Governments are starting to plan for the possibility that some roles will not survive AI. Victoria's new AI investment package includes funding for worker retraining and a dedicated advisory structure.
Many AI business cases still assume the workforce will adapt, or simply ignore the elephant in the room.
The more useful focus for HR and workforce leaders is whether workforce planning is being treated with the same discipline as technology planning.
Most organisations can describe their AI roadmap. Far fewer can explain which roles are likely to change, which skills become more valuable, where redeployment is realistic, and where workforce reductions are genuinely part of the plan.
That gap becomes a harder problem once AI programs move into operating models.
Before approving the next AI-enabled transformation initiative, it is worth checking whether the workforce transition plan is as mature as the technology plan.
In many organisations, that is now the gap.