The traditional organizational chart is rarely identified as a barrier to innovation. However, as organizations increasingly encourage staff to embrace AI technologies, Aneesh Raman, an executive at LinkedIn, posits that these conventional structures may be obstructing progress.
Raman, who serves as LinkedIn’s chief economic opportunity officer and co-authored a new publication addressing the future of work, states, “The org chart was built in the industrial age to bring order, predictability, and stability to rapidly growing organizations. Companies need to let that go, as it’s going to hold back innovation.”
Rather than relying on top-down transformation initiatives, Raman suggests that leaders should allow employees to explore AI independently, even if their ventures span various departments and roles. “Where you’re going to see the real returns on AI isn’t just a new workflow around AI, but rather new work around human capability,” he emphasizes.
A seasoned professional with a background as a CNN war correspondent and an Obama speechwriter, Raman co-authored Open to Work: How to Get Ahead in the Age of AI with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky. This book leverages data from LinkedIn and case studies of early adopters to present what he describes as a “how-to-human-with-AI” playbook, aiming to counteract the prevalent “fatalism” in discussions regarding AI's impact on employment.
He encourages individuals to assess their roles and how AI intersects with them across three domains. The first category includes tasks that AI currently performs, such as code generation, executing quick analyses, or drafting initial content to inspire further writing. The second category focuses on experiments aimed at creating new outputs with AI, while the third involves leveraging time saved from the first category and insights from the second to collaborate with others using AI. “What are you doing with other people?” he inquires.
“It’s going to be a worker-led transition, and so companies are going to have to figure out how to let individuals start to move into this new era in their day-to-day work,” Raman asserts. “We have more autonomy than we often think in terms of pushing for what we want to do that might push our work to the next level.”
What skills will matter in the AI workforce?
LinkedIn is currently transitioning to a “skills-first approach” in hiring and employment practices. This strategy suggests that employers should prioritize specific skills and capabilities—alongside evidence of those skills—over mere job titles on resumes. Additionally, LinkedIn is incorporating AI into its product offerings, including an AI agent designed to assist with hiring processes.
Despite the expanding capabilities of AI in automating knowledge work, uncertainty remains regarding the skills employees will require. For instance, coding was widely regarded for over a decade as a reliable path to lucrative employment, but this perception is evolving in the era of “vibe-coding.” Anthropic, the developer behind Claude, now identifies careers in computing and mathematics as increasingly susceptible to AI advancements.
Raman maintains that computer science remains relevant. Instead, he advocates for recognizing the comprehensive skill set that a degree in computer science provides. “A computer science degree doesn’t just teach coding alone. It teaches complex thinking, organizational design, and structures of systems,” he states.
Workers in the United States are expressing skepticism about the benefits of AI adoption. A recent CBS News poll indicated that two-thirds of Americans believe that AI will lead to job reductions; a similar proportion is unconvinced that technology firms will implement AI responsibly.
Conversely, AI appears to be gaining ground in Asia, where populations demonstrate greater comfort with the technology. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in October revealed significantly lower concerns among respondents from Asia compared to those from the West. For instance, only 16% of South Koreans reported feeling “more concerned than excited” about AI, the lowest percentage among the 25 countries surveyed; in stark contrast, 50% of U.S. respondents expressed apprehension.
In addition, there has been a notable surge in Chinese consumers adopting OpenClaw, an open-source AI framework, and local governments are rapidly promoting “one-person companies,” or AI startups aiming to create innovative products.
“There’s a hunger in Asia, not just among companies but also among workers, to learn about these tools and put them to use,” Raman observes. “There’s an entrepreneurial culture in a lot of countries in Asia.”
Time to adapt
Despite these developments, Raman understands the concerns of workers regarding automation. “There was a career ladder, and there was extreme clarity about what you had to do to get on each rung of that ladder,” he notes.
Nonetheless, he remains optimistic that, in the long run, employees will benefit as AI begins to dismantle traditional corporate structures and approaches to talent management. “Very few people have ever had real control over their career,” he argues. “Because of AI, I think we’re about to have the first generations at work that have more control over their career than any who’ve come before.”
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