📚 Upskill or Be Replaced: The 10-Minute Plan Your Company Won't Give You

You've spent years mastering your craft. Maybe decades. And now you're watching as AI churns out in seconds what used to take you hours or days.

It's not just unsettling – it's existentially terrifying.

And here's what makes it worse: Your company probably isn't doing a thing about it.

According to a Boston Consulting Group report, while 89% of companies acknowledge the need for AI skills, only 6% have begun meaningful upskilling efforts. That's right – 94% of organizations are leaving their workers to fend for themselves in the AI revolution.

The data gets even more alarming:

• Less than one-third of companies have trained 25% or more of their workforce on AI

• Most executives report just 1-10% of workers receive any GenAI training

• 30% of workers report having no AI training whatsoever

• 61% of desk workers have spent less than five hours learning to use AI

Meanwhile, you're wondering if everything you've built your career on is evaporating before your eyes. The learning curve you climbed? The specialized expertise you developed? It's becoming a commodity faster than most of us can pivot.

So here's the hard truth: If your company isn't upskilling you, you need to upskill yourself.

The winners in this new landscape aren't waiting for corporate training programs that may never materialize – they're becoming sophisticated operators OF the machines on their own initiative.

Here's the path I recomend to self-upskilling for the AI world.

1. Drop the “I’m not a tech-person” label.

I've said this before and I'll repeat it until I'm blue in the face: the world is a tech world - adapt or get left behind. That doesn't mean you need to learn how to code, it just means your reluctance towards tech is a hindrance.

You've mastered new systems before - email, Google search, and that legacy software at work that is ten times more difficult to use than 99% of AI tools on the market.

AI needs to become as automatic for you as Excel is for data work or Word for document processing. Not an occasional experiment, but a reflexive part of your workflow. The two paths to a futureproof career are either extraordinary specialized expertise that AI can't match (yet) or becoming fluent in AI-enhanced productivity in your field.

2. Know that we’ve been here before

Remember what happened during the Digital Revolution? It wasn't the technology itself that determined who thrived and who got left behind – it was how people responded to it.

The Digital Revolution demanded new skills: computer literacy and the ability to continually learn new software and technical processes became non-negotiable. Those who adapted flourished. Those who didn't found themselves increasingly marginalized in the workforce.

The BCG data shows we're at the same inflection point with AI. Just as the spreadsheet didn't eliminate accountants but transformed what accountants needed to know, AI won't eliminate knowledge workers – but it will eliminate knowledge workers who can't effectively use AI.

The key difference? The Digital Revolution unfolded over decades. The AI Revolution is happening in years, possibly months. The 30-year-olds who thought they could coast on existing skills until retirement are discovering they need to reinvent themselves now.

The parallels are clear: while automation eliminates certain roles, it creates new opportunities – but seizing those opportunities requires proactively acquiring new skills before your role becomes obsolete, not after.

3. Create a plan

Enough theory.

1. Block off 10 minutes today. Jump onto Claude or ChatGPT (free tiers are fine).

2. Enter this exact prompt:

   
   "I'm a [your exact job title] in the [your industry] industry. Create a specific 90-day plan to futureproof my role against AI disruption. Include: (1) Which of my current tasks are most vulnerable to automation, (2) Which skills I should develop that AI can't easily replace, (3) How I can use AI tools to enhance my productivity in ways my colleagues aren't yet, and (4) Three specific projects I could initiate that combine my human expertise with AI tools to deliver exceptional value to my company."
   

3. Save this plan. Start implementing one action item this week.

Here’s mine:

Amazing output - I also learned what Prosci certification is.

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From around the AI traps

• Autonomous revolution on highways: Driverless trucks now operating regular long-haul commercial routes across the US, signaling a major transportation industry shift.

• Global knowledge access expands: Notebook LM's audio overviews now support 50 languages, democratizing information access worldwide. Mobile app launches next week, bringing AI-powered research to your pocket.

• Ambient AI enters your workspace: Microsoft's "Hey Copilot" voice activation begins rolling out to Windows Insiders, enabling hands-free AI assistance directly from your PC while you stay in flow.

• Medical documentation breakthrough: AI ambient listening technology transforms workflow for physicians, eliminating hours of administrative burden and allowing doctors to focus on patients rather than paperwork

We go again next week,

Adam