As cognitive technologies make further inroads into the enterprise, traditional talent strategies are shifting, and executives are pondering the ramifications of an increasingly automated workforce. According to Deloitte's 2018 Global Human Capital Trends report, 42 percent of surveyed executives expect AI may be widely deployed in the enterprise in the next three to five years. As such, there are questions about what a newly AI- and robotics-enabled workforce might look like, and how CIOs and other business executives might incorporate these new tools. MIT Technology Review's inaugural EmTech Next conference, held in June at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, brought together more than 400 innovators, entrepreneurs, and business leaders to discuss emerging technologies in the workplace. Janet Foutty, chair and CEO of Deloitte Consulting LLP, and Erica Volini, principal and U.S. Human Capital Leader at Deloitte Consulting LLP, participated in a lively session on the future of work, a topic that slices across virtually all levels of the C-suite as leaders confront an ever-changing business, technology, and talent landscape.

AI, robotics and cognitive computing are advancing rapidly and will have a massive impact on how people do their jobs, eliminating some tasks done by humans altogether and significantly altering others. That makes the future of work a clouded, even ominous, horizon for many companies today. One challenge, discussed at the recent EmTech Next conference, produced by MIT Technology Review, is hitting the right balance of technology and human skills. And that's not easy for organizations eager to forge ahead with the latest and greatest tech. "The idea of people and machines working together is so important fundamentally to the future of this conversation because what we all bring to the table - our humanity, authenticity, and ability to understand and interpret, I don't believe will ever be replaced by machines. It's how we collaborate together that is really going to change the conversation and create the opportunity" said Deloitte Consulting Chair and CEO, Janet Foutty in a talk on the future of work with Deloitte Consulting's US Human Capital Leader Erica Volini.

A new class of smart machines is emerging that can help you automate your business and make life easier for professionals by eliminating many of the routine, manual aspects of their jobs, freeing them to work on more innovative and strategic areas. Products and technologies such as intelligent agents/digital assistants, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) systems, intelligent software agents, expert systems and robotic office devices are likely to become more common in work environments in the years to come. A report released in February 2016 by industry research firm Research and Markets, "Artificial Intelligence Market: Global Forecast to 2020," forecasts that the AI market will grow from 419.7 million in 2014 to 5.05 billion by 2020, at a compound annual growth rate of 54 percent from 2015 to 2020. The key factors driving this growth include diversified application areas of AI, improved productivity, and increased levels of customer satisfaction, the report says. The rising demand for intelligent systems is expected to propel the growth of the market in the next five years.