The coming wave of artificial intelligence won't just optimize our workflows—it's going to fundamentally reshape how work gets done. As a veteran finance executive recently noted at a major financial institution's gathering, the impact will vary dramatically across different roles.

For some positions, AI becomes a collaborative tool—think of it as a powerful co-worker handling the heavy lifting. For others, it handles the repetitive grunt work, freeing people up for more meaningful tasks. But here's the reality nobody's sugar-coating: certain jobs will simply disappear.

What makes this shift particularly noteworthy is that many professionals aren't genuinely prepared for this transformation. The speed of AI adoption is outpacing workforce adaptation strategies. Whether you're in finance, tech, or any knowledge-based field, the question isn't whether AI will change your work—it's how quickly you'll need to adapt to stay relevant. The gap between AI's capabilities and workers' readiness is only widening.