In the rush to govern AI and fear automation, organisations are ignoring the most urgent issue: capability. This article argues HR and L&D must distinguish autopilot risks from co-pilot opportunity, move beyond basic AI prompt training, and prioritise critical thinking, synthesis and change leadership. Lee Whitmore sets a four-point plan.
For the people profession, the conversation around AI has been dominated by two themes: the anxiety of automation (which jobs will be lost?) and the ethics of governance (how do we manage bias?). Both are vital. But in our focus on these two points, we are missing the most immediate and practical challenge of all: the AI capability gap.
The true risk of AI is not the technology itself, but a workforce that does not know how to use it effectively, safely, or strategically
This is not a future-tense problem. AI is already here, adopted department by department, employee by employee. The true risk of AI is not the technology itself, but a workforce that does not know how to use it effectively, safely, or strategically. The urgent task for HR and L&D leaders is to pivot. We must move beyond our reactive governance role and proactively lead the single greatest workforce upskilling mandate of our generation.
The L&D framework: Autopilot vs. co-pilot
The first step is to create a clear strategic framework. We must separate AI’s “autopilot” functions from its “co-pilot” potential.
The “Autopilot” refers to autonomous systems that make decisions for us. This includes the biased CV-screening tools and automated performance management systems that rightly concern us. This is HR’s governance problem. Our role here is to be the critical auditor, partnering with IT and Legal to test, vet, and (in many cases) reject systems that are opaque, biased, or unethical.
The “Co-pilot” refers to generative tools that work with us. This is the AI assistant helping a developer write code, the marketing professional brainstorming campaign ideas, or the analyst building a financial model. This is HR’s L&D opportunity. Our role here is to be the chief enabler, building the skills and competencies our people need to augment their human insight with powerful new tools.
Moving beyond “prompt engineering”
Right now, most AI training is glorified prompt engineering. This is a shallow, short-sighted approach. It’s the 2024 equivalent of teaching people how to use the “SUM” function in Excel and calling it a data strategy. A true L&D strategy for AI must go deeper. It must focus on developing two distinct, parallel skill tracks:
- AI-Augmented technical skills (The “how”)
- Core human-only skills (The “why”)
The first track is about execution. A leader I was talking to recently demonstrated the problem perfectly. He proudly shared a market analysis report that his new AI tool had generated. “It’s incredible,” he said, “it did this in 30 seconds.” I asked him two questions: “What data source did it use for the competitor analysis?” and “What key market segment did it ignore?” He had no idea. He hadn’t been trained to interrogate the output, only to generate it. His ‘efficiency gain’ was actually a strategic risk.
This is the capability gap L&D must close. We must redesign our L&D modules to integrate AI as a partner in every function.
- For finance: The old skill was ‘financial modelling’. The new, augmented skill is ‘AI-powered strategic analysis’. The AI can build the model, but L&D must train the human analyst to interrogate it. The new core competency is scepticism.
- For developers: The old skill was ‘writing code’. The new, augmented skill is ‘AI-assisted solution architecture’. The AI can write flawless boilerplate code, freeing the developer to focus on the strategic architecture and complex problem-solving.
The new L&D priority: The human-only skills
Paradoxically, the more AI handles the technical work, the more valuable our core human skills become. By automating the ‘what’, AI puts an enormous premium on the ‘why’. This is where L&D must now focus its primary budget and attention. The most valuable employees in the co-pilot era will be those with highly developed skills in:
- Critical thinking and interrogation: The ability to look at an AI-generated report and spot the flaw, the bias, or the hallucination
- Strategic synthesis: The ability to take three different AI-generated outputs and synthesise them into a single, novel solution
- Empathy and communication: The ability to lead a team through change, manage the human dynamics of a hybrid team (of people and AI), and build psychological safety
- Change leadership and adaptability: The ability to constantly learn and integrate new tools, seeing them as partners, not threats
We already know these are important. The difference is that they are no longer ‘soft skills’, they are the most critical, hard-edged technical requirements for the new way of working.
I recently helped a consultant that was redesigning their “How To Create A Great Presentation” workshop. They rightly identified that AI can now create a visually perfect slide deck in seconds. This makes much of their old training redundant. Their new, redesigned programme focuses on the two things the humans do better than AI. First, forming a compelling, persuasive argument that will resonate with their specific audience, and second, delivering that argument with human empathy, reading the room and responding to non-verbal cues. They are no longer training the ‘what’ (deck design); they are training the ‘why’ (the human act of persuasion).
A practical four-point plan
This transformation will not happen on its own. The people profession must own the strategy and the execution.
- Form an L&D-led AI centre of excellence: Do not let this be a purely IT-led function. L&D must partner with IT to create a central hub for training, good practice sharing, and competency development. This hub should proactively identify and scale the augmented skills needed by each department
- Redefine competency frameworks: Stop measuring ‘skill in X software’ and start measuring ‘skill in X process’. For example, a Level 1 competency in data analysis might be using AI to clean a spreadsheet. Level 4 competency would be developing and testing a new AI-driven forecasting model
- Launch AI-augmented leadership programmes: We must formally train our managers on this new world. This includes L&D modules on how to manage the performance of an AI-augmented team, how to coach for critical thinking, and how to use AI-simulators to practice difficult conversations safely
- Lead the governance council: This is the ‘Autopilot’ side of our role. The people profession must take its seat at the head of the governance table, ensuring that any AI used in hiring, promotion, or performance management is fair, transparent, and auditable.
The challenge is to move from being passive observers to active architects. The AI revolution is not just a technological shift; it is a human capability shift. It is L&D’s moment to lead.
Lee Whitmore is an author, podcast host, leadership coach at Founder of Level Up Leadership
