce
the time it took each manager to nominate employees for promotions from eight hours to
one hour—a total reduction of roughly 12,000 hours per quarter. As a result of this
success, IBM has started to roll this digital assistant out to other regions—with potential
time savings estimated at up to 50,000 hours per year.16

Automation also reduced the process from 10 weeks to six weeks, which allows the HR
support team to focus more on coaching individual managers. Plus, they can now analyze
the data from the nominations to provide insights to the wider enterprise. This is a great
example of how automation and AI can move humans up the value chain while
significantly accelerating decision-making.
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Perspective

HR for the augmented

workforce: Elevating the
value of human-machine
partnerships

As AI and automation disrupt how work is done, it will also completely reshape the
HR function. Organizations that make HR central to their talent transformation can
find quick wins that let them streamline work and boost business performance (see
“IBM HR empowers employees to deliver more value” on page 18). But our survey
found that more than 60% of executives view HR as primarily an administrative
function. They also say business functions are responsible for measuring the value
of talent—not HR.

However, there’s a lot to gain by asking HR to help define the organization’s

transformation strategy. When HR leadership and frontline workers co-create
guiding principles, they can more effectively foster a culture of responsible AI
focused on ethics, trust, and transparency. And defining target outcomes with both
business and IT functions can help HR leaders assess how well they are aligning
with the business and where they need to evolve.

The principle of employee-centered design, for example, could be tied to the

outcome of creating more streamlined technology systems. With this goal in mind,
HR leaders can influence conversations about technology investments, pushing the
business to prioritize intuitive platforms that unite disparate applications and
streamline daily work for employees.

In the age of the augmented workforce, HR also has several opportunities to tap
generative AI to improve business results. These include:

– Shifting the role of HR from policy enforcer to value driver. Empower HR to

influence tech investments that unite teams across functions and the partner
ecosystem.

– Augmenting employees with generative AI to provide more purpose-driven work

and enhance employee well-being.

– Making HR the go-to ecosystem advisor to help the organization access

in-demand skills rapidly as needs evolve.

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20
Four steps to succeed with
people-centric technology
Digital transformation is rife with technical challenges. Moving to the cloud,
automating workflows, and adopting AI comes with a whole host of cybersecurity,
IT, and data management issues. As leaders tackle this intimidating to-do list, talent
transformation often gets bumped to the bottom.

But people priorities can’t always be pushed to the back burner. Creating strong
human-machine partnerships—and a truly augmented workforce—is necessary to
take advantage of the technology that can offer a competitive edge.

A new approach to talent can help organizations integrate digital workers, hybrid
cloud platforms, intelligent workflows, and agile ways of working in a way that
empowers people to perform at the top of their game.

But to get there, organizations need to do the hard work of real talent
transformation. We’ve outlined four actions you can take to align your tech
investments with strategy—while putting people first:

1. Prioritize with purpose.

2. Lead with the operating model.
3. Make work more rewarding.
4. Invest in talent as much as technology.

21
Action guide
Learn how to help your organization
navigate the new division of labor
between humans and machines.

01 02
Prioritize with purpose. Lead with the operating model,
not the org structure.
– Reassess your enterprise transformation game – Align work to the customer experience. Instead of
plan. Baseline current core business processes, functional teams doing projects, organize people into
skills, and tech investments. Identify what’s networks of experts that can be tapped to address
needed for the future and outline a clear plan to customer needs. This shifts the focus from project
close the gaps. Proactively redesign job roles to deadlines to delivering value. Determine whether
reflect the impact of automation and AI. workers in underperforming functions have the tools
and technologies they need to succeed.
– Think big, start small. Pilot your plan. Road test new
operational approaches in IT where adopting agile – Give employees autonomy. Let teams define their own
business processes and a product mindset may be performance measures based on how they align with
more widely accepted or even already proven. the organization’s strategic vision. When people set
Consider also piloting in HR as a proof of concept their own goals, they’re more inspired to try to
for other business functions. achieve them.

– Boost IT bandwidth. Use artificial intelligence for – Define end-to-end product workflows. Use process
IT operations (AIOps) to proactively identify and mining to analyze how work is done and where
remediate IT issues. This helps employees spend bottlenecks or other inefficiencies exist. Use these
less time firefighting and more time optimizing new insights to rethink and re-engineer operations and
business models and ways of working. identify where AI can take the lead. By reinventing
then automating, companies can generate more value
– Buy, build, bot, and borrow skills. Use workforce and eliminate unnecessary complexity.
data to determine whether your organization
should develop, hire, or automate specific skills— – Brace for change at all levels. Be a leader, not a
or borrow them from ecosystem partners. laggard. Don’t be afraid of changing your own role.
Increase interoperability to benefit fully from Pioneer the use of new tools, including generative AI,
open innovation. at executive and managerial levels in your organization
before the competition.

