Since the invention of the organizational chart in the 1850s, corporate structures have changed little: they are hierarchical and consist of multiple layers of managers and decision makers. That's because we are bound by the limits of human intelligence and attention in managing and controlling workflow. AI can change that. In large language models (LLMs) we have a new, alien form of intelligence, but one that has worked primarily as an assistant at the individual level. In 2025, we will see the first organizations building around the combination of humans and AI working together.
This shift represents a fundamental change in the way we structure and operate our businesses and institutions. While the integration of AI into our daily lives has occurred very quickly (AI assistants are one of the fastest product adoptions in history), organizations have seen limited benefits to date. But the coming year will mark a tipping point where AI evolves from a tool for individual productivity to a core component of organizational design and strategy.
By 2025, forward-thinking companies will reshape their entire organizational structure, processes and culture around the symbiotic relationship between human and artificial intelligence. This isn't just about automating tasks or augmenting human capabilities; it's about creating entirely new ways of working that leverage the unique strengths of both humans and AI. The key to unlocking the true power of LLMs lies in moving beyond individual use cases to integration at the organizational level. While we've seen impressive results from individuals using AI assistants for tasks like writing, coding, and analyzing, the real transformation will happen when entire organizations are built around human-AI collaboration.
Startups are leading the way. Venture capitalists are reporting a growing trend of portfolio companies promising to maintain small teams of no more than about thirty people, relying on AI to scale their operations without the traditional overhead. However, the benefits of this approach can be even greater for large, established organizations. These companies have the potential to use AI to bypass inefficiencies, unlock new growth from existing talent, and tap into the collective intelligence of their workforce in ways never before possible.
In 2025, we will see a wave of 'AI-native' startups that build their entire operating model around human-AI collaboration from day one. These companies will be characterized by small, highly skilled human teams working together with advanced AI systems to achieve results that rival those of much larger traditional organizations.
For larger companies, the journey to an AI-integrated organization will be more complex, but potentially more rewarding. These organizations will need to undertake significant research and development efforts to understand how to best leverage AI within their specific context. This process will reveal an important truth: since AI works less like traditional software, and more like a person (even if it isn't), there is no reason to assume that the IT department has the best AI -prompters or has some specific insight into the most effective applications of AI within the organization.
While IT will certainly play a critical role in implementing and maintaining AI systems, the actual use cases and innovations will come from employees and managers across departments discovering opportunities to use AI to improve their work performance. For large companies, the source of any real advantage in AI will come from the expertise of their employees, which is needed to unlock the latent knowledge and capabilities within AI systems. This realization will lead to a democratization of AI use within some organizations, and they will be the ones to lead the coming transformation.
The organizational structures that emerge from this AI integration will look markedly different from the traditional hierarchies we are used to. We may see the rise of more fluid, project-based structures in which teams quickly form and disassemble around specific goals, with AI systems acting as connectors and enablers. Middle management roles may 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 those that can most effectively combine human and artificial intelligence to create new forms of value.
