AI is changing both career growth and how employees perform their jobs. As employers automate or streamline routine work, all of us must develop new technical skills while continuing to strengthen judgment, communication, and other abilities that AI cannot easily replace.

In this article, we explain how AI is changing career growth for executives, physicians, Gen Z employees, and workers of different ages. Read on to learn how you can leverage AI while continuing to develop the professional judgment and human skills that support long-term career growth.

What Should Executives Consider When Introducing AI?

Executives should consider AI more than an operational tool. Used effectively, AI can enhance an executive’s career growth by expanding the capacity to analyze information, prepare for important decisions, communicate with stakeholders, and devote more time to strategy.

You can use AI to

• summarize lengthy reports,
• compare business scenarios,
• identify questions for advisers,
• prepare for negotiations or board meetings, and
• develop a first draft of a presentation or communication.

While these tactics will help you move faster, speed alone does not create value. Nothing can replace your unique experience in your industry.  Your experience converts you into an expert in your field.

Experience remains essential for identifying faulty assumptions, weighing risks that are not reflected in the available data, and deciding whether a recommendation fits the organization’s goals. 

The book, “Blink,” illustrates this principle.  Experience allows humans to make complex, rational judgments about the world, including instant conclusions from a “thin slice” of reality, using a combination of experience and intuition. 

How Can AI Become a “Thought Partner” for Executives?

Executives can bounce ideas off their AI Bot, make the bot a thought partner.  You take advantage of using AI as a thought partner while retaining ownership of the analysis and final decision.

Executives seeking to use AI for their own professional benefit should consider:

KPMG has reported that 77% of executives believe AI will require significant investment in employee upskilling and reskilling. Executives should view that need as part of their own career development as well. Learning how to ask better questions (known as “prompts”), evaluate AI-generated analysis, and incorporate new tools into an established decision-making process may become an increasingly valuable leadership skill.

Executives should also examine their employment agreements as AI changes the scope of their roles. A contract drafted before widespread AI adoption may not address responsibility for technology strategy, automated processes, confidential information, or AI-related compliance. If an executive is expected to produce more, make decisions faster, or assume significant AI responsibilities, the parties should consider whether the job description, compensation, authority, performance expectations, and available resources still match the role.

How Is AI Changing Career Growth for Physicians?

Physicians face a distinct version of the same challenge. AI may assist with documentation, research, discharge instructions, administrative work, and some forms of clinical decision support. The American Medical Association reported in 2026 that more than 80% of surveyed physicians used AI in their professional work – more than double the percentage reported in 2023.

Greater use does not eliminate the need for physician judgment. AI may generate incomplete, inaccurate, or poorly contextualized information. A physician must still consider the patient’s history, symptoms, preferences, and other circumstances that may not be fully reflected in the data provided to a system. The AMA has emphasized that AI should support rather than replace clinical judgment and that its use in health care requires transparency, accountability, and meaningful physician oversight.

AI proficiency may become increasingly relevant to a physician’s career growth, but expectations should be clearly defined. Physicians reviewing an employment agreement or AI policy should consider:

• Whether use of a particular AI system is mandatory;
• Whether the employer will provide training and technical support;
• Who is responsible for reviewing or correcting AI-generated documentation;
• How AI use will affect productivity or performance requirements;
• Whether the system protects patient information; and
• Whether the physician retains authority to reject an AI recommendation based on clinical judgment.

These issues may be particularly important when an employer expects AI to increase patient volume or reduce documentation time. A new tool may improve efficiency, but it should not automatically justify unrealistic productivity requirements or transfer responsibility to a physician without providing appropriate training, authority, and safeguards.

How Is AI Affecting Career Growth for Gen Z?  

Gen Z is entering a competitive job market in which AI can perform the research, drafting, and administrative work traditionally assigned to entry-level employees. While this may allow younger professionals to contribute to higher-level projects sooner, it more likely will reduce the opportunities to learn how to analyze information, recognize mistakes, and exercise independent judgment.

Despite this uncertainty, young professionals remain ambitious. A 2026 KPMG survey of more than 900 interns found that career growth was the most important factor respondents considered when choosing a full-time employer. It ranked above workplace culture, work-life balance, salary, and staying ahead of new technology. Ninety-three percent of respondents said they hoped to become senior executives or reach the C-suite during their careers.

Critical thinking ranked as the most important skill for distinguishing entry-level employees over the next five years. More than four in ten identified the possible weakening of critical-thinking skills as their greatest concern about relying too heavily on AI. Seventy-six percent believed long-term success would require both strong human skills and the ability to direct AI agents effectively.

For younger employees, the career-development question is therefore not simply whether they can use AI. They must also learn how to verify its work, recognize missing context, explain their reasoning, and take responsibility for the final result. Employers should be careful not to automate every developmental assignment if doing so prevents junior employees from acquiring the skills needed for future leadership. 

Do Employees of Different Ages View AI Differently?

The answer is “yes,” but the differential age is higher than you may think.  Pew Research Center found that workers younger than 50 were somewhat more likely to use AI in their jobs than workers ages 50 and older. Among employees who had used AI chatbots for work, workers under the age 50 line were also more likely to describe the tools as highly helpful for completing work quickly and improving its quality.

However, younger workers are not uniformly confident about the transition. Pew found that 40% of workers ages 18 to 29 felt overwhelmed by the future use of AI in the workplace, compared with approximately three in ten workers in older age groups. About half or more of the workers in every age group said they felt worried about workplace AI.

These findings suggest that an employer should not use age as a substitute for evaluating an employee’s actual skills. A younger employee may need instruction in verification, professional judgment, and industry context. A more experienced employee may need technical training but possess years of knowledge that can help identify when an AI-generated answer does not make sense.

The most effective teams may combine those strengths. Employees who are comfortable testing new tools can work with colleagues who understand the organization’s clients, history, risks, and professional standards. That type of collaboration can support adoption without treating any generation as automatically prepared – or unprepared – to use AI.

The conclusion – age may influence an employee’s experience with AI, but it should not determine an employer’s assumptions about that employee’s understanding and ability to use AI effectively.

Prepare for Career Growth in the Age of AI

AI is likely to remain an important workplace skill, but career growth will require more than the ability to generate a quick answer. Employees at every level must be able to evaluate information, apply context, communicate clearly, and explain why a recommendation should be followed.  Growing your ability to think analytically may be the bottom line.