22
Action guide

03 04
Make work more rewarding. Invest in talent as much
as technology.
– Stay grounded in reality. Reduce nearsighted – Position re-skilling as an opportunity. De-couple
decision-making by grounding leadership in the today’s work from tomorrow’s work and plug in your
employee perspective. Give people a forum to top talent to tackle emerging tasks. Don’t be afraid to
recommend tasks that could be automated to call new work “new.” Position generative AI skilling
make their jobs easier and more fulfilling. Leverage as an advancement opportunity for top performers.
digital channels to develop a continuous and open Don’t reskill low performers.
feedback loop.
– Tap tech to improve workplace experience. Develop
– Give jobs more meaning by making work personal. interactive career roadmaps with dynamic prompts to
Explain how tasks or processes, if performed help employees gain clarity on what is expected for
successfully, will lead to added value for the them to progress. Career roadmaps with automated
individual, the team, and the broader organization. or just-in-time features can help employees reach
Communicate strategic outcomes and progress to necessary development milestones along the way.
every worker involved in a certain initiative—and
– Deliver just-in-time enablement. Create a talent center
celebrate wins as a team.
of excellence (COE) to define learning and career
– Develop next-gen leaders. Cultivate an environment pathways that are relevant and expertly conveyed.
where all leaders, including middle managers, are Run the COE as a partnership between business
encouraged to model new behaviors. Reward functions and HR.
exemplary middle managers who serve as a bridge
– Support continuous improvement. Regularly assess
between their teams and executive leadership.
the relationship between your operating model and
– Access untapped potential. Enable inner sourcing your talent. Challenge executives responsible for
by building a talent marketplace where employees specific functions to draw clear connections between
with in-demand skills, or interest in developing them, job roles and business outcomes.
can be matched with internal career opportunities.

23
About
the authors

Jill Goldstein Jill Goldstein is a 35-year HR professional that spent

Global Managing Partner for time as an HR practitioner before jumping over to the
Talent Transformation, IBM Consulting service provider side. As the Global Managing Partner
[email protected] for Talent Transformation at IBM Consulting, she
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillkgoldstein/ combines technology with the creativity of people to
help organizations reimagine how work gets done. She
leads a global team of deep functional and technical
experts (and lots of AI-bots!) whose work is focused on
helping clients deliver their talent agenda, accelerate
their digital roadmap, and establish a more modern HR
function. Jill holds an undergraduate degree from the
Kelly School of Business at Indiana University and an
MBA from Loyola University Chicago.

Bill Lobig Bill is responsible for IBM Automation Software Product

Vice President, IBM Automation Product Management. This includes a range of technologies that
Management, IBM Technology allow people and organizations to be more productive
[email protected] by automating their business processes, optimizing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-lobig-08b4a31/ and ensuring the ongoing health of their IT systems,
and helping clients modernize applications to hybrid
cloud architectures. Bill has been in the software
space for more than 20 years, holding various roles in
IBM engineering and product management, including
unstructured data/content management, information
life cycle governance, business process management,
machine learning and AI, IT automation, and application
modernization. Bill holds an undergraduate degree from
the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University
of Maryland.

24
Cathy Fillare Cathy has partnered with clients to accelerate business
Talent Transformation Global Research Leader, growth, optimize ways of working, and scale culture
IBM Institute for Business Value change through their people for more than 20 years.
[email protected] She currently leads the global talent transformation
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathyfillare/ research agenda for the IBM Institute for Business
Value. In this role, she delivers action-oriented thought
leadership to business leaders about emerging trends
in the talent management lifecycle, HR technology, and
enterprise change. She holds an undergraduate degree
from the University of Maryland and an MBA from Johns
Hopkins University.

Christopher Nowak Christopher is a consultant in the IBM Institute for

Managing Research Consultant, Business Value. Christopher’s work has primarily
IBM Institute for Business Value centered around developing strategic transformation
[email protected] frameworks, as well as researching talent management
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher- and consumer perspectives relating to topics such as
nowak-556961129 shopping, travel, and sustainability. Christopher holds
an undergraduate degree from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.

25
Study methodology
The IBM IBV and Oxford Economics surveyed 3,000 The IBM IBV and SurveyMonkey surveyed and
global C-suite executives across 20 industries and 28 assessed over 21,000 workers across 22 countries
countries from all major regions in December 2022 in December 2022 and January 2023 to understand
and January 2023. We asked how their companies their expectations and motivations for work arrange-
are investing in enterprise transformation, what ments, career mobility, and the overall employee
business value is being generated, and which experience.
elements are required to boost productivity, effec-
The IBM IBV and Oxford Economics surveyed 300
tiveness, and bottom-line growth. Then we assessed
C-suite executives across 22 industries in May 2023
which key talent and technology capabilities are
to pulse the state of the market, specifically the
connected to the most successful enterprise trans-
impact of generative AI on labor today and into 2025.
formation programs.

