Your AI platform sends a notification that says, “I have detected an anomaly in Market 26. Recent weather events have resulted in supply chain issues that must be addressed. I have adjusted our marketing investments and re-routed supply logistics. I will report back in 14 days with results and next steps.”
Who gets this notification? The CMO? The CFO? The CEO? The board? The investors?
The End State Defined
If you understand the goals of the foundational model builders and the hyperscalers, this is the end state. Some call it AGI, artificial general intelligence, systems capable of performing most cognitive non-repetitive work. While there is no agreed-upon definition of AGI, the consensus is that it will not equal the best humans, but it will surpass the average human by such a wide margin that the imbalance of power will be irreversible. Go further still and you reach ASI, artificial super intelligence, systems so powerful we will not understand how they reason or why they make the choices they make.
What do you believe?
The race isn’t theoretical. It’s real. It’s here. And it’s funded. Global private investment in AI topped $252 billion in 2024, up nearly 45 percent in a single year. Governments are militarizing their strategies. The Trump administration’s Winning the AI Race plan detailed more than 90 policy steps to accelerate development and guarantee “global AI dominance.” OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle’s Stargate venture has pledged up to $500 billion for AI infrastructure. PwC projects AI could add $15.7 trillion to global GDP by 2030. These are not research budgets. These are war chests.
This is not a technology challenge. It is a leadership challenge. The code will be written. The models will be trained. The capital is already deployed. The harder problem is inspiring a workforce that understands they are building the very systems that may one day replace them.
From Humans in the Loop to Humans Notified
So what happens between now and that Market 26 notification? In the next 36 months, white collar roles will evolve in predictable ways. Right now, humans are in the loop, teaching systems how to do their work. Soon, those humans will shift to writing and training agents. After that, their focus will move to orchestrating fleets of agents to accomplish goals. And then, the agents will simply operate, reporting back with anomalies and adjustments.
The marketers I work with are already on this path. Today they use AI for copywriting, targeting, and analytics. Tomorrow they will deploy agents that build campaigns, negotiate media buys, and optimize creative in real time. Finance is the same. Today’s analysts lean on AI for data prep and forecasting. Tomorrow, autonomous agents will manage portfolios, detect fraud, and adjust treasury strategies. Healthcare, logistics, and customer service follow the same trajectory. Humans in the loop, then humans orchestrating, then humans notified.
Leading Through the Transition
You cannot lead by pretending jobs are safe. Everyone knows they are not. You lead by acknowledging reality and offering a vision that turns inevitability into momentum. The message has to be clear: our team can win because we will evolve faster than others. We will test, fail, learn, and adapt. We will use these tools to transform into a more productive, more valuable, and more resilient organization.
This is new territory. We are leading people toward a place where some roles will vanish, but new human contributions will emerge. We do not yet know what those contributions will be. The only way to discover them is to win the race. Because if our competitors get there first, we won’t be here at all.
Do you have the courage to tell your teams the truth, and the conviction to lead them into an uncertain future? What do you believe? It will require transparency, trust, and incentives aligned to the future, not the past. Recognition, reskilling, and participation in the upside will likely replace the old promise of job security.
The actual end state is unknowable, but the time for experiments and pilot programs is over. The mandate is clear: lead your people with honesty, equip them to evolve, and point them toward a future that rewards adaptation over preservation.
Someone will win the race to the end state. Someone will receive that Market 26 notification first. Someone will discover what the next role for humans in the workforce looks like. If you believe that AI’s north star is ASI, you need to form your own definition of the end state and lead your organization relentlessly toward it. If you don’t, your competitors most certainly will.
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it. This work was created with the assistance of various generative AI models.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.
