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With AI gaining ground in routine and creative tasks, Benjamin Todd highlights five skills that still heavily rely on humans: communication, social relations, leadership, operations management, and practical use of artificial intelligence tools. The analysis also cites a Microsoft study from 2025 on professions with greater technological overlap.
AI is already causing changes in the job market and increasing the concern of professionals who fear losing ground to increasingly capable systems. In this scenario, career specialist Benjamin Todd pointed out five human skills that should gain value in the next decade.
Communication becomes a differentiator amid content overload
For Todd, communication remains essential because it involves trust, authentic relationships, and the ability to choose what really needs to be produced. With AI tools creating large volumes of content, the value may shift from production itself to discernment.
He states that knowing how to identify what should be done and evaluating the quality of the result tends to become more important. In other words, it’s not enough to generate texts, presentations, or quick responses. The differentiator will be the human judgment behind the delivery.
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Social skills remain difficult to automate
Another highlighted area is the ability to deal with people. Although AI advances in social interactions, Todd assesses that people will still seek human connection and continue to care about work produced by humans.
Recognizing emotions, resolving conflicts, and building relationships in the professional environment are examples of transferable skills that remain difficult for robots to master. This social dimension can weigh especially in roles that rely on trust and collaboration.
Leadership, judgment, and decisions gain weight
Todd also points out leadership, judgment, and decision-making as core competencies. He recalled that, in an analysis made in 2017, judgment and decision appeared among the most demanded skills in the most sought-after jobs.
Even with the automation of routine tasks, decisions remain in the hands of people. AI can help organize data, speed up processes, and suggest paths, but the final responsibility still depends on human evaluation.
Operations management requires human common sense
Operations management emerges as another skill resistant to automation. Todd summarizes this need by stating that every organization needs people to truly manage things.
Although a significant part of administrative work is being automated, more complex activities still require common sense. Coordinating processes, resolving unforeseen issues, and keeping an organization running involves decisions that are not limited to repetitive tasks.
Knowing how to use AI will also be a human skill
The fifth highlighted skill is precisely the implementation of AI. According to Todd, learning to use these tools to perform real work may be one of the most important actions for the coming years.
He states that there is still an advantage in having a human in the process, capable of filling gaps and reviewing important decisions. At this point, AI ceases to be seen only as a threat and becomes a tool that requires critical mastery.
A Microsoft study from 2025 listed professions with the greatest overlap with artificial intelligence, such as interpreters, translators, historians, mathematicians, proofreaders, writers, journalists, and technical writers. However, researcher Kiran Tomlinson stated that the study deals with the productive use of chatbots, not the elimination of jobs.
In your opinion, which of these skills should weigh more in the coming years: communication, leadership, management, human relations, or mastery of AI tools? Comment on what you already notice in your work and whether these changes seem like an opportunity or a threat.