26
About Research Insights The right partner for
Research Insights are fact-based strategic
a changing world
insights for business executives on critical
At IBM, we collaborate with our clients, bringing
public- and private-sector issues. They are
together business insight, advanced research, and
based on findings from analysis of our own
technology to give them a distinct advantage in
primary research studies. For more information,
today’s rapidly changing environment.
contact the IBM Institute for Business Value at
[email protected].

IBM Institute for Related Reports

Business Value
CEO decision-making in the age of AI

For two decades, the IBM Institute for Business CEO decision-making in the age of AI:
Value has served as the thought leadership think Act with intention.
tank for IBM. What inspires us is producing IBM Institute for Business Value.
research-backed, technology-informed strategic Global C-suite Series. 28th Edition. June 2023.
insights that help leaders make smarter business https://ibm.co/c-suite-study-ceo
decisions.
Seven bets
From our unique position at the intersection of Seven bets.
business, technology, and society, we survey, IBM Institute for Business Value. May 2023.
interview, and engage with thousands of https://ibm.co/seven-bets
executives, consumers, and experts each year,
synthesizing their perspectives into credible, Automate to Elevate
inspiring, and actionable insights. Automate to elevate: Unlocking the value
potential of AI-powered process mining.
To stay connected and informed, sign up to
IBM Institute for Business Value. July 2023.
receive IBV’s email newsletter at ibm.com/ibv.
https://ibm.co/automate-business-processes
You can also follow @IBMIBV on Twitter or find
us on LinkedIn at https://ibm.co/ibv-linkedin.

27
Endnotes
1 Russo, Amanda. Recession and Automation Changes 9 Based on an IBM IBV survey of 300 executives from
Our Future of Work, But There are Jobs Coming, Report Australia, Germany, India, Singapore, the UK, and the
Says. World Economic Forum. October 20, 2020. US in April and May 2023.
https://www.weforum.org/press/2020/10/
recession-and-automation-changes-our-future-of- 10 Higgins, Lisa, Anthony Marshall, Kirsten Crysel, and
work-but-there-are-jobs-coming-report-says- Jacob Dencik. Boundless benchmarking:
52c5162fce/ Revolutionizing business models with open standards.
IBM Institute for Business Value. October 2022.
2 Future of Jobs Report 2023. World Economic Forum. https://ibm.co/open-standards-benchmarking
May 2023. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_
Future_of_Jobs_2023.pdf 11 Ibid.

3 Based on an IBM IBV survey of 369 executives from 12 Redesigning Order-to-Cash for a better buying
Australia, Germany, India, Singapore, the UK, and the experience. IBM. Accessed July 10, 2023. https://www.
US in April and May 2023. ibm.com/case-studies/max-mara-fashion-group

4 CEO decision-making in the age of AI: Act with intention. 13 Zeoli, Michael and Rick Hayes. The need for a modern,
IBM Institute for Business Value. June 2023. https:// dynamic HR operating model. IBM Consulting. March
ibm.co/c-suite-study-ceo 2023.

5 Labor force, total. The World Bank. 2022. https://data. 14 Payraudeau, Jean-Stéphane, Anthony Marshall, and
worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.TOTL.IN Jacob Dencik. Extending Digital Acceleration:
Unleashing the business value of technology
6 Based on an IBM IBV survey of 300 executives from investments. IBM Institute for Business Value. October
Australia, Germany, India, Singapore, the UK, and the 2021. https://ibm.co/extending-digital-acceleration
US in April and May 2023.
15 CEO decision-making in the age of AI: Act with intention.
7 Based on analysis of three IBM IBV talent-focused IBM Institute for Business Value. June 2023. https://
surveys in 2016, 2018, and 2023, controlled for ibm.co/c-suite-study-ceo
consistency of respondents by C-suite role, including
Heads of Innovation. In each year, minimal to no 16 Creating the future of human resources. IBM. Accessed
variance by respondent role was present in assessment July 10, 2023. https://www.ibm.com/case-studies/
of the most important critical skills. However, as time ibm-human-resources-watson-orchestrate
goes on, the beliefs of these leaders have shifted, as
evidenced in Figure 2.

8 Payraudeau, Jean-Stéphane, Anthony Marshall,

and Jacob Dencik. Extending Digital Acceleration:
Unleashing the business value of technology
investments. IBM Institute for Business Value.
October 2021. https://ibm.co/extending-digital-
acceleration

28
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