Employers Need to Reorganise Roles, says Microsoft CEO

Satya Nadella, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, has warned that corporate leaders must reorganise jobs rather than using AI as a means for replacement and cost cutting.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Satya discussed how several companies at the forefront of the AI race are demanding large amounts of resources to expand.

He says these businesses will struggle to inform the public about concerns over the safety of the technology alongside its impact on the workforce, warning that companies cannot expect the public to accept huge demand for resources while they are impacted by industry decisions.

"You can't warn that AI is coming for jobs and sell unlimited expansion in the same breath," he says.

Reorganising jobs for employees

Satya continued by discussing how employers who see AI as a method of cutting roles and reducing costs are viewing the technology in the wrong light, explaining that they should focus on reorganising the job to improve employee abilities.

The CEO discussed the need for both human capital and in-house AI systems, which he referred to as "token capital". This marriage of the two, Satya says, can serve as a recipe" for how companies can pair AI with human workers. While Satya adds that this would result in "change management" and "displacement," he suggests that this it a productive way forward. 

The combination of AI and human workers, he suggests, can help establish a continuous learning system, where companies will be defined by tacit knowledge they gain from both areas.

Providing tangible business results

Meanwhile, Amy Coleman, Chief People Officer of Microsoft, recently announced that the company is reorganising its HR team to help the business evolve.

In a memo to employees, Amy shared that as organisational structures evolve, the company's HR function needs to evolve alongside it to scale for adaptability and help to set a new pace for Microsoft.

She wrote: "To accelerate the business, we have to simultaneously build experiences that reflect how employees and leaders actually work today and that anticipate their needs tomorrow."

Workforce acceleration team created

The changes include a dedicated workforce acceleration team, designed to improve the company's upskilling, reskilling and redeployment strategies.

This is important, Amy says, due to the emerging human-agent collaboration in business.

"We're in a time when technology, the way we work and our org structures are all evolving," she wrote.

Justin Thenutai will lead this newly created team as Vice President of Workforce Acceleration, with the company's Learning and Skilling team reporting directly to him.

Amy says: "Bringing these levers together under one leader allows us to test and learn faster with the business, so we can scale what works and win in our next chapter."