The Great Unbundling: Work and the Rise of AI + Fractional Leaders

About the Author: Bara Elhag is a fractional GTM/sales leader for tech startups looking to scale. He was a Strategy and Operations Lead at Anterior, a healthcare AI startup. Previously managed and sold AI-enabled tools to health systems, biopharma, and independent therapists.

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The corporate world is on the brink of a revolution. In the next 20 years, the Fortune 500 will look radically different: fractional C-suites, armies of specialized gig workers, and AI handling everything else. This isn't just a shift in how we work; it's a fundamental reimagining of what a company is – I see it happening in three ways:

1. Polycorporate Professionals: Imagine a CM(arketing)O who splits her time between three companies, bringing fresh insights and cross-industry innovation to each. It sounds like an open relationship (it is to an extent), but this model could lead to more committed, focused leadership. Freed from the daily grind of office politics, these fractional executives can zero in on results. The death of the "company man" might just be the birth of the renaissance leader.
2. Gig Economy: As a frequent Upwork user, I've seen it mature year-over-year. Upwork reports that freelancers are “five times more likely to use AI” than their full-time counterparts. They're not just adapting; they're evolving. This trend points to a future where companies are fluid networks of in- and out-of-house talent.
3. AI as Middle Management: When GPT(o1?) can handle project coordination and data analysis better than humans, what's left for the MBA grads? A recent study by OpenAI and the University of Pennsylvania found that with AI and related tools, between 47% and 56% of all work tasks could be completed significantly faster at the same level of quality. A16z predicts that 'every white-collar role will have an AI copilot.' As a consequence, we'll need truly creative, human leaders - not as many number crunchers. Leadership focused on vision, ethics, and the uniquely human aspects of business. And it's not just pie-in-the-sky thinking. Companies like Cascading AI are already developing "Sarah," a virtual loan officer that can handle the initial back-and-forth with customers, from document collection to appointment scheduling. Meanwhile, 11x.ai is creating AI-powered sales development representatives that can gather all the information about a potential customer before a human even enters the picture. The future is already here, just unevenly distributed.

This shift is reshaping the global economic landscape. Imagine a world where a brilliant strategist in Nigeria can be the fractional CFO for companies in New York, London, and Tokyo simultaneously. A niche AI tool developed by a team in Estonia becomes the industry standard worldwide overnight. This is hyper-globalization, where talent, ideas, and innovation flow freely across borders, time zones, and traditional corporate structures.

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Questions

In a world where your CEO works Tuesdays and Thursdays, your team is global, and AI is doing the heavy lifting, what exactly is a company? Is it just a legal wrapper around a fluid network of talent and tech? Or is it something more – a shared mission, a collective vision?

As AI capabilities expand, we're seeing the emergence of a "jagged frontier" of AI capabilities (Dell’Acqua et. al, 2023). Some tasks that seem complex are easily handled by AI, while others that appear simple can trip it up.
Given, this recent research has identified two distinct professionals: the "Centaur" and the "Cyborg". Centaurs, like their mythical namesakes, strategically divide tasks between human and AI based on their respective strengths. They're adept at recognizing which subtasks fall within AI's capabilities and which require human insight.

Cyborgs, on the other hand, integrate AI more deeply into their workflow. They don't just delegate tasks to AI; they work in tandem with it, often at a subtask level where the line between human and AI contribution blurs. These professionals are pushing the boundaries of what's possible with current AI tools.

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Takeaways for Professionals

• The future of work is less a ladder and more a pinwheel of wins. Rounding out and refining your unique skill set from role to role will be imperative.
• Expertise-as-a-Service could become the norm, with companies subscribing to top talent rather than hiring it full-time.
• The winners will be “T-shaped” professionals: those who combine broad understanding with deep expertise in select areas, fluency in AI, and mastery of work-life integration.
• Develop your "Centaur" and "Cyborg" skills. Learn when to delegate to AI and when to work in close tandem with it.

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Challenges

How do you maintain company culture with a constantly rotating cast? How do you ensure consistent strategy execution when your C-suite is part-time? And perhaps most importantly, are we racing towards utopian flexibility or dystopian instability?

Future fractional executives, AI whisperers, and portfolio careerists, the question isn't whether you'll adapt to this new world. It's how quickly you'll help shape it. The jagged frontier of AI capabilities is expanding rapidly, and those who can navigate it skillfully will be the leaders of tomorrow.

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And if doing fractional work sounds exciting to you, or you want to learn more, check us out at https://fractionaljobs.io. We've got plenty of live jobs from startups looking for senior-level fractional talent.