The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics has forced every modern business to confront a critical question: Will robots take over business jobs?
Automation is not a new concept and has been around since the early 2000s. Still, to date, automation is defined as anything that either replaces humans and/or human’s inability to complete tasks by themselves. Automation had its roots in manufacturing; however, post-pandemic, we can inarguably say that it has expanded beyond its roots to include applications in healthcare, security, transportation, agriculture, construction, energy, and many other areas.
Robotics, or robotic process automation, is also increasingly being used, aided by AI and other infrastructure provided by cloud computing and fast-paced internet solutions. Robotics incorporates operations that can be autonomously or semi-autonomously performed in co-operation with humans, while automation is all about an increase in efficiency, productivity, quality, and reliability using autonomous systems performing in structured environments over extended periods of time. In 2025, the focus of automation has moved beyond mere productivity gains to fundamental workflow redesign and capturing the real-world economic value of AI.
Today, business is witnessing AI driving a profound job transformation rooted in augmentation, workflow redesign, and the creation of super-agent roles. Industrial reports analyse the major 2025 trend as the rise of Agentic AI—advanced systems that can autonomously plan and execute multistep workflows, effectively acting as virtual coworkers. The narrative, therefore, has shifted away from mass displacement, where the question of robots taking over business jobs has now moved towards task-level re-engineering, specifically through AI Agents.
Research from McKinsey Global Institute (2025) emphasises that while a significant percentage of work activities are technically automatable, the value is unlocked by fundamentally redesigning entire workflows around AI tools. The long-term AI opportunity is projected at an added $4.4 trillion in productivity growth from corporate use cases, a figure now being realised through targeted, full-stack deployments.
The BMW Group, in collaboration with Google Cloud, uses GenAI to create digital twins of factory assets and supply chains. This allows for thousands of simulations to optimise industrial planning and distribution efficiency, significantly augmenting the work of logistics planners and engineers by proactively identifying bottlenecks. In professional services, the most widespread organisational change is the deployment of "Copilot"-style assistants across all functions, termed as the ‘Copilot Effect’.
Firms are integrating Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate routine tasks, with some companies reporting savings of over 800 working hours per month for engineers and professionals by streamlining tasks like summarising meeting notes and drafting emails. This integration transforms high-cost employees into super agents, i.e., hybrid professionals who use AI to multiply their output.
In the finance sector, automation is transforming back-office, compliance, and risk assessment. For example, global banks that partner with consultants can build and launch a bespoke GenAI chatbot, freeing up human agents for more complex issues. The newer trend involves AI Data Agents that actively monitor financial health. A prominent example is a mid-sized industrial company that utilises AI to automatically monitor spending and flag budget deviations, resulting in up to 20% fewer accounting errors and enhanced cash flow visibility.
In retail and marketing, hyper-personalisation has been achieved through automation, for e.g., E-commerce giant Shopify introduced "Shopify Magic," and brands like Netflix and Spotify use AI to not just recommend content, but to tailor the user experience—such as personalising ad creatives or using AI to power an AI DJ that explains its music choice to the user. This personalisation at scale is the 2025 standard, shifting the marketer's role to brand governance and strategic A/B testing.
So, will robots take over business jobs?
The future holds more potential for automation. The new era of Industry 6.0 is defined by the convergence of hyper-automation with human cognitive enhancement. AI agents and robots don't just work for humans; they work with them to achieve unprecedented levels of operational excellence. The critical challenge then for today’s business students is recognising that the future of work is not defined by technological replacement, but by talent alignment and AI fluency. So, the answer to the question, "Will robots take over business jobs?" is that they are already taking over tasks, not roles, leading to higher productivity and a greater demand for human skills like judgment, strategy, and ethical oversight.
Dr Roshni Paul is an Assistant Professor at SP Jain Global and teaches Business Disruptive Technologies, Research Methods, and Entrepreneurship to undergraduate students. Dr Paul is a seasoned higher education expert with a proven international track record of teaching in the UK and UAE, as well as extensive postdoctoral research experience across the UK, EU, and in global collaborations. As a published researcher, her contributions have been featured in peer-reviewed journals and presented at prestigious international conferences. Committed to the philosophy that incremental improvements catalyse transformative change, she is focused on developing initiatives that create meaningful impact
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