Entering the world of work often brings uncertainty, but now there is an additional question: how can I AI-proof my career? Experts from various industries share insights on the impact of AI on careers and which jobs may be less affected. While the technology is still evolving, many have ideas on how to prepare for a successful career in this new landscape.
Medicine: Clinical Roles Remain Resilient
Hira Malik, a superintendent pharmacist and co-founder of Oushk Pharmacy, notes that healthcare jobs most vulnerable to AI disruption include medical secretaries, pharmacy support staff, prescription processing, and call handling teams. The impact will primarily affect admin-led roles where staff work with set forms, records, or patient queries, rather than making clinical decisions. In online pharmacy, tasks like checking consultation forms, chasing missing details, processing prescription requests, triaging standard patient queries, or routing cases to a pharmacist could become automated. However, these positions are unlikely to disappear completely.
Malik says pharmacists, doctors, nurses, and other prescribing clinicians remain far less susceptible to replacement because they carry responsibility for patient safety and treatment decisions. “AI can help organise information and flag risks, but it cannot decide whether treatment is safe or appropriate,” she explains.
Some specialities, such as plastic surgery, are unlikely to be replaced due to their highly individual nature. Consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr Riaz Agha states: “Plastic surgery is too bespoke and too individualised. Every patient is different.” However, AI may eventually help surgeons analyse past cases to support decision-making. Radiology, on the other hand, is particularly vulnerable. “There have now been many studies showing that AI can interpret scans with extremely high levels of accuracy and reliability. That does not necessarily mean radiologists disappear, but their role may evolve significantly,” Agha says. His advice for future doctors is to learn how to use AI “properly and understand both its strengths and limitations.”
Education and Early Years: Human Relationships Key
In education, AI is most likely to affect administrative and routine teaching support roles rather than fully replacing teachers. Sharath Jeevan, founder of Oxford University’s Generational Success Lab, says: “In terms of career choices, teaching is an excellent one. Students will always need trusted adult relationships to help them learn.”
Childcare is another area expected to continue employing people. Brett Wigdortz, founder and chief executive of the childcare agency Tiney, says childminding is unlikely to be taken over by technology. While AI can support communication and organisation, “people want a human being to take care of their children.” Demand for childcare is strong, with places filling quickly, and childminding offers flexible, home-based work with good earning potential. Related jobs include managing nurseries, high-end nannying, or tutoring.
Law: Routine Tasks Automatable, Judgment Still Valued
Paralegal and junior lawyer roles are likely the most affected by AI because they involve routine work such as document reviews, drafting legal documents, gathering information, and completing forms. Pierre Proner, chief executive of Lawhive, an online legal services company using AI, says: “These are all tasks AI is especially strong at.” However, AI will not eliminate entry-level legal jobs. “The roles will remain but they will just change,” he notes. Junior lawyers will focus earlier on applying legal judgment and developing client interaction skills, as well as supervising AI agents. “AI still needs oversight,” Proner adds.
Brett Dixon, vice-president of the Law Society of England and Wales, says automating routine tasks could create “more time and opportunities for junior lawyers to think more deeply about complex legal issues.” Less routine legal areas such as family law or litigation are less directly affected. However, Proner believes AI agents are still competent at helping lawyers prepare for court cases and running law firm back offices more efficiently.
One of the profession’s biggest challenges, Proner says, is determining “what are the progression paths from junior to senior lawyers” when traditional training tasks are being automated. He advises graduates to develop AI skills now, as these are becoming as important as proficiency in Word or Excel once was. Firms are increasingly assessing candidates on their ability to use the technology, asking: “How are you using AI? Are you creating vibe-coded apps? Are you working with AI agents?” As AI lowers the cost of delivering legal services, Proner says more jobs could become available.
Hospitality: Customer-Facing Roles Thrive
Prof Graham Miller, academic director of the Westmont Institute of Tourism and Hospitality at Nova School of Business and Economics, says AI could reshape the distribution of jobs within hotels, shifting employment from back-office to front-office, customer-facing roles. He emphasises that human staff will always be needed in hospitality. “I was recently in a hotel in Barcelona, and the staff there were amazing – genuinely warm, human, and welcoming. They would sit down and make you a cup of coffee. There is no way AI is doing that kind of job. That sort of human-to-human connection, which the best hotels have always delivered, should not be replaced by AI.”
Miller suggests creative roles in hospitality, particularly chefs, are less vulnerable to AI than routine operational jobs. AI currently struggles to replicate genuinely creative human work but may expose mediocre work. “Just because [something is] made by a human does not mean [it is] creative,” he says. More routine culinary tasks, such as “flipping burgers or making pizza,” could eventually be automated, whereas AI is “not there yet” for truly innovative cuisine.
Trades: Hands-On Roles Offer Security
Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, says AI is beginning to reshape parts of the construction sector but its impact will be uneven. “Hands-on trades such as bricklaying, carpentry and plastering are less exposed to AI and continue to offer strong, long-term career opportunities,” he says, especially if working for small local firms. Large-scale projects could see automation of some hands-on trades in the future, but implementation is still a way off.
White-collar and administrative office roles are being hit, including some jobs in planning and estimating. Berry expects more people to recognise the value of practical trades. However, “perception remains a challenge.” Research by the federation showed that fewer than half of parents (47%) would recommend their child take up a career in construction. “That has to change,” Berry says. “With growing demand for skilled trades and the resilience of these roles in the face of AI, construction offers a rewarding, future-proof career path, which we want more people to consider.”
Banking and Finance: Demand for Tech and Specialist Roles
Tomasz Noetzel, a senior banking analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, says the jobs in banking most affected by AI are likely to be in call centres, customer service, middle-office operations, retail branches, and IT support functions. These involve large volumes of repetitive work that can be handled by AI-powered assistants. “That does not mean these jobs disappear overnight,” he adds.
“Demand should rise for data scientists, AI engineers, software developers … with banks expecting growth in technology and data-related roles. Clients want up-to-date information on investment portfolios which can be done with AI.” Noetzel says: “Few banking jobs will be untouched, but high-judgment, specialist roles appear relatively resilient.” In a survey of European banks by Bloomberg Intelligence, respondents “viewed research analysts, compliance and surveillance analysts, risk-modelling specialists and internal auditors as among the least exposed job categories. Credit underwriting is also increasingly using AI, but banks continue to emphasise human oversight.”
