When code becomes a commodity, communication becomes the edge
With AI changing the way technical teams work, Aaron explores why coding alone is no longer the differentiator it once was. He looks at what this shift means for tech firms, why communication and judgement are becoming critical skills, and how organisations can invest in their people now to build capability for the future.
If you run technology, engineering or people strategy, the ground has already moved under your organisation.
Nearly every UK tech firm now uses AI, and around 85% of developers reach for AI tools daily. Writing code, the thing developers have been hired and promoted for, is fast becoming the cheapest part of building software. The question for decision-makers is no longer whether to adopt AI. It is what your people are for once the machine does the typing.
What do AI tools and writing code have to do with storytelling and communication?
Well, everything.
From our very first engagements six years ago, before the AI explosion, we’ve been working with organisations and tech leaders who need to know exactly what their teams are doing, what the risks and rewards actually are. How else will they know what decision to make and when to make it?
It’s why one of the big international banks we work with gets us in to run data storytelling on a monthly basis, and why Immediate Media asked us to work with their Product and Tech teams. No-one wants to be left nodding and smiling, trying to guess what their tech teams mean, and wondering if they should just replace everyone with AI.
Communication matters
Over the next couple of years Gartner expects most engineers to spend more time directing and reviewing AI generated code instead of writing code by hand. That rewrites the job description. Good technical knowledge is still vital, but now judgement and communication, much harder to automate, are equally as important: explaining trade-offs to the board, translating technical risk for non-technical stakeholders, challenging a flawed brief, and articulating why an AI's output is wrong before it ships.
This isn’t just my opinion, communication is one of the fastest growing and most in-demand skill on LinkedIn, and 9 in 10 global executives say human skills matter more than ever. The differentiator in your organisation will not be who codes fastest, AI can be lightning fast. The differentiator will be who has experts who can think, explain and influence effectively.
Improving how knowledge workers communicate and collaborate can raise their productivity by 20–25% (that’s from McKinsey Global Institute). We saw this at Which? where the CPTO said that our training led to product teams, “communicating in a consistent way across forums, making it easier for senior members of the organisation to engage. Presentations are simpler and more impactful allowing teams to get the decisions they need to move forward faster.” It’s not rocket science.
Conversely, bad communication and subsequent conflict costs UK employers an estimated £28.5 billion a year, just over £1,000 per employee, according to Acas. Sorting out miscommunication is not just a nice-to-have, it stops projects overrunning, keeps your clients and stakeholders happy, and makes sure you keep your best performing people.
From commodity to capability
In a market where AI has made coding cheap and good people expensive, the most effective investment you can make is not on another tool licence. It’s on the communication capability that lets your technical people turn work into decisions, buy-in and revenue while also heading off the conflict, churn and rework that quietly drain the budget.
The skills gap you keep hearing about is not only technical, what AI cannot supply is people who can explain it, sell it and align a room around it. That capability is built, not bought and the organisations that invest now will reap the rewards.
Find out more about the communication and storytelling training we’re providing to organisations to support the rollout of AI adoption, and get in touch to discuss how we can help yours.
