What do I see as a more realistic future? - 50–60% of jobs require new skills. Almost all need a substantial upgrade.

We are moving from products to platforms to marketplaces. We are moving towards a Gig Economy.

The nature of future job is going to be half employee-half entrepreneur. As an individual you are going to be an entrepreneur, but you will be plugged to a platform that is thriving and generating more such opportunities. When Jack Ma said years ago, the future is of small businesses, he was on to something.

Walkman was invented to carry your music wherever you go, but it took Steve Jobs to create an ecosystem around it. The future is about the opportunities created by the ecosystem instead of the product itself. Tesla uses robots for the better part of its manufacturing, but it has given employment opportunities to thousands of designers and the entire ecosystem to enable the growth of Tesla as a company, from creating lithium batteries, to constructing multiple physical manufacturing and car recharge setups and even real estate. These platforms in turn create income opportunities for multiple entities.

Having a degree no longer entitles us to jobs. We need to move the workforce, reshaping the minds to creativity, design and innovation.

Engineering, Design and Data Analytics is definitely the key profession of the future. For those thinking, ‘but that is not fair! I am none of them;” understand this- two decades ago there were only 17000 engineering seats, today there are more than 1 million seats. We changed our expertise based on the need of the market. If we did it then, there is no reason we can’t do it today.

But it can’t be done using the same principles and philosophies as we have been doing until now.

Machines can be taught to understand EQ, but they can’t duplicate it. That is what makes us unique. That is why I see a future where Doctors will no longer spend hours on the operation theater but will spend a lot more time supervising the operation and supporting family members emotionally. Their income will surge for their value of the ‘human touch’ but their number in this role will reduce dramatically. Doctors now also need to understand how computers and machines work. It is no longer the game of ‘master of one’ but more of ‘jack of all trades’.

The same applies for my current profession too. I have a background in sales and most of my colleagues believe, “Sales is all about the Human Factor. They need us.” I don’t disagree. My only question is, “In what quantity?” If I break down the 8–9 hours work of a sales rep across industries, about 60% of it is operational. In the next 4–5 years all of that will get streamlined and automated.

I foresee price negotiations to be a thing of the past too. In this world where information is freely available, we are moving towards a more transparent world. We are seeing every day that prices are getting more standardized across industries. As consumers we want ‘more for less’. Ever wonder HOW businesses are able to manage that? 🤔

So, if a sales rep is not required for pricing, definitely not for any of the operational work, RFPs will be autogenerated, product trainings are automated, information about the products/service is available over the internet for almost zero cost- what am I going to do as a sales person? What is my role? Where do I fit in?

Machines can capture emotions, but not replicate it. They cannot replicate empathy. As and how we are moving towards a life where Artificial Intelligence is getting integrated in our lives as an extension of ourselves, there is a growing and dire need for us to remember that what makes us Humans is no longer our ability to think but our ability to feel.

The 4 key skills of the future, as called out by many experts and influencers of the world are Critical Thinking, Communicating Effectively, Thinking Creatively, Interacting Effectively.

Now many of you readers might be thinking, “Not everybody is creative.” My answer to is, “Please go watch children in the playground. They have creativity, imagination.” Growing up we have gotten institutionalized. In school, in college, in our jobs- we are expected to do what we are told.

As suppressed as it might be we have the ability to reignite these qualities. No more mass production. Unique craft, customized crafts, coaching, composing experiences (Air BnB focuses on creating personal home like experiences for their guests. This is above and beyond accommodation) are the future professions.

Using 3d technology we can now create objects- this gives new life and perspective to craftsmen. Craftsmanship is a huge market of the future. Using creativity, we can now create art that was never possible before.

When a lot of products and services are getting demonetized, we will have the disposable income to focus on these aspects.

Our children will no longer work like machines being stuck in traffic day in and day out. There will be very little place for standardized anything, really. They will be experts in their fields of interest and will leverage AI to make their Creativity, their Critical Thinking more effective.

The question still remains- What is going to be the future of Our Generation? What can we do?

We are lucky we still have the option to choose. I have chosen mine. What about you?

Focus needs to be more on what makes us more humans instead of becoming more machine like. Humans augmenting other humans. Finding ways to work together instead of finding ways to work with machines is a very thought provoking option. Machines will be able to work without us too. But can we work without each other? If yes, to what end?

PS: This question is more for introspection. But I encourage readers to share their thoughts for a more fruitful discussion