Innovation Can Rewrite the “AI Disruption” Narrative

Last week at Arizona State University, I sat with educators and business leaders to confront a reality few are prepared for: over 40% of current jobs could vanish in the next decade due to AI and automation. This isn’t science fiction—it’s already underway. And while new roles will emerge, the transition may hit harder than the Great Depression if we don’t act boldly and strategically now.

But there is hope.

Innovation and entrepreneurship hold the key to not only softening the blow but reinventing what meaningful work looks like. Here's how today’s innovators should start thinking—and building—for this future:

1. Build AI-Resilient Skill Pathways

Founders and educators must create platforms that upskill and reskill workers at scale. AI will devour repetitive roles, but it can’t (yet) replace emotional intelligence, judgment, or creativity. Innovators should focus on products and services that teach adaptable human-centric skills—think leadership, design thinking, collaboration, and critical problem-solving.

Opportunity: Launch modular, on-demand learning programs powered by AI tutors tailored to mid-career workers and underserved populations.

2. Reinvent Work, Don’t Just Replace It

Instead of automating away every job, ask: What does purposeful work look like in an AI-first world? New ventures should design human-machine collaboration tools that augment rather than eliminate roles—for example, helping nurses diagnose faster or empowering creatives with smarter design tools.

Opportunity: SaaS tools that embed AI into legacy industries (e.g., construction, logistics, education) to enhance productivity and job satisfaction.

3. Support Entrepreneurial On-Ramps for the Displaced

Millions will be forced to become freelancers or founders—willingly or not. We need low-barrier, AI-augmented entrepreneurial infrastructure: legal entity formation, website creation, customer support, marketing—all powered by bots, but guided by humans.

Opportunity: Platforms that turn anyone into a solopreneur with 80% of their business stack managed by AI.

4. Redesign Economic Safety Nets for the Age of Automation

This is the time for public-private innovation in social infrastructure. Entrepreneurs and policy leaders alike must experiment with portable benefits, universal income pilots, or new ownership models (like platform cooperatives) that can buffer the economic shocks.

Opportunity: Fintech and benefits tech solutions tailored to gig workers, microbusiness owners, and transitional workers.

5. Make Innovation Inclusive by Design

The future of work can’t be built by and for the same 1%. Founders must bake inclusivity into product design and team formation—whether that means training overlooked talent or building AI tools that reflect diverse voices and values.

Opportunity: Invest in inclusive accelerators and venture programs that elevate underrepresented founders solving real-world problems in their communities.

Bottom Line: This isn’t just a disruption, it’s a reckoning. But it can also be a renaissance if we build systems that elevate human potential, not just efficiency. Innovation is our greatest tool...and our greatest responsibility.