AI Is Changing Work—Now Leaders Need To Rethink How They Develop Talent

Samir Dutta, CEO and Co-Founder of Farsight AI.

As AI takes on more of the work once assigned to junior employees, leaders in financial services and other apprenticeship-driven industries face a difficult question: How will people develop the judgment that used to come from doing that work themselves?

The concern is understandable. For decades, early-career employees built expertise by working alongside more experienced colleagues. Repetitive execution was part of the deal.

AI is changing that equation. As organizations automate more of the work once assigned to junior employees, leaders are right to worry that they’re stripping out the training ground for professional growth.

It’s not a hypothetical problem. McKinsey found that 51% of organizations say generative AI is already reducing their need for entry-level roles, raising questions about how future employees will gain the experience and judgment those roles have historically provided.

AI presents organizations with an opportunity to rethink how they develop talent. They should focus less on preserving every traditional task and more on creating the experiences that build judgment, sharpen critical thinking and improve decision-making. ​

Where Judgment Is Actually Built

Early in my career as an investment banker, I spent countless hours building presentations, updating financial models, gathering research and preparing materials for senior bankers. Like many junior analysts, I assumed those long hours were where expertise and judgment were built.

Looking back, I’ve realized the repetitive execution wasn’t what shaped my judgment. The real learning happened in the conversations that followed. Senior bankers challenged my assumptions, explained why analyses changed, refined recommendations and demonstrated how they approached complex client decisions. The work opened the door, but the coaching and feedback were what actually developed the expertise and judgment I rely on today.