I came across an article by the CIO of Goldman Sachs.
A senior banker at Goldman asked him, “With AI getting better every day, what is the 10% of my job I should protect and focus on so I stay relevant?”
Most of us are probably thinking some version of it.
He said: Forget the 10%. Let it go. Focus on becoming a new 100%.
Let me share an analogy from the article.
Imagine a horse rider learning to drive a car. What riding skills should they carry over to become a good driver? Almost none. The horse-riding technique is useless in a car. But their instincts, their reflexes, and their sense of reading the road can transfer.
That’s what he meant.
The skills we’ve built, the specific tasks, and the step-by-step ways we do things—some of those will get replaced. But our judgement, our ability to read a situation, and our sense of what the client actually needs before they ask do not get replaced. They become more valuable.
He gave another example.
Right now, a banker answers a client’s question about market risk maybe a day or two after the client asks. In the future, with AI working in the background all night, the banker might wake up to a briefing that says: Here’s what happened. Here’s how it affects your clients. Here are some ideas.
The banker’s job then becomes: Review it, apply judgement, and call the client before they even think to ask.
That’s not a smaller job. That’s a more senior job.
So, what does this mean for us in sales?
I think about our calls with attorneys. Right now, a lot of our preparation is reactive. We get on a call, answer what they ask, and explain what we do. But what if we came to calls already knowing which matter they are likely working on, what pressure they are under, and what question they have not asked us yet?
AI does not replace the call. It makes the call sharper. Our job moves from answering to advising.
The learning for me was this: The question is not what part of my job is safe from AI. The better question is: What does my job look like when AI is doing the routine parts for me?
Then start building that version of yourself now, before you are forced to.
For the full context, this article is worth a read.