Why the impact of AI is being underestimated and how it will transform business productivity in Hong Kong

AI is boosting productivity, opening new career paths, and challenging the status quo.

Technology changes everything eventually and has always shaped how we work. The difference today is the speed at which that change is unfolding. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are accelerating the world of work at a speed most organisations – and individuals – are currently struggling to grasp. Headlines often focus on the threat of the elimination of roles and concerns that younger generations will struggle to enter the labour market, yet far less attention is paid to the incredible opportunity for progress.

I’ve been in business for five decades, just over half of which have been in an analogue world. I remember the advent of email over 20 years ago. In most instances, the companies that were deeply sceptical and hung on to the old and familiar didn’t survive the transition. Progress moved on without them. 

Today, we are at a similar inflection point. AI is already boosting productivity, opening up entirely new career paths, and challenging the status quo.  

AI isn’t the end of work – it’s the start of better work
Increasingly, it is younger employees teaching older colleagues how to use the tools that are redefining modern work. Recent research from us shows that Gen Z employees are playing a pivotal role in driving AI adoption across the workforce, with nearly two-thirds of younger workers actively helping older colleagues learn and use AI tools – from hands-on coaching to practical tips that embed AI into everyday workflows. This reverse mentoring is unlocking real gains in productivity and collaboration.

In fact, Hong Kong’s workforce is adopting these tools faster than many global peers. According to PwC’s Hong Kong Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2025, 61% of Hong Kong workers are already using AI at work, compared to a global average of 54%. Of those users, 77% also report higher productivity, and 75% say AI helps enhance the quality of their work, proving that the revolution is already yielding results.

Yet despite this progress, anxiety dominates much of the conversation. According to a recent World Economic Forum survey, more than half of business executives expect AI to displace jobs, and there seems to be a growing fear that entry-level jobs are being automated away, leaving young people without the stepping stones they need to progress into senior roles. Whilst that reality makes some people nervous, we live in a world where AI creates a wealth of new roles and opportunities. 

AI-enhanced training is accelerating learning in ways we’ve never seen before – whether in the classroom, at university or on the job – allowing young people to move up the learning curve far faster than previous generations. In Hong Kong, we are also seeing shifts in employer preferences, as studies show that job postings for roles that require AI-enhanced human expertise have risen by 6%. This indicates that the market is seeking workers who can master AI as a co-pilot, rather than those who are just using it for repeated tasks.

Consequently, the chairs are going to move around, and whilst there could be a small decrease in employment, the reality is that jobs are going to change. Young people will have to be much more focused on what their entry point will be if they're coming into the job market, let's say in a year, two years, or in three or five years.

Moore’s Law and exponential progress 
To understand what’s happening now, it’s worth looking back. In the early 1970s, Intel released the 4004, the world’s first commercial microprocessor. Soon after, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore noticed something curious: The number of transistors on a chip seemed to double roughly every two years. Moore didn’t intend this as a marketing slogan, but it captured something profound – progress wasn’t linear, it was exponential.

That observation became known as Moore’s Law. The message was simple and powerful: If you wait two years, you won’t get a small upgrade – you’ll get a dramatic leap forward. 

The velocity of business 
This is the mistake we’re making with AI today. We’re treating it like a modest efficiency tool, when in reality it’s part of an exponential curve – the most significant shift I’ve seen since 1989. Exponential change doesn’t just tweak jobs – it changes the velocity of business itself.

I’ve seen this before. With the advent of email, I can remember respectable companies insisting they would never adopt it. They didn’t trust it. They said the postal service had worked for centuries, so why change? But email was progress. And once email, smartphones and the internet were used properly, business didn’t slow down – it sped up massively.

AI will do the same. The assumption many people are making is that business will continue moving at the same pace, just with fewer people. That’s wrong. When individuals can do ten or twenty times more work in a day, organisations don’t stand still. They expand what’s possible. Yes, jobs will change. There may be fewer of them in certain categories, and entry points into the workforce will look different. Young people will need to be more intentional about where and how they start their careers.

But technological shifts in the past didn’t reduce economic activity – they reshaped it. People had to develop new skills to demonstrate their value, and those who adapted moved faster than everyone else.

As a city infamous for its "hustle culture,” 76% of Hong Kong leaders already expect to use "digital labour" or AI agents to free up their workforce in the next 12 to 18 months. It is crucial for businesses to realise that AI is not simply an upgrade, but a solution to the city's chronic overwork culture through a new performance equation.

Indeed, AI is also a far better teacher than the old model of learning by osmosis. AI-enhanced training can get people up the learning curve faster than ever before, increasingly starting in the classroom, well before someone lands their first job. By removing drudgery and creating massive efficiencies, AI frees people to do what humans do best: Think creatively, solve problems, and come up with new ideas.

In an AI-world, self-starters win 
One of the qualities I look for in future talent is their ability to use AI effectively, recognising how this can turbocharge a business’s potential. People who already have a subscription to an AI tool and are actively learning how to leverage it today are at an advantage. They can bring new skills, energy, and innovation to rapidly expanding businesses, driving further productivity and growth. The market value for these skills in Hong Kong is undeniable, as workers with AI skills now command a wage premium of up to 56% over their non-AI colleagues. 

Young people need to think ahead and ask themselves: “Where will I get the best career experience in this new world?” “Do I have the skills that future companies will value?” In the past, ambitious employees learned programming in the evenings or picked up extra qualifications alongside their jobs. That mindset is more critical than ever now. Don’t rely solely on schools or universities to prepare you. Seek out an AI club. Join a community. Teach yourself the tools that are transforming industries. Take responsibility for your own development.

This proactive approach is the necessary bridge to the institutional support now appearing across the city. Along with the 2025 Policy Address designating AI as a pillar industry and launching the AI for Empowering Learning and Teaching Funding Programme, the latest 2026 Budget has also included $50m to invite public organisations for youth-targeted AI application courses and earmarked $2b to develop school-based AI education programmes and training, meaning that the necessary resources are in place for the next generation to foster AI literacy. 

Paving the way ahead
Every major technological shift throughout history follows the same pattern: Many cling to what they know, whilst a smaller group adapts early and captures the gains. What makes this moment different is speed. The velocity of business is increasing faster than at any point in recent memory.

AI, like Intel’s early chips, is a foundational technology – one that compounds and reshapes everything built on top of it. It’s not a distant possibility or a passing trend; it’s already the engine of scale and competitive advantage. 

Those willing to engage, learn, and experiment with AI now will find that opportunity expands rather than contracts. History is clear on this: in periods of exponential change, those who move first gain the most.