Next Rung. Why AI is breaking the career ladder, and how to find your next step - Chris Simmance

Every previous technological revolution carried within it opportunities for displaced workers. The AI revolution is different: it’s not a specific tool, but a general labour replacement, and it performs best at exactly the cognitive work that has until now formed the career path for knowledge workers. Put simply, from this point on, businesses need fewer people. The ladder itself is dissolving, and those in the middle of it can feel the change.

The Next Rung speaks to anyone who senses that the explanations from the top about how work is shifting don’t match what they are seeing. It doesn’t just help them understand what’s happening, it sets out the specific moves they can make to future-proof their own role, household and family this week.

Chris Simmons is one of those building the AI tools that are doing the displacing. He advises the business owners making the decisions about how to structure their workforce, and educates the children who will inherit what is left. Uncomfortable, honest, yet ultimately constructive, The Next Rung is essential reading for anyone ready to face the reality of the future of work.

AI is breaking the career ladder. Here’s how to take the next step, before the rung in front of you disappears.