Meet Ravi.
Ravi has been in the corporate world for a decade. He’s not an overachiever, but he’s got the essentials down:
- He knows when to nod in meetings to look engaged.
- He’s mastered the art of the “strategic delay” on email responses.
- He can stretch a 10-minute task into an hour-long “brainstorming session.”
Corporate life has been a game of appearances, and Ravi has played it well.
But now, there’s a new player in the game. AI.
It doesn’t take lunch breaks.
It doesn’t “circle back on that next week.”
It doesn’t need to pretend to be productive.
And Ravi? He’s starting to wonder if his job is next on the automation hit list.
Phase 1: Ignoring the Threat
At first, Ravi treats AI like the office printer—overhyped, mostly useless, and bound to break down when needed the most.
Sure, people are using ChatGPT for emails, but Ravi still believes in “the human touch.”
Until one day, his manager casually drops:
“Hey Ravi, instead of writing the report, just run it through the AI tool.”
Excuse me, what?
That’s his job. That’s what he does.
He watches in horror as an intern generates a client report in seconds—a task that used to take him two days (because, well, coffee breaks).
But it’s fine. AI is just a tool, right? Right?
Phase 2: The “Oh Sh*t” Moment
A few weeks later, Ravi starts noticing AI is creeping into everything.
- AI is summarizing meetings. (Why was he even taking notes?)
- AI is analyzing customer data. (Wasn’t that the analytics team’s job?)
- AI is responding to emails… with better grammar than half the office.
One day, Ravi spends 30 minutes drafting a “strategic” email. His colleague types two bullet points into AI and gets a perfect response in five seconds.
The worst part? Their manager loves it.
Ravi starts spiraling. He used to be valuable. Now he’s starting to feel… replaceable.
Then comes the breaking point. HR sends an email about a “workforce optimization strategy.”
Translation? Layoffs are coming.
Ravi’s not ready for this.
Phase 3: Adapting to the AI Takeover
Ravi has two choices: fight AI or use AI.
He picks survival.
- Instead of writing reports, he “reviews AI-generated insights.”
- Instead of taking meeting notes, he “curates action items from AI transcripts.”
- Instead of answering emails, he trains his AI assistant to reply in his exact tone.
At first, it feels like cheating. But then he realizes something amazing:
He’s working 30% less but looking 50% more productive.
His manager thinks he’s on fire.
HR includes him in the “AI adoption success stories.”
People start calling him a “thought leader in AI-driven efficiency.”
Meanwhile, he spends half his day watching YouTube.
This is the best thing that’s ever happened to him.
But Ravi knows one thing: AI is only getting better. He needs a long-term strategy.
Phase 4: AI-Proofing His Job
Ravi isn’t naive. AI isn’t stopping here. It’s only a matter of time before AI figures out how to “review insights” better than him too.
So he pulls his ultimate move: he makes himself irreplaceable.
Step 1: Becoming the AI Whisperer
Ravi doesn’t need to understand AI—he just needs to sound like he does.
He starts throwing around phrases like:
- “We need to refine the prompt engineering process.”
- “Let’s leverage AI for predictive analysis.”
- “The model still requires human contextualization.”
Now, people think he’s an expert.
Step 2: Making the AI Workflow Needlessly Complex
Ravi builds an “AI-driven content pipeline”—an overcomplicated workflow that looks impressive but only he knows how to navigate.
Anytime someone asks him to explain it, he makes it sound incredibly technical and ends with, “But don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”
No one questions him.
Step 3: Selling “The Human Element”
Ravi pitches leadership the idea that AI is great—but only when paired with human oversight.
And guess who’s the best human to oversee it? Him.
And just like that…
AI is doing 95% of his job.
Ravi is getting paid more than ever.
And the best part?
The company thinks they can’t afford to lose him.
Final Thoughts
AI isn’t the enemy.
It’s not taking jobs.
It’s just exposing the people who were never really doing much to begin with.
The key isn’t to compete with AI.
The key is to make AI work for you—before someone else does.
So the question is…
Are you using AI to survive corporate life? Or is AI using you?
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