LinkedIn CEO on what you need to do if you don't want AI to kill your job

LinkedIn

CEO

Ryan Roslansky

warns that workers face significant disruption as artificial intelligence transforms the job market, but says those who embrace uniquely human skills can survive the transition. "It's Pollyanna to believe that this transition just easily occurs," Roslansky said in a recent interview. "There's going to be a ton of disruption. There's going to be a ton of uncertainty along the way."The CEO, who has overseen LinkedIn's growth from $7 billion to $17 billion in annual revenue over five years, said Amazon's recent announcement that it expects workforce reductions due to AI adoption signals broader changes ahead. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees this week that AI will reduce headcount as the company gains "efficiency gains from using AI extensively."

Don't bury your head in the sand

Roslansky's first piece of advice for workers is simple: acknowledge the reality of AI's impact rather than ignoring it.

"You can't just say, 'This isn't a thing.' You have to really jump into it and adapt," he said. LinkedIn's data shows a 6x increase in AI-related skills requirements in job postings over the past year, while members adding AI skills to their profiles jumped 20x.

Lean into human skills that differentiate you

Despite AI's capabilities, Roslansky believes human skills remain the key differentiator in an automated world."Whatever is uniquely human about yourself, lean into that. Communication, collaboration, all those things, be really good at that," he advised. "That could be the thing that actually helps you stand out."The LinkedIn platform itself demonstrates AI's limitations in human interaction. While AI can effectively identify potential job candidates from LinkedIn's billion-user database, Roslansky noted it fails at more nuanced tasks like convincing someone to change jobs—something that requires genuine human persuasion and relationship-building.

Expect a 'super messy middle' before things improve

While Roslansky is optimistic about AI's long-term potential to solve major problems and democratize business creation, he cautions that the transition period will be challenging."Just like there has been in any historical labor market paradigm shift, things usually end up in a much better, amazing place," he said. "But there's this super messy middle, and I think that that is going to be the case with AI."The CEO hopes LinkedIn can help ease this transition by connecting workers with learning opportunities and career transitions as the job market evolves.