Everyone Sees the Light: A Casual Chat About AI and the Future of Work

Today I spoke to a very old friend of mine I hadn’t seen in 20 years. He lives in Chicago and works for Stryker, the medical devices company. We started with the usual topics—kids, family, life—and of course, we eventually ended up talking about AI.

What struck me is how the idea that AI can help businesses move forward is no longer “science fiction.” Everyone believes it now. And it’s not just belief—people have actually started to form a path forward in their heads. It’s not fully reality yet, but business leaders and decision-makers clearly see where this is going.

Who Sees It (and Who Doesn’t Yet)

From our conversation, it felt like early-career professionals and industry leaders have definitely “seen the light,” and there’s no turning back. They’re thinking about AI strategically, not hypothetically.

The people who might be a bit behind are those in the middle layers of organizations. They’re not necessarily against it, but they may not be as far along in imagining how AI will reshape their work.

The Big Questions

My friend’s bigger concerns were around:

• How the makeup of the workforce will change over the next decade
• How companies should approach workforce planning
• What the impact will be on customers

All the right questions, but at no point was he hesitant about whether AI will be impactful. That part felt settled.

From Messy Workflows to Real Change

What’s also interesting is that everyone now has specific workflows in mind—sometimes hundreds of them—that they and their teams know are messy and inefficient. Suddenly, they see a way out.

AI is no longer just talk. It feels like we’re right on the edge of it becoming reality, and when it does, things will change very quickly.