Number 10: We Need a Bigger Pie - Expanding Opportunities in an AI-Driven World

‘by AGI we mean a highly autonomous system that outperforms hu-mans at most economically valuable work’ - OpenAI’ definition.

We are, probably (but by no means certainly), many years away from AGI - Artificial General Intelligence - which, as above, in-volves systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work. But truth be told, the road to AGI is a sliding scale, and we do not need to have achieved it absolutely before we start seeing significant changes in our businesses, and across society. Al-ready we are seeing AI dramatically increase the productivity of certain tasks, such as software development. Google have talked about some 25% of their ongoing code creation being produced by AI, and superstar Andrej Karpathy has written about ‘vibe coding’ where "It's not really coding — I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy-paste stuff, and it mostly works”. Substantial boosts in efficiency are here today.

The bottom line, an absolute certainty, is that:

‘AI means we will need fewer people to achieve our current level of output.’

So we need to ‘build a bigger pie’.

And by a ‘bigger pie,’ I mean expanding the scope of economic activity, creating new industries, and redefining the very nature of work and value.

But how?

Job Creation vs. Job Displacement

While AI will undoubtedly automate many existing roles, it also creates new opportunities. The challenge lies in ensuring that job creation outpaces displacement. AI opens up entirely new job categories, from AI ethics specialists to prompt engineers and digital experience designers. Governments, businesses, and educational institutions must collaborate to facilitate workforce transitions, ensuring that displaced workers can pivot into new, AI-enabled careers. The goal is not just to replace lost jobs but to create an abundance of higher-value opportunities that did not previously exist.

New Market Opportunities

AI is unlocking markets that were previously inaccessible or economically unfeasible. For example, AI-driven language translation enables businesses to enter global markets with unprecedented ease, while AI-powered analytics help companies identify untapped customer segments. In healthcare, AI facilitates remote diagnostics and personalised medicine, expanding access to high-quality care worldwide. By leveraging AI’s capabilities, businesses can scale into new domains and reach customers who were previously beyond their grasp.

Value Redefinition

Traditional economic metrics focus on tangible production and financial transactions, but AI is forcing a rethinking of value itself. In an AI-augmented economy, intangible assets such as data, knowledge, and creativity take on heightened significance. Companies must evolve beyond traditional revenue models, exploring AI-driven value creation through hyper-personalisation, experience curation, and digital ecosystems. This shift challenges industries to move beyond efficiency gains and instead reimagine what constitutes value in a world where information is abundant and intelligence is increasingly commoditised.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

AI significantly lowers the barriers to entrepreneurship by democratising access to knowledge, tools, and markets. Startups can now leverage AI-powered automation, reducing operational costs and allowing smaller players to compete with established enterprises. The ability to prototype, test, and scale innovations rapidly cultivates a culture of creative problem-solving and continuous disruption. Moreover, AI-driven platforms facilitate innovation ecosystems where entrepreneurs can collaborate across geographies and disciplines, further expanding the economic pie.

Skill Evolution

Rather than simply replacing human labour, AI necessitates a shift in skills. The workforce must transition from routine, repetitive tasks to roles that complement AI capabilities—such as critical thinking, creativity, and interpersonal skills. Continuous learning and adaptability become central to career longevity. Nations and companies that invest in upskilling their workforce will be better  positioned to capture the full economic benefits of AI, ensuring that people can participate meaningfully in an evolving labour market.

Economic Expansion

Historically, technological advancements have driven economic expansion by creating entirely new industries. AI’s potential follows a similar trajectory, enabling sectors such as synthetic biology, quantum computing, and immersive virtual environments. Crucially, AI does not merely optimise existing processes—it enables the emergence of economic activity that previously did not exist. By focusing on overall economic expansion rather than efficiency-driven cost-cutting, businesses and policymakers can ensure that AI contributes to a broader, more inclusive prosperity.

Inclusive Growth

For AI-driven economic expansion to be sustainable, its benefits must be widely distributed. Without intentional efforts, AI risks exacerbating inequality by concentrating wealth and opportunity among a small subset of individuals and companies. Policies that promote fair access to AI tools, invest in digital infrastructure, and encourage ethical AI deployment are essential. A more inclusive approach ensures that AI-driven growth is not just about building abigger pie but ensuring that more people get a fair slice.

Conclusion: Embracing AI as a Growth Catalyst

AI is not just a tool for efficiency—it is a catalyst for market expansion, value creation, and economic reinvention. To fully realise its potential, businesses, governments, and individuals must shift their mindset from one of job protection to one of opportunity creation. By focusing on new market opportunities, skill evolution, and inclusive growth, AI can help build a future where economic prosperity is not a zero-sum game but an ever-expanding horizon of possibilities.

The challenge ahead is not merely about managing AI’s risks—it is about ensuring that AI is harnessed to grow economies, enrich societies, and create a world where innovation leads to shared abundance rather than scarcity.

Everything we’ve discussed over this series will come to naught if we do not ‘build a bigger pie’, but combined it does provide us withthe raw materials to do so. Let’s just recap the essence of what we’ve been hypothesising:

1. The synergy between human intelligence and AI is becoming increasingly seamless, leading to unprecedented levels of productivity and innovation.
2. Traditional business models and processes are being deconstructed and reconstructed, with AI playing a central role in this transformation.
3. The concept of value is being redefined, with AI democratising access to high-quality services and experiences previously reserved for the elite.
4. Human skills like creativity, empathy, and complex problem-solving are becoming more valuable, even as AI capabilities expand.
5. The physical aspects of real estate are evolving to become more flexible, adaptive, and responsive to human needs.
6. There's a shift towards outcome-based services, where providers take more responsibility for delivering specific results.

These are powerful drivers of change. That will redefine much about how we understand the world around us and how and what we prioritise. To me they represent an extraordinary opportunity to both build a better built environment and to create and then curate a more inclusive, fulfilling, purpose driven society. One where, by embracing the new tools at our disposal, we raise the bar of what denotes the norm and ushers in a much more pervasive world of excellence. Why can’t we all have more - of everything? It is within our grasp. We can make it happen. For sure, this will involve wholesale disruption and require reinvention on a scale we’ve not dealt with before. But think back to the great gardener and landscape architect Lancelot ‘Capability' Brown who got his moniker from his fondness for describing country estates as having great 'capabilities' for improvement. Well, our current societies are just the same.

The next step is for businesses to embrace AI not just for efficiency but for expansion. Policymakers must create frameworks that encourage responsible innovation. And individuals should actively invest in skills that align with this new reality. The opportunity is vast—let’s seize it.