Sarah, a marketing director at a Fortune 500 company, recently celebrated her team’s 40% productivity increase after implementing AI-powered content generation tools. Her seasoned copywriters now produce campaigns in hours rather than days, while AI handles routine social media posts and email drafts. The metrics look impressive, but Sarah faces a dilemma: She hasn’t hired a junior copywriter in two years, and her three senior writers are approaching retirement.

This scenario is playing out across industries worldwide. While organizations tout remarkable efficiency gains from artificial intelligence, they’re inadvertently dismantling the career ladders that have traditionally aided skilled professionals. AI could replace more than 50% of tasks performed by market research analysts, and 67% of tasks for sales representatives. Yet, these entry-level roles have historically served as a training ground for tomorrow’s department heads and strategic leaders.

 …