Workforce decisions start with the work

An AI exposure score can’t tell a leadership team what a role should deliver.

When leaders ask what AI means for headcount, the reflex is to reach for a forecast. I’d start by asking the team to describe the work and where the current constraints sit.

A role combines tasks, relationships, judgment and accountability. Automating a first draft may free time for analysis, or create more review. The business still has to decide what the role delivers, which responsibilities stay and what people need to learn. No exposure index makes those choices. The ILO’s 2025 index measures potential exposure. It doesn’t say an exposed occupation will disappear.

Where I’d start: map one team’s recurring activities. Mark where assistance helps, where controlled automation could fit and where it adds little. Include dependencies, review effort and timing before turning any of it into workforce assumptions.

The test: two people with the same title can do very different work. Never apply a generic score to an individual’s capability or performance.

Source: ILO · A refined index of occupational exposure to GenAI