Happy Workers' Day!
With this article, I celebrate above all the transformative power of work.
In 2017 I wrote an article for Infobae titled "The future of work belongs to entrepreneurs."
There he anticipated that technology would allow more people to create value from lightweight structures, without the need for large investments or hierarchies.
He proposed that knowledge, early validation and autonomy would be the pillars of the new work. I proposed that entrepreneurs not necessarily those who found companies, but those who design their lives based on purpose, the search for achievement and action would be protagonists of change.
Today that vision is not only confirmed, but accelerated. What was intuition is now evidence.
For centuries, work structured our lives. It was a space for growth, bond, identity, learning, meaning. Now, in the face of artificial intelligence, automation and new technologies, everything is given a new meaning.
What's at stake
Work is not just a salary. It is our way of growing, connecting, creating, contributing, transforming.
Work organizes us. It civilizes us. It connects us with others through collaboration and dialogue. It helps us overcome challenges and solve problems.
Without that human dimension, we run the risk of becoming emotionally, intellectually and spiritually impoverished.
In this new context, and faced with the perspective of a world of abundance that forgets the survival dimension of work, we must redefine it, give it new forms, or design alternative ways to cultivate these virtues.
We are in transition
Today two worlds coexist: one that refuses to disappear and another that emerges strongly.
The old work model stable jobs, fixed hours, rigid hierarchies still supports a good part of the economy, but it no longer meets the aspirations of millions of people. And the traditional company, designed for scale repetition, is struggling in the face of decreasing marginal costs and a consumer that escapes the generic.
We continue to work out of economic necessity, yes, but more and more people are looking for purpose, flexibility, personal growth, freedom (free time instead of savings).
In line with my 2017 article (then science fiction), freelancers, crowdsourcing, makers, content creators, digital nomads, knowmads, intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs flourish: actors who assume responsibility for their path, who design their way of living and working, and who embody that transition from within.
What was once exceptional is today a trend. The rigidity of permanent jobs gives way to a logic of assignment based on skills and projects. Professionals who join multiple initiatives simultaneously, adding value where it makes the most sense. Loyalty is no longer based on permanence, but on shared value.
Companies, for their part, face unprecedented pressure to adapt. Not only for efficiency, but for culture, for survival. The rotation is through the roof. Finding talent is even more difficult with excess supply.
And the new generations shout it: "no more meaningless work, without purpose, without it adapting to my way of life."
The structure of work is reconfigured
Increasingly, artificial intelligence and then robotics will be part of the team as another collaborator: not only performing complete tasks, but also analyzing information, making decisions, generating content, designing and personalizing products and services, optimizing and automating processes, suggesting or implementing improvements in real time with a focus on business actors.
Augmented intelligence is the first step and already differentiates companies that adapt quickly. AI empowering collaborators and third parties offers a great differential. Training, generating culture, and giving the freedom to enhance and optimize our tasks with AI is key.
Our role is still the most important: defining the opportunities, the focus, where we can generate value enhanced by AI. I insist that AI is not something that is outsourced, it is intuitive, it is language, it is not technical. It must be at the center of the business strategy. And for that we must learn.
The leap that we are already beginning to see and that will be very evident by the end of 2025 is that of autonomous agents. As I explain in one of my latest articles, they are capable of executing entire workflows autonomously. Agents observe, decide and act. They plan, execute, review, optimize and report results.
They can decide the flows, choose the tools, coordinate multiple agents, assign tasks to them, review what is generated, optimize, make changes until reaching the result.
They represent a radical expansion of what we understand by productivity, because they integrate execution, analysis and coordination in real time, without the need for constant intervention. This evolution redefines the very notion of a work team and expands the boundaries of what it means to be productive.
Work is no longer a place. It is a practice, a network, a way of relating. And increasingly, it will also be an interface where humans and machines will collaborate in real time, amplifying our capabilities and freeing up time for what is most important: creating, thinking, bonding, finding meaning, enjoying.
