MW LinkedIn executive reveals the biggest mistake you can make with AI at work
By Emily Bary and Aditi Shrikant
'If you're overusing AI, that means you're not doing anything unique as a human in that process'
"Your job is changing on you, even if you aren't changing jobs," according to Aneesh Raman, the chief economic opportunity officer at LinkedIn.
As artificial intelligence creeps further into the workplace, employees risk getting left behind if they don't start embracing the technology.
But that's actually not the biggest mistake you can make with AI at work, according to Aneesh Raman, chief economic-opportunity officer at LinkedIn. Instead, he cautions against AI overuse.
He described scenarios where workers who will take their bosses' questions, paste them into AI tools and deliver the AI response right back to the higher-ups. "You're going to run into your boss in a week, and they're going to say, 'Hey, that was a great idea,' and you won't even remember because you're not clued into what you're doing," Raman told MarketWatch.
Employees who put all their work tasks on autopilot using AI tools are also in jeopardy of losing the critical-thinking skills that will make them valued assets in the new era of work. "If you're overusing AI, that means you're not doing anything unique as a human in that process, which means you're going to be even more afraid of AI taking your job," he said.
Raman, who co-authored the new book "Open to Work" with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, said employees need to strike a balance between driving AI efficiencies and showing an entrepreneurial mindset. He recommends dividing work tasks into three buckets.
The first is for rote responsibilities like summarization and research, which AI can do on its own. The second bucket is for new capabilities that can be AI assisted. For example, employees can use AI to close a knowledge gap or figure out how to build a new type of product. Finally, there are things that don't require AI at all, like challenging your assumptions or brainstorming with colleagues.
See also: This CFO interviews more than 100 candidates a year. He looks for two things.
That means workers in roles that typically require a lot of hard skills will need to buff up on soft skills. Coders may be worried about very effective new AI programming assistants, but Raman said there's still a need for software engineers - as long as they're prepared to take on different types of functions. They need to be able to talk with customers, assess the ethics of new undertakings and prototype projects with a design-oriented mindset.
Building soft skills
Building soft skills isn't always straightforward. There's not a textbook for empathy the way there is for Python or for bookkeeping. So we asked workplace performance expert Henna Pryor how workers can go about making sure they have more of the intangibles that could be required to stand out in the AI era.
That starts with how you present yourself on your résumé and cover letter while going up against candidates who have outsourced the creation of those materials to AI. Pryor said that, with so many prospective hires using AI on their job applications, employers are taking extra care to make sure that your skill set, character and beliefs align with who you say you are on paper.
"We are in a full-blown crisis of believability," Pryor said. "Interviewers have seen so much AI-generated everything, like cover letters and résumés, that they are default skeptics."
Your stories should demonstrate not only what you've accomplished, but that you did so with the right attitude and temperament.
"I think candidates tell recruiters things like 'I really care about my team,' and then they describe a situation and take solo credit," she said. "They'll say 'I'm a great listener' and then continue interrupting the interviewer."
Hiring managers are even more attuned to these discrepancies than they might have been pre-AI.
"People today don't trust who you claim to be," Pryor said. So they're looking to see how you act when the stakes are low. Are you kind to the receptionist? Does your follow-up email match the persona you conveyed in the interview room?
There's also the matter of standing out to employers as the way of work changes.
Demonstrating familiarity with the tools required for things like programming, graphic design and data-management is no longer enough when AI is able to take on those sorts of tasks. Raman noted that for some entry-level LinkedIn roles, the company doesn't even ask for résumés. Instead, employees have to show a project they recently built.
But how do you showcase that you're the right kind of AI thinker when applying for one of the many jobs that still do rely on traditional resumes and interviews?
Saying you're an AI "expert" might send the wrong message and suggest that you delegate your responsibilities to these tools as opposed to using them to enhance your own strengths, according to Thomas A. Kochan, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Read: How to compete with AI in a bleak job market, according to this software giant's CEO
Instead, you should focus on how you're good at using AI tools in a discerning way.
The most important thing for candidates is to "emphasize they have worked with AI tools and they have done it in a responsible and careful fashion," he said. Since AI tools are known to hallucinate, or make up information, workers should demonstrate that they check the information they're given and don't always rely on the same offerings.
"They should get familiar with the range of tools so they don't just say they use ChatGPT or they use Claude or Copilot, but they have sampled them and learned different tools have different strengths," Kochan said. "Some are better for presenting, some are better for research, but all have to be used with caution."
AI is altering nearly every aspect of the job process, and you can think of that as an opportunity.
"Your job is changing on you, even if you aren't changing jobs," Raman said. In some ways that's scary, but it could also be "liberating," he offered. Employees who are proactive now have the chance to reshape their jobs for the future.
Don't miss: 'Never get outhustled.' ServiceNow's CEO shares his best career advice.
-Emily Bary -Aditi Shrikant
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 11, 2026 08:00 ET (12:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments