AI isn’t just changing tasks within specific roles. It’s also creating new jobs and careers. Here are 10 jobs that are new or that Hickin envisions as future AI jobs. One of them could be your next role.
1. Role augmentation and redesign lead
“If you have a software engineer and 50% of code is now being done by an AI tool, what does it mean to be a software engineer in the future?” Hickin said. A redesign lead can answer this. They look at how AI is changing specific roles, and use strategy and data to redesign them.
2. AI ethicist
Also called an ethical AI architect or AI ethics officer, this professional develops guidelines and policies for the ethical use of AI. They think about the legal, moral, and social implications of AI, and make sure a company uses the technology in ways that align with its values. An AI ethicist might, for example, check for biases in your company’s hiring processes and suggest ways to improve them.
3. AI cybersecurity specialist
With rising concerns about AI-related cybersecurity challenges, companies want to protect themselves against malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks. The solution: AI cybersecurity specialists. These are like traditional cybersecurity specialists, but with a twist. Not only do they understand information security, but they know how to use AI to protect companies from potential threats.
4. Forward-deployed engineer
AI is getting easier to implement, but some companies still get stumped during deployment. That’s where a forward-deployed engineer comes in. Consider them your personal problem-solver or tech guru. As an article in Medium said, they’re kind of like “a firefighter crossed with a plumber and translator, but in the tech world.”
5. AI conversation designer
Ever had an interaction with a chatbot or AI agent that made you want to tear your hair out? Then you understand the huge demand for AI conversation designers: They write the underlying scripts, flows, and responses that AI agents use, making them sound and act, well, more human. They collaborate with linguists, UX designers, and engineers to shape an agent’s personality, and create a better customer experience.
6. AI integration specialist
When companies start using an AI agent — or any kind of AI — one of their first tasks is to integrate it into their existing workflows. An AI integration specialist can help. They work closely with IT teams, customer service managers, and AI solution providers to make sure that everything runs smoothly during a rollout.
7. AI for healthcare specialist
AI has already made inroads into healthcare, but its role is about to grow. Why? Because healthcare has a massive amount of data, Hickin said, and AI and machine learning can aggregate it to help clinicians make better decisions. She predicts that a variety of healthcare roles will emerge, from predictive cancer specialists to healthcare data specialists to head of AI for healthcare.
8. AI customer experience specialist
These pros create and roll out AI-powered strategies to make customer interactions more engaging and efficient. They dig into what customers need, study behavior patterns, and use tools like AI agents and customer service analytics to create personalized customer experiences. It’s a role that combines AI know-how with a strong understanding of what makes customers tick.
9. AI strategist
If there’s a mantra for adopting AI, it’s “Don’t focus on the tech, focus on the problem you want to solve.” This product-based role does just that. AI strategists identify the business problem to be solved, and use AI tools to create new products and generate things like product requirement documents. “They help you go straight from idea to execution much more quickly,” Hickin said, “and they often have a swarm of AI agents doing more of the mundane work.”
10. AI orchestrator
Think of this role as a conductor — only instead of waving a baton over strings and woodwinds, an AI orchestrator conducts disparate agents to work together in harmony. A company might, for example, have some AI agents in Slack, others working within a different product, one creating code for that product, and others building a schedule to test the effectiveness of each agent. “An orchestrator would ultimately design those agents and figure out how they interact with each other, as well as monitor their effectiveness,” said Hickin.