New protagonists of work
The future is not just for founders. It is for all those who create value with autonomy. It will no longer be an exchange for survival. But for social needs, esteem and self-realization (Maslow).
People who design their daily lives based on purpose. That build communities. Who collaborate in networks without bosses. Who constantly learn. Who accept diversity and empower themselves with others and with machines. Who are encouraged to change, to flow, without the fear of "what will become of me and my family."
Cases such as creator platforms, decentralized communities or global co-creation models show that it is already possible. We even see structures like DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) where people collaborate without hierarchies, with smart contracts and governance tokens.
What will the next job be like?
Optional. Flexible. Decentralized. Co-created with AI (augmented intelligence). Based on projects, missions and purposes. The impact will replace the schedule. The bond will replace the charge. The "office" will be another node in a global network.
Work will be done from multiple spaces: home, coworking, virtual environments (metaverse). Tasks will be assigned by competencies, not titles. People will contribute what they have the most to contribute.
More art, more experience, more innovation, more enjoyment, more relationship, more creativity, more mastery, more autonomy, more self-realization, more admiration and influence, less functionality.
People seek purpose, recognition, growth, community.
Offering stability or salary will no longer be a differential, subsistence will no longer be at stake.
We need to rethink how income, time and well-being are redistributed. This debate is as technical as it is philosophical. And it is urgent.
For many years now we have maintained inequalities and injustices that have no reason to exist. The world is already abundant.
What to do today (and how to save time)
Reconnect with the purpose and know ourselves (emotional intelligence)
Learn to learn (develop especially learning skills, growth mindset and passion for growth)
Unlearn and learn continuously (do not rely only on traditional sources, learning is in the other, in all its versions: books, audiobooks, universities, online courses, YouTube, Tiktok, Instagram, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Manus, articles, conferences, webinars, in conversations with others and countless other places)
Participate and grow in communities (nourish ourselves with knowledge and relationships with others, start with dat)
Explore new technologies (AI is becoming democratized, works with natural language, moving towards no need for code. AI is not an IT issue. Every leader has to be trained)
Entrepreneurship in parallel (acquire entrepreneurial skills and practice. Entrepreneurship is not creating companies, it is the ability to make things possible)
Take care of emotional health (fundamental, more time for ourselves, taking care of ourselves)
Redefine success (beyond the gaze of the other, beyond pursuing possession)
Growth mindset and deep learning
In this new paradigm, formal education and titles lose strength and the most valued thing will be to demonstrate the potential impact of our skills.
Your credibility will increasingly arise from carrying out small projects, obtaining social validation through testimonials and references. Today this validation often arises from followers, as seen in the power generated by some info producers and influencers.
Critical thinking, growth mindset and the components of emotional intelligence: self-knowledge, emotion management, self-motivation, adaptability, resilience, empathy and relational skills, will be key.
I believe that learning to learn and unlearn should be our main focus today.
Because what will differentiate us is not how much we know, but how quickly and deeply we can integrate what is new, unlearn what is no longer useful, and translate learning into action.
The most in-demand skills will increasingly not be technical ones. They will be cognitive and emotional: analytical and creative thinking, resilience, motivation, adaptability, active listening, social influence.
Continuous learning is not an option. It is the basis of everything that comes.
And the organizations?
Organizations and businesses are also evolving beyond traditional structures. The structure and rigidity today do not support the multiplicity of shocks.
Dynamic models emerge such as horizontal team networks, where roles are configured by projects, and self-organized structures such as holacracies. These allow employees to assume different roles depending on their skills and prominence, and adapt quickly to the needs of the environment.
DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) are another emerging example: organizations that operate without bosses, with smart contracts on blockchain and distributed governance by tokens. Although still in the experimental phase, these models pose radical possibilities for organizing global work.
The hierarchy becomes a network. Control becomes autonomy and purpose. Talent retention becomes co-creation of meaning. Companies that become more human, more adaptive, more open survive. Learning organizations and not repetition.
