As a business owner, you're constantly hearing about AI. It's the future, it's a revolution, it's something you have to be doing. But the "how" is often a confusing, expensive, and even intimidating question. How do you bring AI into your operations without alienating your team, wasting money on the wrong tools, or getting lost in the technical jargon?
A groundbreaking new report from Stanford University, "Future of Work with AI Agents," cuts through the noise. By surveying 1,500 workers across more than 100 occupations, the researchers have created a clear, data-driven roadmap for businesses like yours. It answers the most critical question: What do your employees actually want from AI, and how can you approach automation to ensure your team not only adapts, but thrives?
The answer is simpler than you think. It’s not about replacing people; it’s about upgrading their work.
The single biggest takeaway from the report is this: your employees are not universally against AI. In fact, for nearly half of all tasks, workers are actively hoping for automation.
Why? Because they want to offload the tasks that are repetitive, tedious, and mentally draining. They want to free up their time and brainpower for the work that truly matters—the work that requires their unique human skills.
The data shows a clear "green light" for automating tasks like:
We've compiled the top 20 tasks workers want automated (and the bottom 20 they don't) into an interactive data summary for a quick overview.
What this means for you: Your first step into AI automation shouldn't be a giant, disruptive leap. It should be a targeted strike against the most mundane parts of your team's day. Poll your employees. Ask them: "What's the one task you wish you never had to do again?" The answer to that question is your starting line for AI adoption. By automating the work they dislike, you position AI as a helpful assistant, not a threat.
One of the most common fears about AI is that it's coming to take jobs. The Stanford report overwhelmingly shows this is the wrong way to think about it. When asked about how they'd want to work with AI, the most common desire was for an "equal partnership."
Researchers called this the Human Agency Scale (HAS), and most workers landed on "H3," where the human and the AI collaborate to outperform what either could do alone.
Think about the tasks your team is most resistant to automating:
What this means for you: Frame AI as a tool for augmentation, not just automation. It's a super-powered assistant that can handle the research, the data crunching, and the first drafts, freeing up your team to do what they do best: strategize, create, and connect. When you introduce an AI tool, your messaging should be about empowerment: "This tool will handle the tedious report generation so you can spend more time analyzing the insights and advising our clients."
The report provides a brilliant "Desire-Capability Landscape" that every business owner should understand. It divides tasks into four zones:
Understanding what to automate is the first step. But the how is where most businesses get stuck. How do you choose the right tools? How do you build an AI-driven system that actually works for your specific marketing, sales, and operational needs?
This is where expert guidance becomes invaluable. For business owners, marketers, and sales directors ready to move from theory to implementation, a dedicated community can provide the necessary structure and support.
At AI Marketing Labs, we specialize in helping professionals build and deploy the very systems this report highlights. We provide agency-tested templates, expert-led sessions, and a community of experienced peers to help you:
If you're ready to turn these insights into action, we're here to help you build it.
As AI takes over more information-processing tasks, the skills that make your team valuable will shift. The report shows that skills like "Analyzing Data" are becoming less critical for humans, while skills like these are becoming more important:
What this means for you: Start investing in soft skills training. The future of work isn't just about technical proficiency; it's about your team's ability to think critically, collaborate effectively, and lead. The companies that thrive will be those that pair powerful AI tools with emotionally intelligent and strategically-minded human teams.
By taking this human-centered approach—and getting the right expert help to guide you—you can move past the hype and build a smarter, more efficient, and more fulfilling workplace for everyone.
A: The main finding is that employees are most open to AI automating repetitive and tedious administrative tasks. Businesses should focus on a human-centered approach, using AI to augment workers and free them up for more valuable, strategic work.
A: According to the report, the best tasks to automate first are those in the "Green Light" Zone: scheduling appointments, routine data entry, managing databases, and simple financial reporting.
A: No. The report strongly suggests that a partnership model is most effective. Workers prefer AI to act as a collaborative assistant that augments their abilities, rather than a tool that replaces their role, especially for creative and strategic tasks.
A: Communities and expert groups like AI Marketing Labs can provide the templates, frameworks, and support needed to build and deploy effective AI systems for marketing, sales, and operations.