Roles reset as AI rises, managers emerge as new change agents

Bangalore: Artificial intelligence may be automating many of the routine tasks that once defined middle management. Yet, as companies move beyond AI pilot projects, managers are becoming more important than ever in making the technology work.

Instead of creating more AI specialists, organisations are focusing on building AI-ready workforces, recasting managers as the drivers of AI adoption. Their role is expanding to helping teams embrace new tools, build AI capabilities and integrate AI into everyday work.

"This is not a technology problem. This is not a digital problem. AI is everybody's problem... it's as foundational as literacy," said Rajkamal Vempati, HR head at Axis Bank.


That means managers-not technology teams alone-are increasingly responsible for embedding AI into employees' day-to-day work.

At Axis Bank, CXOs are required to spend a disproportionate amount of time learning about AI, while managers are expected to lead the transition, Vempati said. "AI is democratising work which was perhaps in the domain of technology, but efficiency is the floor, not the ceiling," she said.

AI adoption is treated as a leadership accountability at the bank and is measured across the organisation. Vempati said ultimately, organisations are likely to become flatter, with managers overseeing larger teams while combining people leadership with individual contribution and leading AI adoption.

Ruchira Bhardwaja, chief human resources officer at Kotak Life Insurance, said the manager's role is shifting from supervision to enabling learning and adaptability.

"The manager of the future will not be defined by supervision or control but by the ability to build trust, adaptability and learning agility within teams."

Kotak Life is using technology to strengthen decision-making, improve efficiency and create more responsive experiences for internal and external customers.

"AI readiness cannot be treated as a separate programme or a one-time training intervention," said Bhardwaja. "It should become part of the organisation's learning rhythm. As skills evolve faster, managers play a critical role in helping teams learn, unlearn and apply new capabilities at work. The real measure is whether the learning translates into better behaviours, outcomes and readiness."

Companies said managers are evolving from supervising work to coaching employees, driving change and applying human judgement where AI falls short.

At Flipkart, AI is taking on more operational work, allowing managers to focus on long-term capability building while ensuring empathy and human-in-the-loop governance remain central to decision-making.

"This is a transition we are actively working through," said Yogita Shanbhag, vice-president-HR at Flipkart. "Our managers are increasingly the people responsible for making AI adoption real within their teams, which includes building the skills needed to work alongside intelligent systems and ensuring that automation sharpens human judgment."

As companies embed AI more deeply into their operations, traditional training programmes are giving way to continuous learning.

Ericsson is investing in leadership development to help managers build empathy, adaptability, coaching capabilities and inclusive leadership skills. "At Ericsson, we believe that technology transformation is ultimately a people transformation," said Priyanka Anand, head of HR, Ericsson Southeast Asia, Oceania & India. "AI provides distinct capabilities; however, the impact is from how people embrace, adapt and apply. That is where managers matter most. They help teams understand what is changing, why it matters and how it fits into their work."