Human skills: The strategic imperative

Duolingo announced that it was shifting to an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-first approach by "gradually stopping the use of contractors to do work that AI can handle." At Duolingo, these contractors, who are responsible for creating lessons, exercises, and translations across multiple languages, are now being replaced by AI-driven tools. The goal is to eliminate bottlenecks in content creation and streamline operational workflows, ultimately boosting productivity. Artificial Intelligence isn't just changing the way tasks are completed; it is changing the nature of the jobs themselves.

In Duolingo’s case, human workers are being redirected toward solving complex problems and driving creative, strategic work, while AI executes repetitive tasks and scales business operations. Resilience to AI disruption isn't about clinging to technical execution; it's about cultivating human capabilities such as critical thinking, leadership, and communication. These skills are essential because they enable organizations to respond when technology changes the rules: how work is done, how decisions are made, and how value is created. They provide the judgment to make nuanced choices, the adaptability to pivot quickly, and the collaboration needed to innovate in an AI-driven environment.

In this blog, we explore actionable strategies enterprise leaders are using to future-proof and build resilience across their workforce, organizational structures, and processes amid the structural shift driven by AI.

Three critical considerations for leaders adapting to an AI-first world:

1. Human skills are now a crucial priority for workforce transformation as AI becomes more embedded in the day-to-day.
2. Job architectures must shift from rigid, title-based models to skills-based frameworks.
3. Internal mobility and reskilling are pillars of organizational agility.

Looking into the Hays 2025 Skill report, the data revealed that 85% of organizations acknowledge skills gaps in critical thinking, leadership, and communication. What is most concerning is that those competencies are not peripheral but rather foundational to organizational performance, cultural cohesion, and the optimization of long-term value creation through business growth.

For a deeper dive into how AI is reshaping workforces and the evolving skills landscape, explore our 2026 Hays Salary & Hiring Trends Guide.

Human skills are the foundation of AI resilience

With AI rapidly closing the gap on technical execution, organizations that still prioritize technical proficiency over interpersonal skills in their employees are failing to recognize the value these human capabilities can bring to their business. Human capabilities such as collaboration, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and critical thinking are now the differentiators that drive innovation and long-term success.

According to Deloitte’s 2025 Global Human Capital Trends survey, organizations that prioritize developing human capabilities such as collaboration, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and critical thinking are nearly twice as likely to have workers who feel their work is meaningful and twice as likely to achieve better financial and business results. It’s no longer optional. Organizations must embed human skills into their workforce strategies to thrive as technology accelerates.

Redesigning job architectures for skills-based hiring

Traditional job descriptions are being rewritten to reflect the realities of today's modern work environment, without job requirements built around degrees and previous titles. Organizations that think ahead are rebuilding job descriptions around human skills and aren't stopping there: Deloitte reports that 80% of Fortune 500 companies are using behavioral assessments, such as personality tests, for a variety of reasons, including recruiting, career planning, leadership development, and team building,    ensuring candidates possess the future-ready skills organizations need to thrive.

Internal mobility and reskilling as critical priorities

Your employee retention strategy starts with your internal mobility plan. Reskilling and upskilling open the door to growth opportunities and keep employees' skills current. These opportunities could help individuals transition to new roles as they develop the skills needed to become more resilient to AI's impact across various areas of the business. Implementing this approach ensures employees remain central as roles change and technology reshapes work.

The leadership mandate: build a skills-first organization

AI will continue to evolve, but the organizations that thrive will need to build resilient and future-ready workforces. This means accomplishing the following:

1. Conduct a skills audit: Understand current capabilities of your current workforce and future gaps based on longer-term business objectives.
2. Redesign hiring processes: Move beyond degrees and job titles to assess and evaluate practical, transferable skills, capabilities, and expertise.
3. Foster internal mobility: Create pathways for employees to grow through upskilling and reskilling.

Ready to do more? Our workforce specialists are here to help you put skills-first hiring into action. Contact us today!