Forbes India: Senior Director at Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work Outlines 21 New Jobs of the Next Decade

“Over the next 10 years, tectonic shifts in technology, especially the rise of automation and artificial intelligence (AI), will see the emergence of new jobs never imagined before,” writes Manish Bahl. “The optimistic outlook is that though work has always changed, it has also always been with us. And always will.” Excerpts:

“Based on the major macroeconomic, political, demographic, societal, cultural, business and technology trends observable today, we take a look at 21 new jobs that will emerge over the next 10 years and will become cornerstones of the future of work. These jobs have the potential to create mass employment, provide work for scores of people in offices, stores and factory floors and are not to be confused with science fiction. They are strongly expected to be on the HR’s radar to fill for real in the coming decade.

These include data detective, bring your own IT facilitator, ethical sourcing officer, artificial Intelligence business development manager, master of edge computing, walker/talker, fitness commitment counsellor, AI-assisted healthcare technician, cyber city analyst, genomic portfolio director, man-machine teaming manager, financial wellness coach, digital tailor, chief trust officer, quantum machine learning analyst, virtual store Sherpa, personal data broker, personal memory curator, augmented reality journey builder, highway controller, and genetic diversity officer.

This list of jobs has been carefully curated from across many disciplines, markets and technologies with a three-point common theme that is centered on the human touch— Coaching, Caring, and Connecting—which will stay relevant, no matter what new technologies emerge on the horizon. ‘Coaching’ means helping people get better at things such as managing their finances. ‘Caring’ refers to improving people’s health and wellness. ‘Connecting’ refers to the bridges we form between man and machine, traditional and shadow IT, the physical and the virtual world, and commerce and ethics. Thus, these 3Cs explain why humans need technology as a means to a happy and efficient life, and not as an end in itself.

To imagine that some jobs won’t go away due to automation, AI and intelligent machines is to engage in magical thinking. And to suggest that many new jobs won’t appear due to automation, AI and intelligent machines is to fall prey to a lack of imagination.

The jobs of the future reflect the fact that technology has improved things for humans, not robbed us of what we value most: our very humanity. When machines do everything, there will still be plenty for humans to do.”

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