08/17/2026
IKEA gave Al the work of 8,500 customer service roles.
But it didn't give up on the 8,500 people That's the part of this story I keep coming back to. nstead of treating automation as the finish line iKEA retrained employees for interior design advisory work.
The result?
A service line reportedly generating $1.4 billion in revenue. There is a leadership lesson here
Al can create capacity
What happens to that capacity is a human decision. You can use it purely to cut costs
Or you can move people toward work where
humans still have an advantage:
Judgment.
Taste.
Relationships. Trust.
The Al winners won't necessarilv automate the most Thev'll be better at deciding what humans should da next.
That's a much more interesting Al strategy
If gave 30% of your team's time back tomorrow, what would you do with it?
DataUnion.KeithInstitute.Org
