"As I was collecting Crystal Ball predictions for 2026 from readers, I found myself thinking a lot about the future of work. In part, of course, that's because you all were thinking about it-combing through email after email, I found waves of predictions about how AI will change our workplaces and our jobs. And I sensed two things: An undercurrent of anxiety, and a resounding sense that AI is our now and future coworker."
"Much as the Internet created new ways of working that have improved people's lives, I'm hopeful that AI can too. But then, there's part of me that says: No, we're about to move into a world of relentless job contraction and depersonalized professional interactions, made more depressing by the fact they spring from craven laziness above all else."
"We will start hiring digital employees. We will start treating AI agents like junior staff with job titles, budgets, and spending limits. Once an agent can issue a refund or buy inventory, it stops being a tool and becomes a worker. -Cathy Gao, partner, Sapphire Ventures You can now build digital autonomous workers that handle large portions of front-office work. We're heading toward models and agents that can complete a full day's worth of work with minimal or no human intervention, and we may already be there in some domains. -George Mathew, managing director, Insight Partners"
Readers predict that AI will significantly change workplaces and jobs, producing both anxiety and a sense of AI as a current and future coworker. There is hope that agentic systems will take over mundane tasks in ways that improve people's lives, similar to the Internet's effects, while also a fear of widespread job contraction and depersonalized professional interactions driven by laziness. Specific expectations include hiring digital employees, treating AI agents as junior staff with titles, budgets, and limits, and deploying autonomous workers capable of completing large portions of front-office work with minimal or no human intervention.
Read at Fortune
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