The AI Is the Engine. We Are the Steering Wheel.

There is no way around it: our professional future is unsettling.

A core part of our work-life—"agency," the power to make decisions and get things done—is no longer an exclusively human domain. We are now sharing the stage with "synthetic agency," powered by AI. As Mike Hobday’s recent article suggests, we are in the "AI Agent apprenticeship phase."

This shift is fundamentally altering the old career model. For several generations, we learned the ropes from an expert, did the junior work (paid your dues), and moved up. Now, those experts are training their AI replacements. That reliable career ladder we all expected to climb is being disassembled right under our feet.

This all forces one, giant question for human value in the AI era: If AI can do almost any job, what's left for us? What is our lasting value? Is "purpose" the only truly "AI-proof" skill we have left?

Knowing 'How' vs. Knowing 'Why' in the Age of AI

What does "purpose" mean?

Purpose isn't a "skill" listed on your resume, like coding or marketing. Those skills are about how to do a job. Purpose is about why you're doing it in the first place.

Think about this scenario: You ask an AI Agent to design a killer marketing campaign. It analyses billions of data points. It finds the perfect message, the perfect time, and the perfect audience to get the most clicks. It executes the "how" flawlessly!

But today at least it is not stopping and asking, "Is this campaign right?" Consider these critical questions:

• What if the "perfect" message is slightly misleading?

• What if it targets a vulnerable audience?

• What if it's technically brilliant but simply wrong for the brand?

• What if it alienates existing relationships and confuses the current client base?

The AI Agent can't tell you the difference between a "good" campaign and a "right" one.

That’s not a calculation. It's a value judgment.

For centuries, our value was tied to our experience. The senior manager was valuable because she'd "seen it all." But AI Agent is built to know things better and faster than any human. If we try to compete with AI on knowing stuff, we will lose. Every time!

So, What's Our Job Now? Redefining Human Value

This means our value has to shift. We must stop being just "doers" and start being "directors." Our value moves from execution to intention.

Our job isn't to be in the system anymore. It's to be the architect who aims the system. Our main job is to set the "why" that steers the AI's powerful "how." The most valuable human work will be setting the mission, drawing the ethical lines, and making the final judgment call.

This, in turn, is the fix for that "broken ladder" problem.

If AI takes all the junior jobs, how do we train new leaders? The apprenticeship itself has to change. The new apprenticeship isn't about learning how to do the task. It's about learning how to manage the agent that does the task. A junior employee's job won't be to "do the work." Their job will be to challenge the AI's answers, spot the bias, and handle the messy human problems AI can't. A manager's job won't be to check for typos; it will be to teach judgment.

In this new world, success isn't about productivity. That'll be a given. Success will be measured by the quality of your questions and the wisdom of your direction.

Certainly, soft skills like empathy and creative strategy are still vital. But "purpose" is the glue that holds them all together.

It’s the compass. The AI is the engine.

That old "Ouroboros" dragon Mike Hobday mentioned? Its tail might be code now, but its head—the part that decides where to go—is still us. "Purpose" isn't just another buzzword. It's the new centre of our economic value. It's the job!

So, if that's the new job, how do we train people for it? If the old career ladder is gone, what does "day one" look like for a new graduate, and how are our universities supposed to prepare them for it?

Kwafo Ofori-Boateng

11/25

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