Dell Survey Suggests How Automation, AI Will Change Workplaces by 2030

A digital-first future is coming. But not everyone is so sure it’ll be a good thing. That’s one of the major takeaways from a new survey of 3,800 business leaders conducted by Dell Technologies and the Institute for the Future (IFTF). The survey, which centered on the ways emerging technologies will shape how people live and work in 2030, examines the impact automation might have on the corporate world. It also discusses how artificial intelligence could change how people work and questions whether a “digital transformation” is something business leaders believe will actually improve their organizations. Read on to learn more survey respondents’ through about how new technologies will fundamentally change workplaces.

The thousands of business leaders surveyed by Dell Technologies and IFTF cannot agree on whether automation will save time in the office. Half of them say that by 2030, automation will save them time and the other half say it will not.

It won’t take until 2030 for humans and robots to work together. The survey found 82 percent of respondents said that humans and machines will work collaboratively as “integrated teams” within the next five years. Moreover, 26 percent of business leaders say they’re already integrating humans and machines.

Looking ahead, 42 percent of business leaders believe that employees will achieve higher job satisfaction by being able to offload some of their tasks to machines. But that also suggests that 58 percent of business leaders believe machines will either have no effect on job satisfaction or cause it to decline.

So, which tasks will ultimately be offloaded to machines by 2030? According to the survey, respondents believe inventory management and financial administration tasks, such as invoicing will be automated and no longer require humans. Troubleshooting efforts, delivery drivers, and administrators will also likely see their jobs disappear at the hands of automation. Caring for elderly and educating children were the least likely job functions to be offloaded to machines.

For a true digital transformation to occur, overcoming security concerns will be critical. However, 51 percent of business leaders report that their companies have “ineffective security measures” in place to enable digital transformation. Nearly six in 10 respondents said that their workforce isn’t “sufficiently security savvy” to move forward with a digital transformation.

To achieve a true digital transformation, companies will need to begin engaging in a variety of activities, according to business leaders. Nine in 10 say that companies need to get employees to “buy in” to digital transformation and 88 percent believe the “customer experience” will need to be a “boardroom concern” before it can happen. Furthermore, 85 percent of respondents believe companies need to tie compensation to digital goals, ensure the digital transformation is led by senior leaders, and institute policies that allow for a “fully remote, flexible workforce.”

The changing digital landscape will prompt a major shift in education, most business leaders believe. In fact, 56 percent of business leaders say that schools will need to change their educational philosophies to teach students how to learn. That would serve students far more effectively, according to the business leaders, than preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist.

In a separate study about the future of the workplace cited by Dell, IFTF found that 85 percent of the jobs that will exist in 2030 have yet to be invented and brought into the workplace.

While 2030 might seem a long way off, companies will need to take several steps to achieve a true digital transformation. So, within the next five years, 94 percent of companies believe they’ll have the requisite cyber-security practices in place to allow for the transformation. Nine in 10 business leaders believe they’ll be offering their products as a service in five years and 80 percent of companies will have “hyper-connected customer experiences” that rely on virtual reality.

While digital transformation might sound appealing, business leaders still have some significant concerns. Nearly six in 10 of them believe that technology will fail to connect people to the right tasks in the office. They also worry that computers will fail to see the difference between “good and bad commands.” Worst of all they fear that digitally transformed companies will have more to lose from the cyber-attacks of the future.