Beyond Job Titles: Redesigning Work For The Age Of Automation
AI is transforming the workforce: not by replacing entire jobs, but by reshaping how work gets done at the task level.
Accenture predicts that 44% of working hours in the U.S. are in scope for automation or augmentation. And this shift will touch a wide range of roles – the IMF estimates that up to 60% of jobs in advanced economies will be affected in some way, underscoring just how far-reaching task-level change can be.
For HR leaders, this isn’t a future problem. It’s something that needs to be addressed with urgency.
The old ways of thinking – fixed roles, rigid hierarchies, annual planning cycles – no longer offer the clarity or flexibility needed to adapt. In HR, we’ve spent years moving toward a skills-based approach: one that brings more agility by shifting focus from static job titles to a richer, more dynamic view of what people are capable of.
But now, as AI reshapes not just who does the work but how it gets done, we need the same level of granularity on the work side of the equation. It’s no longer enough to understand skills. We need to understand tasks: the day-to-day units of work that are being automated, augmented, or reallocated in real time.
Skills-based models show you what people can do. But AI is changing what people actually do. Generative tools and AI agents are already transforming individual tasks – drafting content, triaging service tickets, generating code, analyzing data – in ways that don’t neatly align to existing roles or skills frameworks.
That’s why organizations need a clearer, more dynamic picture of work itself. It means going beyond job titles – and even beyond skills – to tap into task-level intelligence.
What Is Task Intelligence?
Task intelligence provides a granular view of what people actually do in their day-to-day roles — the discrete units of work, how challenging they are, how often they’re performed, and their cost and value implications. This detailed insight helps companies make better-informed decisions and workforce plans. One major use case is identifying where automation or AI augmentation could add the most value.
Combined with skills intelligence (which maps what people can do, based on experience, qualifications, and inferred potential), task intelligence unlocks smarter decision-making across the talent lifecycle, as leaders adapt to the growing impact of “digital colleagues.”
- In workforce planning: Understand which tasks are ripe for automation – and which adjacent or emerging skills will become critical as a result. AI can simulate different scenarios to guide smarter investments.
- In hiring and internal mobility: Identify candidates or employees with relevant task experience (not just matching job titles), providing a more accurate predictor of performance and potential.
- In learning and development: Target upskilling and reskilling where it matters most, aligned to the specific tasks affected by AI and the skills needed to take them on.
- In org design and role architecture: Redesign roles around the highest-value tasks – those requiring human creativity, judgment, or interpersonal skill – and restructure teams to optimize how work is shared between people and technology.
From Roles to Real Work
Most companies still plan their workforce around job titles. But job titles are blunt instruments. They tell you where someone sits, not what they do – and certainly not how their work might change in response to automation, or the application of new AI tools.
Task intelligence uncovers the reality behind roles. For example, it might reveal that 40% of a software engineering team’s time (and a similar percentage of salary spend) is tied up in routine, low-effort tasks ripe for automation. This visibility allows organizations to identify where to invest in automation, and more importantly, where to reskill and redeploy talent toward higher-value work: maximizing both efficiency and employee potential.
Without understanding work at the task level, companies risk over- or under-investing in automation, reskilling, or headcount adjustments.
Klarna, for example, significantly reduced its customer service workforce, then later began piloting the return of human agents after finding that AI-powered service couldn’t fully meet customer expectations.
That’s where Beamery’s Workforce Intelligence suite can help: it gives you a detailed, real-time picture of the work being done, plus a way to “test drive” changes before making them. With Beamery, you can see what would happen if you automated certain tasks: how much time and money you’d save, and which people you could redeploy or reskill. This helps leaders plan smarter, avoid costly mistakes, and get the most value from both technology and talent.
Why HR Needs A New Toolkit
The current pace of change has made legacy planning tools obsolete. Static headcount spreadsheets and outdated job descriptions don’t reflect how work is evolving. And they certainly don’t help organizations respond fast when market conditions shift or new technology is introduced.
What’s needed is a living, connected model of your workforce: one that blends internal data with dynamic labor market insight. One that’s powered by AI, to better spot patterns, risks, and opportunities as they emerge. That’s what modern task and skills intelligence platforms can provide.
These systems can help answer questions like:
- What percentage of work in this team is repetitive and ready for automation?
- Which roles contain high-impact tasks that could be redesigned or reallocated?
- Where are we underutilizing internal talent – and how could we redeploy them to match emerging needs?
- Which skills are at risk of becoming obsolete, and which adjacent skills could be developed quickly?
From Theory to Action: Building a More Agile Workforce
Organizations that embrace this new model of workforce intelligence aren’t just reacting to change – they’re planning for it. Here’s what it looks like in practice:
1. Map current work at the task level.
Start by understanding how jobs are structured today. Break roles down into component tasks, and assess their level of automation risk or augmentation potential. AI can help here.
2. Link tasks to skills.
Determine which skills are associated with each task, and where gaps or mismatches exist. This gives you a clearer sense of reskilling needs, internal mobility options, or external hiring priorities. Again, the right AI tools can automatically identify, tag, and update skills data in real time.
3. Use data to redesign roles.
Restructure jobs around the tasks that require human judgment, creativity, or interpersonal skill – and consider automation or AI augmentation for tasks that are routine, repetitive, and costly to the business.
4. Connect planning to action.
Use your insights to inform L&D programs, talent acquisition strategies, succession planning, and workforce investment decisions. You can also prioritize your AI investments better, based on a clearer understanding of where it will add most value.
5. Continuously adapt.
Don’t treat workforce design as a one-off project. With dynamic task and skills intelligence, you can keep your plans live and responsive – ready to adjust as conditions shift.
Download the full checklist for HR leaders.
Why It Matters Now
The automation era is not on the horizon: it’s already here. And CHROs and workforce planners need a new level of clarity and precision. They need to see not just who’s doing what, but how that work is changing – and where and how to act. Task and skills intelligence offers the data, the structure, and the strategic lens to lead this transformation with confidence.
The future of work won’t be shaped by job titles or headcount alone. It will be shaped by decisions about how work gets done: what should be automated, what should be augmented, and where people add the most value. With the right intelligence, organizations can redesign work itself: not just for greater efficiency, but for greater resilience, equity, and opportunity.
How Beamery Helps
Beamery’s Workforce Intelligence Suite combines advanced AI with deep labor market data to give organizations a real-time, holistic view of both talent and work. By analyzing tasks, skills, and workforce patterns, Beamery helps HR leaders identify which parts of their workforce are best suited for automation, which employees can be reskilled, and where internal mobility can unlock hidden potential.
With predictive “digital twin” modeling, Beamery lets organizations simulate the impact of automating tasks before making decisions: showing the cost savings, productivity gains, and redeployment opportunities. This empowers companies to plan smarter, reduce risk, and create more agile, future-ready workforces.