Innovation does not come from the top: it is born from the edges. Leaders do not order: they facilitate. And teams don't execute: they co-create. Networks of multidisciplinary teams emerge that are assembled and disassembled according to the mission.
Results-based management replaces presence control. Leadership is based on influence and creating the conditions for development, adaptability and continuous learning, not on title.
The value exchange also changes
Money is still important, but it is not the only thing. We value impact, reputation, contribution. Trust, time, autonomy. Value begins to be measured by the transformation we generate, not only by the number of hours worked or the hierarchical level achieved.
With decreasing marginal costs due to the 6Ds of exponential technologies and automation of exchange and transactions by intelligent agents, money tends to disappear (an entire chapter, for a new article).
New forms emerge: tokens, licenses, participation, relational agreements.
The transactional gives way to the meaningful. The relational becomes value. Emerging economies prioritize ties, collaboration, community, and digital reputation as core assets.
We are also seeing how platforms enable revenue sharing between creators and communities, how smart contracts automate payments for actual contribution, and how benefits are distributed based on impact metrics. Value no longer flows from the top down: it is co-created, shared, built between peers.
Systemic implications
This change requires redesigning our systems: education, finance, health, government, businesses. The challenges are immense, the problems will multiply, as will the opportunities for those who choose to take advantage of them.
The world is clearly not for those who choose to remain rigid, to embrace the status quo.
Education
The transformation of education is one of the central pieces.
Education should not prepare you for a job that is going to disappear. It must train you for learning, for adaptation.
Transmit to us the happiness associated with the growth mindset, the search for meaning, the magic of continuous learning and the development of skills, the excitement of facing new challenges, the power of our emotional intelligence, the importance and enjoyment of relationships.
We must move from a model that teaches correct answers to one that cultivates questions, listens, and provides tools and methodologies to carry out the co-creation of solutions.
From an education focused on memorizing content to one focused on developing judgment, awareness, and discernment. Learn to learn. Learn to live together. Learn to reinvent yourself.
Train for uncertainty, for interdisciplinary collaboration, for the creation of value from a human perspective. To learn from mistakes, to iterate, to build community. Education should be a space where we discover our purpose, cultivate values ??of caring for others, develop skills and train our capacity for impact.
What exponential technologies are transforming work?
Quantum computing: accelerates the autonomy of AI and Robotics.
Augmented and virtual reality: redesigning how we work, collaborate and learn.
Advanced robotics: replaces logistical, industrial and increasingly service tasks.
Blockchain and decentralization: enable new forms of ownership, collaboration and traceability.
Biotechnology: expands our cognitive and physical capabilities, integrating longevity and productivity.
These technologies not only amplify our capabilities, but redefine how value is created in the economy.
They enable new levels of flexibility, accelerate the automation of repetitive tasks, and open up unprecedented possibilities for global collaboration.
Today we celebrate the power of work. Not just ours. But that of billions of people who gave everything so that we are here today.
More than 100,000 years if we take only Homo Sapiens of very hard, rough, risky, survival work, which today gradually leads us to be able to enjoy a life of abundance and meaning.
We have it all, if we cultivate respect for others. If we embrace the difference. If we stop being so selfish. If for the first time we take care of ourselves in abundance. If we protect the environment and the Earth.
Each of us has the powerand the responsibilityto decide how we want to inhabit this moment, impact it, transform it, and expand it. It is not about adapting to what is coming, but about actively participating in its construction.
As I argued a dozen years ago, exponential technologies invite an era with an increasingly powerful individual. The decision is ours.
Since 2016 we have been training our students, entrepreneurs, professionals and freelancers, with this perspective and tools for the future.
I close with a video from the beginning of 2018, which we strongly associate with our purpose at Scalabl®. It is still enormously relevant and resonates with this article.
What did you think of the article? How do you see the future of work? I await your comments
