"If 2023 was the year of shock and 2024 was the year of experimentation, 2025 marks the moment the corporate world finally accepted that artificial intelligence is not just a novelty-it is the new infrastructure of work. According to Justina Nixon-Saintil, IBM's Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility and Chief Impact Officer, the conversation has fundamentally shifted from fascination to urgent integration."
"It was sometime this year where I feel like the conversation changed from, 'Oh, there are these really cool virtual assistants' ... to, 'Oh, wow, companies are investing in this in a big way, and this is actually happening, and it's transforming work,' Nixon-Saintil said. She noted that as recently as July, industry panels were still debating whether to halt development."
"As the inevitability of AI has set in, Nixon-Saintil described seeing how the anxiety regarding job displacement has evolved. The VP, who works extensively with colleges as a top-level liaison from the corporate sector, said the definition of "knowing how to use AI" is changing. It is no longer enough to possess technical proficiency; the workforce now demands what Nixon-Saintil calls "power skills" or "soft skills"-specifically, the ability to apply human oversight to algorithmic output."
2025 is identified as the year when corporations accepted AI as core work infrastructure. The conversation shifted from curiosity to urgent integration and large-scale investment. Industry panels debated halting development as recently as July, but momentum toward deployment accelerated and leaders called for rapid action. Workforce roles are changing as rote tasks are automated. Employers now prize power skills—human oversight, judgment, and the ability to interpret and apply algorithmic output—over mere technical proficiency. IBM research indicates a premium for these skills as companies redesign roles and training to align with AI-enabled workflows.
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