Polished emails, punchy power points, cleaner codes. AI has raised the bar on quality and productivity.
The ‘average’ has moved up.
This is exposing an interesting talent divide in organisations.
Looking through the AI lens, three professional archetypes are emerging:
1️⃣ The non-users
They may still be perfectly capable professionals and working just as hard.
But if the people around them are producing faster and better with AI, not using it is becoming a handicap for them. They may not realise it yet but they are slowly sliding below the ‘new average’.
And their bosses are noticing.
2️⃣ The AI-assisted
Their output looks impressive.
Until someone asks a deeper question.
Suddenly, the gap between AI-generated quality and the person’s real capability becomes visible.
For many, their craft and capability has not yet moved up to match the quality of their output.
They are using AI as a crutch.
Their bosses are noticing, too. So are others around them.
3️⃣ The AI-native
They are tinkering, experimenting, and constantly pushing the limits of what AI can do for them.
They are using AI as a lever - to multiply their own and their team’s productivity. They are getting more done. Faster. With fewer people.
They have tasted blood. It’s hard for them to go back to the old ways of working.
Which creates a rather interesting problem.
They are now frustrated by everything that slows them down — token limits, technical debt, colleagues who haven’t moved as fast, processes designed for a pre-AI world…and general enterprise inertia.
***
To the professionals in each of these categories:
#1 : Wake up. The benchmark has moved.
#2 : Catch up. Your capability needs to rise alongside your output.
#3 : Keep pushing. And start asking what your organisation needs to change around you.
And if you are a leader seeing similar patterns in your organisation, you need to be intentional about how you identify and support each of these three different archetypes. Generic AI upskilling is long past its sell-by date.
#AI #FutureOfWork #Skills #Leadership #Talent