As artificial intelligence surges into the future, it ushers in a new age of the digital era. One-in-six workers say that at least part of their job integrates AI, which raises a daunting question: does artificial intelligence have the potential to actually replace human jobs? And how can future professionals safeguard their skillsets and careers against the rise of machine learning?
AI technologies have exploded in industries like healthcare, transportation, and finance. However, rather than attempting to keep up with the rapidly increasing capabilities of artificial intelligence, business professionals can enhance their career potential by developing fundamentally human soft skills—virtues such as empathy, integrity, curiosity, and humility that AI will never be able to replicate.
What Jobs Can’t Be Replaced By AI?
Some surveys indicate that most American adults believe AI will eliminate jobs within the next twenty years, yet experts aren’t convinced of this outlook.
In a McKinsey & Co. interview, chief economist of Indeed, Svenja Gudell, explained that labor market data tells a very positive story for AI in the workplace. According to Indeed’s data, generative AI doesn’t replace any job completely: “There wasn’t a single job where generative AI was particularly good at all of it,” said Gudell. While AI can speed up processes for specific tasks (some data suggests that it saves users up to an hour each day), it still cannot match the adaptability of a human worker.
In LinkedIn’s latest data on top-growing skills in the U.S., soft skills dominated the list, right after AI literacy. Deeply human skills like conflict mitigation, adaptability, and innovative thinking are the most in-demand traits in the workplace today. Soft skills like these stand out for their staying power. Investing in soft skills in the workplace will remain relevant across geographic shifts and career roles.
Investing in a Human-First Workplace by Developing Soft Skills for Business
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 placed analytical thinking as the most sought-after skill for future candidates. The data speaks for itself: employers don’t want robots. They want humans who can approach their work like a human, with insight and empathy that AI can’t replicate. In the WEF report, a garden of human-centered skills follows the top need for analytical thinking:
- Resilience
- Flexibility
- Agility
- Leadership
- Social influence
Making yourself stand out as a candidate is no longer solely about upskilling. While growing your hard skills can prepare you for specific roles, your character might be the deciding factor in whether you get hired. You can spend your energy building a career, or you can invest in becoming the kind of person—a thinker, a problem-solver, an empathizer—who will thrive no matter how the world changes.
How to Develop Leadership Soft Skills
One of the most valuable soft skills for all careers is leadership. While AI will continue to develop its ability to carry out workplace tasks, it lacks a critical attribute of a good leader: presence. As a person, you can be physically present and empathetic to the needs of others. By strengthening your leadership skills, you gain workplace value that can’t be replaced.
- Take initiative. Step outside of your comfort zone and into roles that challenge you.
- Practice humility. In an AI-saturated world, the ability to see yourself accurately and stay humble will grow more difficult—and more valuable.
- Seek feedback. Ask others for honest input to grow your self-awareness and adaptability.
- Learn from others. Watch leaders you respect and note how they communicate and make decisions.
- Stay curious. AI has yet to accurately replicate human curiosity, which is one of the most valuable career traits.
Business leadership will never be fully automated as long as professionals continue to develop the irreplaceable virtues of a good business leader.
Read our full blog, 5 Essential Leadership Virtues of a Successful Business Leader.
Formation Over Information: Preparing for Jobs That AI Can’t Replace
Generative AI can only work within the confines of available data and training. In the face of uncertainty and unanswered problems, it falls back on what it knows: multitudes of data, previous successes, and human preferences.
But in order to truly promote “newness” in the workplace, you have to think beyond an algorithm—something only humans can do.
In an interview with the Harvard Division of Continuing Education, creative thinking expert Anne Manning described this problem. “How do you generate solutions that become so broad you really get someplace that has the potential for newness?” Manning asked. “To get beyond what you already know, what’s been tossed around, you really have to spend time opening your mind to a wide range of possibilities, even if some seem crazy.”
In the same interview, she emphasized the importance of complex problem-solving in the workplace. For modern employers, creative thinking ranks higher than AI, resilience, and even tech skills in every new report that emerges in the 2020s. Employers want to know that you can face any problem and develop creative solutions that promote humanity rather than detracting from it.
As machines once transformed and automated manual labor, AI is mechanizing intellectual capital. This shift makes human skills like empathy, relationship-building, and clear communication more essential than ever. While professionals often spend years in school building up intellectual knowledge, they neglect the social and emotional skills that set humans apart.
Secure AI-Proof Careers by Pursuing Virtuous Leadership at UDallas College of Business
Embracing human virtues amid the rise of artificial intelligence means choosing an education that prioritizes more than just utility. At the University of Dallas College of Business, we believe that the future of business is inherently human. By cultivating virtue in all of our graduates, we instill the values and skills that machines can’t replace.
Through programs ranging from MBAs to cybersecurity, we intentionally ingrain virtue formation alongside practical skills so that you can lead like a human first.
Interested in finding out how your leadership style fits with our programs? Take our quiz, What Kind of Leader Are You? Find Your Fit in the Future of Business.
