May 2025
AI Skills for Tomorrow, Your Simple Guide to Getting Started Today
Hey, Industry Trailblazers! What I find fascinating is the emotional dance happening across our industry—a tug-of-war between FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and FOGI (Fear of Getting In). We're simultaneously worried about being left behind and anxious about diving into unknown waters. Sound familiar? This feeling is understandable, especially with AI moving at lightning speed.
I recently dove into the World Economic Forum's 2025 Future of Jobs Report using Google’s NotebookLM to get a clearer picture, and I highly encourage you all to explore it too – it’s packed with insights. The report gives us a stark signal: nearly 40% of the core skills needed for our jobs are expected to change by 2030. That's a key reason why understanding AI isn't just for tech wizards – it's for all of us, right here, right now. It's time to turn that FOGI (Fear of Getting In) into motivated action!
So, how do you, a busy professional in the pallet industry, start embracing AI today? Let’s bridge that gap.
Step 1: Understand the AI "Buckets" You Can Use Now
Forget complex code for a moment. Think of the AI tools available today as different "buckets" you can dip into:
Language Bucket: Crafting emails, summarizing reports, writing content.
Try it today: AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude are ready to be your writing assistant. Ask one to draft a customer thank-you note or summarize this article!
Image Bucket: Generating photos, product mock-ups, branding visuals.
Try it today: Tools like Midjourney or DALL-E can generate visuals from your text descriptions. Describe a pallet industry scene emphasizing sustainability or a key trend and see what fresh visuals it creates for your upcoming marketing campaign.
Audio/Video Bucket: Producing voice-overs, training videos, promotional clips.
Try it today: Explore tools like HeyGen which are making video creation much quicker, more affordable, and easily adaptable for different languages.
Code Bucket: Writing software scripts, automating integrations, enhancing existing applications. Even if you're not a coder, AI can help automate simple scripts or explain code snippets, making technology more accessible.
The WEF report shows "AI and big data" skills are the most in-demand globally. Starting to experiment with these buckets is your first step towards building that valuable literacy.
Step 2: Spot the Automation Opportunities Around You
Beyond those AI 'buckets,' let's look at the practical side: automation. It's already making waves, and the WEF report backs this up, finding nearly 60% of businesses expect technologies like robotics and autonomous systems to fundamentally change how work gets done.
But automation can start small. Look around your own workday:
- What repetitive tasks take up your time? (Think
data entry, scheduling, standard report
generation).
- Could routine customer inquiries be handled
faster?
- Can inventory tracking or lead assignments be
streamlined?
Automation is impacting these kinds of rule-based, often clerical, tasks. Identifying them in your own work is key to understanding where AI can practically help you and your team become more efficient.
Try it today: Jot down 3 repetitive tasks you do weekly – could AI potentially assist with any of them?
Step 3: Prepare for the Next Phase – AI Agents
Right now, we mostly use AI as a tool or a collaborator. But the next evolution, already here, are AI Agents – AI systems that can manage tasks more independently.
Our relationship with AI is evolving quickly:
AI as Tool: Enhancing our existing capabilities.
AI as Collaborator: Working seamlessly alongside us.
AI Agents: Independently managing defined tasks.
AI Orchestrators: Directing complex workflows among AI agents and humans.
Imagine an AI that doesn't just help you place an order, but places it for you pulling data from your email automatically. Or an agent that proactively monitors your production floor data and alerts you to potential issues before they happen, maybe even suggesting solutions.
This doesn't mean AI takes over everything! It means AI will handle more defined processes autonomously, freeing us up for more complex, strategic, and human-centric work. This is why the WEF report emphasizes skills like creative thinking, analytical thinking, leadership, and resilience – skills that complement, rather than compete with, AI agents.
Your Call to Action: Start Upskilling NOW
The message from the Future of Jobs Report is clear: the world of work is transforming, and skills are the currency of the future. Skills gaps are seen as the biggest barrier to business transformation globally. Don't let FOMO or FOGI paralyze you – let the data motivate you!
Dip into those AI buckets this week. Play with the tools. Get comfortable. Find one repetitive task you could potentially automate or simplify with AI's help. Start small. And stay curious! Read articles (like this one!), explore the WEF report, watch tutorials, talk to your peers, join online communities. I’m also here for you.
It starts with a single step. Take yours today. The future isn’t just coming; we’re building it, one skill, one experiment, one automated task at a time.
"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new." - Socrates
Until next time, keep believing, keep building, and keep Bridging the Gap!