Since then Invention of the organizational chart In the 1850s, corporate structures had changed little – they were hierarchical and consisted of multiple levels of managers and decision makers. This is because we are bound to the limits of human intelligence and attention when it comes to managing and controlling the flow of work. AI can change that. In large language models (LLMs) we have a new, alien form of intelligence, but it functions primarily as an individual-level assistant. In 2025 we will see the first organizations built on the combination of humans and AI working together.
This shift represents a fundamental change in the way we structure and operate our companies and institutions. While the integration of AI into our daily lives happened very quickly (AI assistants are one of the fastest product launches in history). To date, companies have seen only limited benefits. But the coming year will mark a turning point where AI moves from a tool for individual productivity to a core part of organizational design and strategy.
In 2025, forward-thinking companies will begin to reimagine their entire organizational structure, processes and culture around the symbiotic relationship between human and artificial intelligence. It’s not just about automating tasks or expanding human capabilities; It’s about creating completely new ways of working that leverage the unique strengths of humans and AI. The key to unlocking the true power of LLMs is to move beyond individual use cases to organizational level integration. While we’ve seen impressive results from individuals using AI assistants for tasks like writing, programming, and analysis, the real change won’t come until entire organizations are built on human-AI collaboration.
Startups are leading the way. Venture capitalists are reporting a growing trend toward portfolio companies that promise to maintain lean teams of no more than about 30 employees, relying on AI to scale their operations without the traditional overhead. However, the benefits of this approach can be even more significant for large, established organizations. These companies have the potential to use AI to circumvent inefficiencies, unlock new growth from existing talent, and harness the collective intelligence of their workforce in unprecedented ways.
In 2025, we will see a surge in “AI-native” startups that build their entire operating model on human-AI collaboration from day one. These companies are characterized by small, highly skilled human teams working together with sophisticated AI systems to produce results that rival those of much larger traditional organizations.
For larger companies, the path to an AI-integrated organization will be more complex but potentially more rewarding. These organizations must undertake significant research and development efforts to understand how to best use AI in their specific context. This process will reveal an important truth: Because AI works less like traditional software and more like a human (even if it isn’t), there is no reason to assume that IT has the best AI prompters or over has special insights into the most effective uses of AI within the organization.
While IT will certainly play a critical role in implementing and maintaining AI systems, the real use cases and innovations will come from employees and managers across departments discovering ways to use AI to improve their work performance. In fact, for large companies, the source of real AI advantage lies in the expertise of their employees, which is required to unlock the latent knowledge and skills in AI systems. This realization will lead to a democratization of AI use in some organizations, and these will be the ones driving the coming transformation.
The organizational structures that emerge from this AI integration will be significantly different from the traditional hierarchies we are used to. We may see the rise of more flexible, project-based structures in which teams quickly form and disband around specific goals, with AI systems acting as connectors and mediators. Middle management roles could evolve to focus more on human-AI coordination rather than traditional supervisory tasks. In 2025, the most successful companies will not be those with the most advanced AI technologies, but rather those that can most effectively combine human and artificial intelligence to create new forms of value.
