The rapid evolution of generative AI and agentic AI is forcing organizations to completely rethink how work gets done. This moment offers an unprecedented opportunity: as leaders consider what should be automated, where to redeploy talent, and how to upskill the workforce, it creates a natural opening to redesign work to improve the employee experience.

For decades, business leaders have pursued performance by focusing on two primary stakeholders: shareholders and customers. Shareholder value was once the ultimate metric—the most successful companies were those that could achieve scale efficiencies with heavy investments in assets and experience. Later, customer obsession became the prevailing philosophy as companies recognized that delighting customers was not a trade-off against profit, but rather a catalyst for growth and profitability.

But both of these priorities can come at the expense of employee well-being. Low motivation, burnout, and high levels of attrition also have a big impact on company performance. We must therefore recognize a long-overlooked, but equally important, stakeholder: the employee. This approach—what we call “radical employee centricity”—means ensuring work is designed (or redesigned) so that employees are supported, motivated, and empowered to do work they enjoy and, as a result, generate value for their organization.

The happy coincidence? While AI is creating a window to reshape work to become more employee centric, the technology also demands employee centricity to drive workforce adoption of AI tools and new ways of working. In other words, being radically employee centric while pursuing GenAI and agentic AI is not an option—it is a requirement.