The expectations of the upcoming managers about the companies of the future and the way they will be organized and managed are clear: “At their core, companies remain the same despite technical developments and new tools such as artificial intelligence,” says Michael Skaropitsch. “Still, what it boils down to is that people need to communicate and work together.” The fact that people are increasingly interacting with AI agents and conducting an orchestra of AI agents does not change this.
Skaropitsch is 24 years old and chairman of the student management consultancy Uniforce in Vienna. “Although AI tools replace certain workflows, when it comes to decisions, recommendations or the production of results, in the end there is a human or a collective of people behind them.” And this means that (successful) communication between people will continue to be important in order to compare results and steer companies in the right direction.
To the people
Anna Fabrizy (20) is board member of the student management consultancy icons in Vienna. She studied business administration (WU Vienna) and psychology (University of Vienna).
Michael Skaropitsch (24) is on the board of the student management consultancy uniforce in Vienna. He studied business administration and commercial law (WU Vienna).
Anna Fabrizy, CEO of Icons in Vienna, another student management consultancy, has a very similar idea of the (near) future. The 20-year-old says, “AI cannot do critical conversations and take social aspects into account. These interpersonal skills will become even more important in the future.” While AI might create slides, people would have to decide when and how which instrument should be used and which tasks should definitely be taken on by people. “I am convinced that people will continue to be needed and human qualities will be essential.” To generalize at the same time: “Anyone who sees AI as a threat has already lost touch.”
“Anyone who sees AI as a threat has already lost touch.”
Anna Fabrizy
The possibilities of AI would also change how management and employees interact with each other: “In the future, it will be important to convince young talents with intellectually demanding tasks.” It is important that companies not only practice attractive employer branding externally, but also live the promised culture internally. “It’s not about being photographed with young students for a LinkedIn post, it’s about treating employees’ suggestions seriously and implementing them.”
Three takeaways
The three main points of the article are:
- Despite AI, communication remains the most important success factor.
Artificial intelligence is above all a tool for future managers. Decisions, responsibility and collaboration still lie with people. This is why communication and social skills become even more important. - Young employees want trust and responsibility.
The new generation wants to take on responsibility early on, contribute their own ideas and work on challenging tasks. Companies should take employees seriously and offer them development opportunities instead of just keeping them busy with routine tasks. - The role of leadership is changing.
In the future, managers will not have to be the greatest technical experts, but rather coordinate teams, promote talent and use the strengths of their employees in a targeted manner. Good leadership means bundling the team’s knowledge and steering it in the right direction.
Because: “We have to move away from the assumption that the young generation is lazy. There are many young people who want to take on responsibility and work a lot.” Also in consulting, where long working hours are not uncommon.
She describes the boys’ expectations of the (young) managers of the future with a few points:
• You want to receive trust and the opportunity to take responsibility.
• You want to be given the opportunity early on to present your own work and not just do the preparatory work for your superiors.
• They want the opportunity to gain experience abroad and take on a variety of tasks instead of repetitive work that an AI can also do.
People and skill management will be essential roles for managers, Skaropitsch expects. You have to “recognize where strengths lie and which people you need to send into which constellations or projects in order to achieve optimal results.”
»I don’t know how much time I would have to invest to be even half as smart as my team. «
Michael Skaropitsch
In his opinion, it is almost more important for future managers to be “good at the communicative level than at the technical level”. Because: “I don’t know how much time I would have to invest in order to be even half as smart as my team. The team’s collective knowledge must be channeled in the right direction: that is the job of the leadership position.”
Which could lead to a greater differentiation between management and specialist careers than is currently experienced. “It’s important to direct the expertise in a productive direction. From a management perspective, it makes more sense to have an overview of the topics and not to understand every single line of code, but to ensure that the team understands every line of code and the output is correct.”
What companies should strive for, says Fabrizy, is “to offer women the same stage within the company as men. However, in order for women and men to be able to act on the same level, many thought patterns still have to be broken.” This process begins with recruitment: “It is crucial to encourage women right from the start and to trust them to apply so that they have the chance to advance further.”
A topic that concerns Fabrizy and Skaropitsch equally is: How do young people manage to enter the world of work? The current situation in many professions is that tasks that were previously completed by young professionals are being automated and digitalized and can often be completed quickly and well – perhaps even faster and better – by an AI application. “Entering a career tends to be more difficult,” says Skaropitsch, “even for young talents.” He and Fabrizy emphasize the importance of early commitment and practical experience, which is also gained during training. They are good basics to make getting started easier. Because young workers are often not necessarily needed and can easily find themselves in a supplicant position.
But Skaropitsch remains optimistic. Although junior positions are becoming fewer, there are always opportunities to “work on or watch projects.” However, this also requires a high degree of flexibility from the boys. He adds something else: Sometimes it is cheaper for companies to employ young people, as the costs of AI can sometimes be very high or even too high.
When AI takes over entry-level tasks, another question arises: How can beginners learn the necessary basics to be prepared for senior positions? Maybe, says Fabrizy, “we need to say goodbye to the idea that everything has to be solved ‘by hand’.” Instead, training should aim to enable tomorrow’s specialists to understand and interpret the results of AI and be able to derive recommendations for action from them. “I believe that these changes will allow you to move more quickly to higher level tasks that were previously reserved for experienced employees. Everyone needs to understand the basics, but the path to more demanding tasks could be shortened,” says Fabrizy.
Otherwise, what Fabrizy is already registering will continue: “Many of my colleagues would rather start a business than go into a corporate setting.” And these are missing. This is also because starting a business is easier and more respected today than it used to be. The start-up scene in Austria is growing and there are more successful role models. “Social media helps you come up with start-up ideas more quickly and see what’s possible: you try things out, gain experience and see how far you get.”
