Josh Bersin: ‘Every single job is being impacted by AI – the only appreciating asset is your people’

Josh Bersin, global industry analyst and CEO and Founder of the Josh Bersin Company, took centre stage at UNLEASH World 2025 to discuss a key topic on everyone’s mind: How AI is transforming HR.

Starting by echoing the words of Mark Cole, Bersin said: “This is not transformation. This is not implementation. This is reinvention, which starts with the economy and the business climate that we’re living in.” 

He then shared that “the best that he can tell” we’re still living in a “very robust” economy – however, not enough jobs are being created.

This, he explained, puts pressure on CEOs and CFOs to hold costs steady while proving that technology investments truly drive value and productivity across their organizations.

Addressing the audience, Bersin highlighted that as HR professionals, everyone is “very central” to the reinvention caused by AI, that every industry is experiencing. 

“This is not a technology problem. The technology is advancing at a light speed,” he said, before highlighting that in 2025 alone, OpenAI more than tripled its capability of LLMs. 

If this continues, the technology is going to be way ahead of our ability to use it,” Bersin warns. “The issue the study found was that only 5% of companies believe they’re really getting a positive return on what AI has to do with people. 

“Instead, it’s to do with jobs, roles, and business processes that were never designed for this probabilistic technology that learns before your very eyes. 

“The big difference between AI and all the other times I’ve stood up here and talked to you about other technologies that we’ve had in HR, this particular technology is always learning and always changing.”

Bersin then drew attention to the US job market, highlighting that a study of job creation showed that 18 million jobs were created in the last 10 years. Over the next 10 years, these jobs were being created 72% slower.

“So, you’re going to be working in a company that’s going to do less hiring in general,” he added. 

“I’m not saying it’s going to stop, but it’s going to be lower, and we’re going to be more focused on getting productivity and improvement in performance and customer intimacy.

“This is happening everywhere, all over the company. Every single job is impacted by AI.”

Moving on, Bersin highlighted a problem many HR leaders are dealing with in their roles; trying to understand how to reinvent a business while technology is changing at a very rapid speed. 

He pointed out that even established tech giants like Oracle have had to reinvent themselves to stay relevant – shifting their focus to data and cloud innovation.

Redefining the relationship between people and technology

As Bersin continued with his session, he emphasized that leaders need to see AI as a tool to empower and expand human capabilities, rather than a mechanism to sort job losses. 

“The only appreciating asset you have is your people,” he shared. 

“The people in your company are continuously learning, getting close to your customers, reinventing themselves and getting closer to each other to become better and better at their jobs. Everything else depreciates, including AI.”

As a result, Bersin reaffirms that AI should be seen as a tool to empower the individuals in companies, by focusing on the new roles the technology will bring and what it will create for them – rather than seeing it as a tool to replace them or eliminate them.

Additionally, Bersin insisted that leaders must guide employees through uncertainty, by helping them adapt, upskill and grow. 

Employees want to be ready for the future of work, but Bersin asked: How do they participate and learn? And what should they do to be part of this transformation?

To answer this, Bersin highlights the vital role frontline managers play in AI reinvention. 

He noted: “All the good ideas are not sitting in corporate headquarters – many are right on the front line, in the manufacturing plan, in the sales department, in the marketing department, in HR.

“So, we have to find a way, as leaders, to allow this ‘exploration process’ to take place, so all the good ideas can come forward and we can decide where to invest.”

Bersin’s message reinforced a growing theme at UNLEASH World 2025: That successful AI integration depends as much on culture and leadership as it does on technology.