A Key Survival Skill in an AI Future — The Personal Pivot

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Within the coming decade and years to follow, automation fueled by artificial intelligence (AI) will displace jobs and create employment uncertainty. If data is the new oil, then artificial intelligence is the engine that will run the future. AI is currently being deployed in multiple industries on a global basis. Venture capitalists are investing heavily in AI startups. Countries around the world have made AI a strategic priority and are investing heavily to become the dominant world leader in artificial intelligence. The one essential skill that everyone will need to learn in order to survive in a future with AI automation is how to pivot like an entrepreneur.

What Is a Pivot?

When startup companies pivot, there is a shift to a new strategy. A personal pivot involves a fundamental shift in one’s approach to life’s greater challenges. It is not simply just about changing jobs. A personal pivot involves a shift in both mindset and approach to navigating uncertainty and upheaval that are often a part of life’s vicissitudes.

Is Your Job Ripe for Automation?

Take a hard look at what you actually do at your job. What percentage of your activities consist of routine or repetitive tasks? Are there well-defined patterns with mostly predicable actions? The surge in AI is largely due to deep learning, which is well-suited for pattern-recognition. By 2020, the occupations that may be impacted by automation include bookkeeping, secretarial, clerical, bill collection, telemarketing, financial trading, portfolio management, postal services, bank tellers, retail cashiers, fast food preparation, truck driving, medical imaging interpretation, inventory management, human resource recruiting, receptionists, translations, paralegal services, financial annual report preparation, tax preparation, commercial driving, package delivery services, customer service, financial regulatory reporting, business analysts, order management, mortgage banking, real estate, journalism, video production, advertising, inventory management, and more.

Automation does not necessarily equate to immediate job loss, but it will definitely signal impending change is coming—in part or whole. AI implementation is a hurdle the early adopter companies are currently struggling to optimize. Before, during, and after implementation of AI, a small subset of human domain experts will be in demand to manage and supervise results. The remainder will most likely need to search for new opportunities.

How to Prepare for a Personal Pivot

There is no one “right” way to do a personal pivot, but there are activities that you can do in advance to prepare to avoid additional hardship and setbacks. When entrepreneurs prepare a new business strategy, they invest time in research and analysis. Similarly, when preparing for a personal pivot, create a strategic personal plan based on an analysis of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis, with regard to the market and competition. What are your personal goals and objectives? Do you have a natural talent or advantage in the area that you wish to enter? What is the overall market demand? What are the investments in time, education, and money that are required? What are the trade-offs in pursuing this strategy? Conduct primary and secondary research. Attend industry conferences and network with successful individuals and experts in the field. Find mentors.

Often a personal pivot will require learning a new skill or field. There are many top-tier universities that offer online learning courses at low or no cost either directly, or through services such as edX and Coursera. Lambda School, an innovative venture-backed online software engineering school led by CEO Austen Allred, gives students the option to avoid paying any up-front costs — students may choose to pay a percentage of their income after they are employed in a job, and only if that job that pays over $50K per annum. There are a number of ways to learn a new skill — you are only limited by your personal ambition and drive.

When is the Right Time to Pivot?

When entrepreneurs pivot their company, it’s usually as a last resort. The right time to execute a personal pivot will largely depend on the individual’s risk tolerance. It’s human nature to be risk-adverse, and some will choose to be passive and non-reactive to potential threats such as future job loss. Others seek to be ahead of the curve, and will proactively look for ways to tip probability in their favor. Most people are on the spectrum in between the two risk-profiles. The right time to pivot is when you can muster the courage to break out of your comfort zone, and embrace the discomfort that change will bring.

Copyright © 2018 Cami Rosso All rights reserved.