UK business leaders aren’t waiting for artificial intelligence (AI) to reshape work, they’re already hiring for it.
According to findings from Employment Hero, 62% of UK business leaders are creating or planning to create new roles in response to AI, while a further 22% are reshaping existing roles.
A number of these positions are entry-level and focused on enabling teams to use AI safely and effectively. Responsibilities often include managing AI tools, troubleshooting workflows, spotting errors and helping teams extract real value from the technology in-house, signalling a shift in how workplaces are approaching AI adoption. No longer confined to technical teams, it’s fast becoming embedded in everyday business operations.
The same research found that AI skills are now the number one skillset employers look for in new candidates, and that “Chief AI Officer” is the C-suite position business leaders would most like to introduce to their workforce. Taken together, the data points to a simple reality: businesses don’t just need AI to perform tasks, they need people who know how to work with it effectively.
From Automation Anxiety to Human-AI Collaboration
Automation anxiety around job losses, redundancy and general technological displacement have dominated conversations about AI for years. And although that narrative is popular, Employment Hero’s data suggests that’s not quite the full picture.
Rather than replacing employees, AI is reshaping jobs entirely. Employers are creating roles that sit at the intersection of AI and business operations, help teams understand AI outputs, monitor AI quality and accuracy, and serve as a bridge between technical teams and the broader workforce. It’s a shift that shows businesses are moving from a replacement narrative to a collaboration narrative, where humans provide oversight, judgment and context about AI.
For SMEs in particular, these roles are emerging as practical support, helping to smooth workflows, improve productivity and reduce errors, often without requiring deep technical expertise, or taking up time that a lot of small businesses don’t have.
Evidence Shows AI Skills Improve Hiring Outcomes
There’s growing evidence that the labour market is applying this to hiring too. A recent Oxford University study examining 1,7000 recruiters and prospective employees found that candidates who list AI skills on their CVs are significantly more likely to receive interview callbacks, often by margins of 8-15% (depending on the role).
The research also showed that AI skills function as a hiring signal, that the effect spans multiple job categories, and that certification can help close traditional labour market gaps by improving prospects for candidates without elite educational backgrounds. In other words, being AI competent is already changing how employers evaluate talent, not just in AI-specific roles but across mainstream occupations.
What This Means for Employers and Jobseekers
For employers and jobseekers, the message is clear: competitive advantage increasingly depends on human-AI collaboration, not AI alone. That means hiring for AI literacy, upskilling existing staff, integrating AI into daily workflows and establishing oversight and quality control. Businesses that can do that effectively will inevitably be better placed to improve productivity, retain talent and generally make day to day work easier.
The Future of Work Belongs to AI-Capable Teams
Between Employment Hero’s data and emerging academic evidence, it’s clear that a major change in how we think of essential skills is underway. The organisations that thrive won’t be those with the most AI tools, but those with the most AI-capable people. In that sense, AI literacy has moved beyond being a “nice to have”. It’s becoming one of the most important hiring advantages on both sides of the market.
