The World Economic Forum in Davos wrapped up its fourth day with significant discussions about artificial intelligence agents and their impact on the workforce. Business leaders are grappling with unprecedented questions about how to manage AI colleagues as agentic AI becomes capable of performing tasks independently without human input.
Lattice CEO Sarah Franklin revealed that her HR software company faced backlash in 2024 when it announced plans to give AI workers official employment records, but the concept now seems prescient as companies prepare for AI integration. “We were ahead, but by months,” Franklin told Business Insider at Davos, highlighting how quickly the business landscape is evolving.
ManpowerGroup’s chief commercial officer Becky Frankiewicz reported hearing from multiple business leaders about AI agent governance challenges. She noted that tech companies will likely lead adoption, but consulting firms are already implementing agents and asking critical questions: “Do we need to have managers for the agents?” This represents a fundamental shift in organizational structure as companies prepare for a hybrid workforce of humans and AI.
The gender gap implications of AI advancement also emerged as a major concern. Smriti Irani, former Indian cabinet minister and founder of the Alliance for Global Good, Gender Equality, and Equity, warned that 70% of jobs held by women globally are vulnerable to automation. She raised concerns about generative AI training data lacking adequate representation of women’s issues and the challenges facing women in low-income countries where internet penetration remains limited.
Irani posed a critical question: “What happens to women and their businesses or their livelihoods in those countries, especially if most economies start pushing for automation?” The concern extends beyond job displacement to whether AI will help close or widen existing gender disparities.
The Davos discussions reflected broader anxieties about workforce transformation and the need for new governance frameworks as AI capabilities expand. Business leaders are moving beyond theoretical discussions about AI’s potential to confronting practical management challenges as AI agents become workplace realities. The conversations signal that 2025 may be a pivotal year for establishing how organizations integrate and oversee artificial intelligence workers alongside human employees.
Key Quotes
We were ahead, but by months
Lattice CEO Sarah Franklin said this about her company’s controversial 2024 decision to give AI workers employment records, indicating how rapidly business attitudes toward AI agents have evolved from skepticism to acceptance.
They’ve done the agents already. The next question they were asking was: do we need to have managers for the agents?
ManpowerGroup’s Becky Frankiewicz shared this about a consulting firm already implementing AI agents, highlighting the unprecedented management challenges companies face as AI becomes an autonomous workforce component.
One big risk with generative AI is that it relies heavily on scraping the internet to train its algorithms. But how much of that content actually represents women’s issues?
Former Indian cabinet minister Smriti Irani raised concerns about bias in AI training data and its potential to perpetuate or worsen gender inequality, particularly in developing countries.
You have an opportunity coming, but you will also be overwhelmed by the fact that you have a subset of women who are potentially humanly trained to do jobs… What happens to that female potential?
Irani emphasized that 70% of women’s jobs globally are vulnerable to automation, questioning whether AI advancement will help or harm gender equality in the workforce.
Our Take
The Davos conversations reveal that AI agents have crossed the threshold from experimental technology to operational reality, catching many organizations unprepared. The management questions being raised—whether AI agents need supervisors, employment records, and governance frameworks—indicate a fundamental rethinking of organizational structure.
What’s particularly striking is the speed of this transition. Lattice was criticized just months ago for proposing AI employment records; now it’s becoming standard practice. This acceleration suggests businesses have underestimated how quickly agentic AI would move from concept to implementation.
The gender gap concerns add crucial nuance to AI adoption discussions. While tech leaders often focus on efficiency and productivity gains, the potential for AI to exacerbate global inequality—particularly affecting women in developing economies—demands proactive policy responses. The question isn’t just whether AI will transform work, but whether that transformation will be equitable.
Why This Matters
These Davos discussions represent a critical inflection point in how businesses are preparing for AI integration. The shift from viewing AI as a tool to considering it as a workforce entity requiring management structures signals that agentic AI has moved from experimental to operational status at leading companies.
The governance questions raised by business leaders indicate that organizations are unprepared for the practical realities of AI agents operating autonomously. This creates urgent needs for new HR policies, management frameworks, and organizational structures that don’t currently exist.
The gender gap concerns highlight how AI advancement could exacerbate existing inequalities, particularly in developing economies. With 70% of women’s jobs vulnerable to automation, the technology could reverse decades of progress toward workplace equality unless proactively addressed.
For businesses, these conversations signal that AI workforce integration is no longer a future consideration but an immediate strategic priority requiring investment in governance, training, and equity measures to ensure responsible deployment.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/davos-switzerland-world-economic-forum-ai-agents-trump-2025-1