For workers in AI-heavy professions, the central challenge of the AI era might not be technical—it might be psychological.
Because AI can instantly replicate skills that once took years to master, it has left professionals in some fields struggling with their professional identities, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a recent interview with French news outlet Le Point.
“In many cases, our work was built around using a set of tools to achieve certain goals,” he said. “And now suddenly we have a very powerful new tool that displaces a little bit of that sense of identity.”
Indeed, recent studies show that this kind of anxiety is common among workers impacted by AI.
In September, a survey of 2,500 knowledge workers found that 46% were frustrated that tasks requiring years of expertise can now be done by almost anyone using AI. Another 23% felt their personal expertise has been devalued.
Another recent study found that patent attorneys and staff at a firm introducing AI were also struggling with changing expectations around autonomy, expertise, and client relationships.
Anthropic itself has drawn attention to this issue. In December 2025, it conducted an internal survey of 132 of its engineers and researchers in which some said they missed writing code and wished they still had more opportunities for mentorship and collaboration.
Nadella said he hopes workers can preserve their “sense of identity and dignity” even as their jobs change dramatically. He pointed to software engineering: while engineers’ jobs have been transformed, the profession is more critical than ever, because AI’s work still needs to be verified and deemed trustworthy.
“It needs to be empowering humans and should be in human control,” he said. “If not, it should be, by definition, rejected.”
