AI Is Not Just Changing Work. It Is Changing Professional Confidence

Most business conversations about AI are still too narrow.

They focus on automation, productivity, policy, governance and risk. Those issues matter, of course, and Boards should absolutely care about them. So should CFOs, and executive teams should also have their point of view.

But there’s another question that deserves equal attention and arguably much more than it’s currently getting.

What is AI doing to professional confidence?

That was the focus of my recent conversation with Julissa Shrewsbury on the CFO Access Podcast. It turned out to be one of the most interesting and important discussions we have had on the show, because it addressed something many leaders can sense but have not yet fully articulated.

AI is not just changing how work gets done. It is changing how people feel about the work they do, the expertise they bring, and the value they contribute.

And for CFOs, finance leaders and professional advisors, that matters a great deal.

Julissa’s work is particularly useful because she is not viewing AI solely as a technology issue. Her lens is the alignment between what happens inside the organisation and what the outside world experiences through the brand, customer engagement and trust. That creates a richer and more strategic discussion.

In her qualitative study, Julissa interviewed 30 senior leaders across Australia, including board members, C-suite executives, and senior leaders in major departments of large organisations. What stood out was not just what these leaders knew, but also what they had not yet begun to think through.

Many were still at the stage of trying to understand the AI landscape, experimenting personally, and thinking primarily about guardrails. Their immediate concerns were sensible: responsible use, data risk, governance, shareholder expectations and internal policy.

Questions

But many had not yet deeply engaged with the tougher commercial and cultural questions.

  • How does AI change a service model?
  • How does it affect pricing?
  • What will customers still pay for?
  • What does trust look like when anyone can generate a polished answer in seconds?
  • How do employees feel when a machine can do tasks they once believed reflected their expertise?

These are not side issues. They are strategic issues.

One of the most revealing insights from Julissa’s research was that most leaders were not yet sure how their people actually felt about AI. Did employees feel more capable because they had a powerful tool at their fingertips? Or did they feel threatened, eroded, and less certain of their value?

In many cases, leaders simply didn’t know.

That’s a problem.

If executives are making decisions about AI adoption without understanding how it’s affecting confidence on the ground, they may be solving one problem while creating another. They may be accelerating output while increasing anxiety. They may be improving speed while quietly weakening judgment, trust and engagement.

For CFOs, this should not be dismissed as a “”soft”” issue.

Confidence

  • Confidence influences behaviour.
  • Behaviour influences performance.
  • Performance influences commercial outcomes.

If your people become overly reliant on AI, quality may deteriorate in ways that are not immediately obvious … possibly without you even noticing. If junior employees stop learning foundational skills because AI does too much too early, capability development may weaken over time. If experienced professionals begin to feel like mere conduits for machine-generated answers, they may disengage or struggle with relevance.

These are not abstract concerns. They affect retention, development, service quality, client trust and long-term competitiveness.

Another key theme from the conversation was the difference between experienced professionals and those earlier in their careers. There’s a reasonable argument that seasoned leaders may be better placed to use AI well because they already have contextual understanding. They know when something sounds plausible but is actually wrong. They can assess output, challenge assumptions and refine insights based on real-world experience.

But what happens to the next generation?

If AI becomes a permanent co-pilot from day one, how do junior people build judgment? How do they learn the ropes if they outsource the very thinking processes that experience is built on?

There are no easy answers here, but the question itself is important. As Julissa pointed out, some leaders are beginning to experiment with using AI to support training rather than just replacing effort. That might mean building internal tools that guide junior staff through the right questions, the right thinking patterns and the right client considerations. Used thoughtfully, AI could actually accelerate development rather than undermine it.

But that only happens if leaders are intentional.

And that brings us to one of the strongest points in the discussion: leadership mindset.

Mindset

Julissa observed that the mindset of individual leaders and leadership teams is likely instrumental in determining whether organisations remain competitive. This is not just about whether leaders approve a policy. It is about whether they are open to learning, willing to engage personally with the technology, and clear enough in their communication to bring others with them.

Some leaders will lean into AI with curiosity and discipline. Others will delay, deflect or stay at arm’s length. Over time, that gap will matter more than many realise.

The organisations that navigate AI best will not necessarily be the ones with the fanciest tools. They will be the ones where leaders combine openness, critical thinking, practical guardrails and a clear articulation of where human value still matters.

What’s the role of the CFO

That’s where CFOs have a particularly important role.

Finance leaders often see across the organisation in a way few others do. They connect commercial performance, operational reality, investment priorities and strategic trade-offs. That means they are well-positioned to ask broader questions than just compliance and efficiency.

  • What do we want to protect?
  • What do we want to promote?
  • Where are the real risks?
  • What are we not measuring yet?
  • What does confidence look like in our teams?
  • How will AI shape not just cost, but customer trust and value creation?

Those are finance questions now, even if they don’t all begin as numbers.

What should leaders do?

My biggest takeaway from the episode was this: if leaders don’t proactively define the role of AI in their organisations, uncertainty will define it for them.

That uncertainty can show up as fear, mixed messages, hidden usage, shallow adoption, reputational risk or a slow erosion of confidence.

But handled well, AI can become an amplifier of human capability rather than a substitute for it.

That’s why this conversation matters.

AI is not just about doing work faster. It is about redefining what constitutes valuable work.

And if you are a CFO or finance leader, you cannot afford to leave that conversation to the technology team alone.

If this topic is live in your business, I encourage you to listen to the full conversation with Julissa Shrewsbury on the CFO Access Podcast. It is thoughtful, practical and highly relevant for leaders trying to navigate AI without losing the human judgment and confidence that organisations still depend on.