The future of work isn’t a distant horizon — it’s being built right now. Some are experimenting with AI, but most of us feel anxious, navigating rapid change with outdated playbooks.
What many don’t realize is that our uniquely human skills are what make us irreplaceable. And in today’s volatile job market, it’s something young people especially can’t afford to overlook.
At LinkedIn, we wanted to understand what these capabilities actually are, so we talked to neuroscientists, organizational psychologists, behavioral economists, and talent leaders.
We landed on five capabilities, focusing on the core inputs that each of us can develop individually and that, in many ways, enable everything else. We call them the 5Cs.
AI can generate possibilities based on patterns. Humans decide which ones matter and ask, “What if we tried something completely different?”
We can harness that curiosity and the openness that comes with it to learn about AI and how it’s going to transform our jobs, to understand ourselves and figure out what makes us irreplaceable, and, most importantly, to align our careers with our curiosities.
The polio vaccine was invented because Jonas Salk and his colleagues wondered if dead viruses could teach the body to fight live ones. He could have been wrong. He took the time to test his idea anyway. Curiosity is what made Wilbur and Orville Wright wonder: If birds can fly, why can’t we?
At work, curiosity makes the routine suddenly become about discovery. The doctor who notices that a patient flinches when discussing something happening in their life and probes deeper, uncovering the real source of stress.
AI can calculate risk. Only humans decide what risk is worth taking.
Courage is the willingness to act without complete information and to move forward when the outcome isn’t guaranteed. It’s choosing to be the test case when everyone else is waiting for proof.
At work, courage turns hesitation into action. The developer who suggests a new framework mid-project to better serve customers. The sales manager who tells a client their request isn’t right, then guides them to a better solution. The designer who pushes for a full rebrand when everyone else sticks to the status quo.
AI can remix what exists. Humans decide what’s worth reimagining.
Creativity is the ability to generate something genuinely new, not just by recombining existing elements, but by imagining possibilities that never existed before.
At work, creativity isn’t confined to “creative” roles. The nurse who designs a comfort kit for anxious patients after noticing what helps them relax. The data analyst who visualizes information in a way that makes invisible patterns suddenly obvious. The teacher who turns her classroom into a mock archaeological dig to teach history.
All those people are not just solving problems but creating new ways of responding to situations that others don’t see.
AI can simulate concern. Only humans feel it and express it.
Compassion is what makes us humans at work, not simply employees at work. Compassion transforms transactions into relationships and teams into communities. The manager who notices an employee’s performance dropping and discovers they’re caring for a sick parent, then quietly arranges flexible hours. The customer service rep who stays on the phone for longer than needed with a confused customer, walking her through each step.
One consultant we talked to, Neil, encourages members of the teams he is coaching to take the time to call each other on the phone just to chat, to say, “Hey, how’s it going? I’m going for a walk, do you want to join me? I’d love to hear how you are doing.”
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“It’s uncomfortable for most people,” he says, but adds that he’s “seen it fundamentally change the dynamics of a team and their capacity to perform and make good decisions.
AI can translate language. Only humans can turn language into meaning.
At work, communication determines whether ideas wither or rise. Take co-authoring a book, for example, which I did with LinkedIn Chief Economic Opportunity Officer Aneesh Raman. We wanted to communicate a story that helps everyone understand and manage this moment of big change at work, especially those of you feeling anxious or confused or skeptical.
AI helped at moments, offering structural feedback or refining examples. But what truly shaped this book came from people: face-to-face conversations, hard thinking and the friction of ideas.
With every word, we had to think deeply about the human experience of trying to process a moment of big change and how to, hopefully, eventually, give everyone some agency over it. To do that, you need to know humans. You need to be human.
Ryan Roslansky and Aneesh Raman are the co-authors of “Open to Work: How to Get Ahead in the Age of AI.”
Ryan is CEO of LinkedIn and host of The Path, the video series, podcast, and newsletter about careers and work. Through these roles, Ryan is shaping where work goes next to unleash greater economic opportunity for the global workforce.
Aneesh is LinkedIn’s Chief Economic Opportunity Officer. Previously, he served as Senior Advisor on economic strategy to the State of California, led economic impact at Facebook, worked as a presidential speechwriter, and was a war correspondent.
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