AI has the potential to rethink work, but the organisations seeing the greatest value are focusing on more than efficiency alone. Writer and human-work evolution expert Ollie Pickup spoke to us to explain why creating capacity, building trust and investing in people will be just as important as investing in technology.
There’s no shortage of discussion about AI’s impact on work. Yet for many organisations, the challenge isn’t simply adopting new technology. It’s managing economic pressure, workforce shortages and continuous change, all at the same time.
For Ollie Pickup, that combination has created what Zellis describes as the Worklife Squeeze.
“I think there is a worklife squeeze, without a doubt,” says Ollie. “It’s like a three-car pile-up. You’ve got economic uncertainty, flat budgets, rising costs and financial pressures. Then there are workforce challenges, lots of vacancies that organisations can’t fill and skills that you can’t buy. Coming up behind that is this huge technological change, arguably the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution.”
The challenge, he argues, is that organisations can become so focused on coping with immediate pressures that they lose sight of longer-term workforce needs.
“I see the worklife squeeze as a diagnosis and not a destination,” he says. “The temptation is to treat the squeeze as something that needs to be endured rather than answered. Organisations can get drawn into dealing with the here and now and lose sight of the need for meaningful transformation, which AI can open the doors to.”
One area that particularly concerns him is what he calls the “vanishing first rung”.
“People want youngsters to come through, they want them to have this experience, but they’re chopping away that bottom rung,” he says. “AI might not take your job, but it’s likely to take your successor’s first job.”
For organisations pursuing efficiency, that raises an important question: how do you embrace new technology without undermining the pipeline of future talent?
Beyond Productivity
Much of the discussion around AI focuses on productivity. Ollie believes the bigger opportunity is creating capacity.
“The irony is that those on the frontline are likely to benefit most from this technology if it’s used correctly,” Ollie says.
He points to examples where AI is already reducing administrative burdens, including a local authority that cut the time social workers spent compiling assessments by 63 per cent, and another that reduced the time required to draft Education, Health and Care plans from weeks to around 20 minutes with human oversight.
He also highlights Age UK’s exploration of AI to help manage routine enquiries. The charity’s advisers currently handle around 200,000 calls each year and have helped identify millions of pounds in unclaimed benefits. By using AI to support simpler interactions, advisers can spend more time helping people with complex situations where empathy, judgement and experience are essential.
For Ollie, the value isn’t that these tasks are completed faster:
“AI should give workers time back, or rather capacity, to interact with the customers or citizens they’re there to serve. The greatest benefit of AI may not be efficiency alone, but creating more space for judgement, creativity and human interaction.”
Why marginal gains matter
If AI takes on more routine work, what becomes more valuable? Ollie points to a quote from economist and Chair of the V&A, Minouche Shafik: “In the past, jobs were about muscles. Now they’re about brains. In the future, they’ll be about the heart.”
He believes organisations should focus more on what he calls the “heart skills”: collaboration, compassion, communication, courage, creativity, critical thinking and curiosity.
But unlocking those benefits requires investment in people as well as technology.
“AI is a bit like having a Formula One car and expecting people to be able to drive it. If you’re not training people to drive that car, it goes careering off at the first bend.”
He argues that organisations often focus heavily on investing in technology while underinvesting in the people expected to use it. The real value comes when organisations combine investment in AI with the training, support and change management needed to help employees use it effectively.
Why trust matters
Alongside skills, trust remains one of the defining challenges of the AI era.
Ollie cites trust expert Rachel Botsman, who describes trust as “a confident relationship with the unknown”. For many employees, AI still feels unknown.
His advice is simple: “Take your people with you. Show them not necessarily what’s going to change, but what’s going to stay the same. Show them how they will benefit.”
He sees organisations falling into two camps: those who fear AI and those who embrace it unquestioningly:
“I think there’s a third tribe,” says Ollie. “AI agnosticism. It’s not worshipping the tool. It’s not being fearful of the tool. It’s acknowledging it and working out where it’s going to be useful.”
The opportunity is bigger than automation
Ultimately, Ollie doesn’t see AI as a technology story. He sees it as a leadership story.
The organisations that succeed won’t necessarily be those with the most advanced tools. They’ll be the ones that use technology to create capacity, build trust and help people focus on higher-value work.
“AI is here,” he says. “We need to be agnostic about it, use it where it adds value, but also invest more in our people.”
Tune into our webinar to find out more
These themes will be explored further during Zellis’s upcoming webinar, AI Turning Point; Creating Actionable Insights, where Ollie will join Nour Shaker-Fayad, Director & Chief AI Architect at Microsoft, and Steve Elcock, Director of Product AI at Zellis, to discuss how organisations can move beyond experimentation and turn AI-driven insight into meaningful action.
For more information and to register, visit: Webinar | AI Turning Point: Rewriting the HR Operating Model.
