Global growth faces a dual challenge as workforces shrink and productivity stagnates, undermining the traditional engines of rising output and living standards. Ageing populations in regions like the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea are leading to fewer workers supporting more retirees, while productivity gains remain uneven despite rapid technological progress. As a result, organizations must generate more value with fewer people, making incremental efficiency improvements insufficient and pushing the need for a step-change in productivity powered by artificial intelligence.
One key mindset is adopting exponential thinking, aiming for “10 times outcomes, not 10% gains,” by using AI to tackle tasks at machine scale rather than human capacity. Petrobras, the Brazilian multinational energy company, illustrates this approach by deploying AI to process complex, constantly changing tax regulations, uncovering errors and optimizations that led to more than “$120 million in tax savings” while also reducing employee burnout. A second mindset is organizing around outcomes instead of traditional functions, using AI agents and small autonomous teams to own end-to-end results, which can accelerate decisions, reduce managerial layers and structurally lower costs. FedEx follows this path by integrating AI into its DRIVE programme, automating over 40% of sortation operations and using advanced technologies to enhance transparency and customer loyalty.
The third mindset centers AI within human-machine collaboration so machines handle speed, consistency and pattern matching, while humans focus on strategic, creative and high-value work. Realizing this vision depends on large-scale reskilling so employees can confidently use AI systems, exemplified by Citi’s AI training programmes on large language models and Accenture’s initiative to reskill more than 700,000 workers to build agentic AI workflows. Positioned this way, AI becomes the main lever to confront demographic and productivity constraints, opening the possibility of a new era of higher productivity, sustainable growth and more meaningful work.
Reference
Shukla, M. (2026, March 16). Shrinking workforce, stagnant productivity? 3 mindsets to power growth in the agentic era. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/03/shrinking-workforce-stagnant-productivity-3-mindsets-to-power-growth-in-the-agentic-era/