By Aislín Johnston
Twice the work for half the traction is the curveball organisations did not see coming this year. The facts, however, are indisputable. Conversations around professionals feeling overwhelmed by the implications of artificial intelligence not only on their workload, but also by expectations from leadership regarding performance and continuous learning, are up 82%.
Heralded as the dawn of a new age of “super-efficiency”, the paradox in practicality is now impossible to ignore. Professionals worldwide find themselves juggling two roles: the position they were hired for, and the unspoken assumption that to stay competitive and, dare we say, employable, they must endeavour to keep up with constantly moving goalposts AI represents.
Fear Has Hit the Mainstream
Constantly trying to upskill, reskill and stay abreast of the latest innovations carries considerable psychological strain. 51% of professionals believe that integrating AI into their workload feels like another job, and 41% claim that the implacable pace is harmful to their well-being.
This intense pressure, real or perceived, chokes transparent communication. Fears around “Will AI take my job?” incentivise distortion, and newcomers to the workforce feel this insecurity keenly. Gen Z are nearly twice as likely as their predecessors to exaggerate their AI skills, and 62% of workers ages 25-34 expressed grave concerns about their future and what greater AI integrations will mean for them, according to a survey from the Trades Union Congress.
That is not to say that we’re likely headed towards a technological backlash (Luddites, put down your clubs), as optimism over AI and its capabilities generally persists, but these positive feelings come with an unsustainable mental burden. Henley Business School in Reading has attributed the acronym FOBO to this feeling: Feeling Optimistic But Overwhelmed.
Cultural and Structural Risks
Premature scaling of AI compounds a deepening growth debt that surpasses workforce anxieties. Top-heavy, rapid expansion threatens to reshape entire industries or even dismantle them, and, arguably, the pendulum is poised to swing in either direction.
Competition is a case in point. Analysts at Bruegel warn that unchecked AI development could entrench the dominance of incumbents and raise barriers for challengers. At the same time, the International Institute of Communications highlights new antitrust dilemmas that risk eroding healthy market dynamics. Instead of levelling the playing field, AI threatens to build a ceiling of reinforced steel and code, widening the wealth, skills, and equity gaps in ways that are harder to reverse.
This doesn’t apply itself singularly to market competition. The World Economic Forum has flagged disinformation and deepfakes as top global risks, warning that AI systems can accelerate the spread of polarising content. Policy and governance are still playing catch-up, which puts the onus on organisations to improvise. In practice, this means ad hoc processes, murky accountability, and a workforce that utilises AI tools without crucial context or clarity.
Inundation to Superagency
Given these considerable risk factors, what is the solution? The very question hinges on whether we can move through this transition gracefully, or if the bottlenecks become so overbearing, we collectively push the panic button. Are leadership teams even ready, willing, or able to guide their organisations? And if they’re not, how do we teach them to do better?
For McKinsey, it’s creating a culture of “superagency”. Their State of AI report makes the business case clear enough: when organisations scale responsibly, the payoff is tangible – higher productivity, faster innovation, stronger growth.
But superagency doesn’t just fall from the sky; it has to be built. And that means leadership actually doing the hard work: structure, training, transparency. The pendulum is poised to swing either way. The only real choice for leadership is whether to let it swing wildly through inundation or to guide it deliberately towards superagency. Leaders need a cohesive vision for where we’re heading and what that should look like.
Chesamel’s Approach
Chesamel is more than a consultancy; we’re your partner in transformation, and we firmly believe that if your AI strategy isn’t widening your organisation’s horizons, then something needs to change.
Chesamel provides clarity and context to its digital transformation strategies, embedding alongside teams to strip away the noise, build confidence, and help leaders implement AI in ways that create unparalleled opportunities.
If you’re ready to talk about what a superagency could look like within your organisation, let’s talk.
