- Remote work is here to stay, requiring a shift in how teams are managed and trusted to deliver results.
- AI isn’t replacing jobs, but enhancing them; businesses not using AI risk falling behind.
- The workplace is changing, blending remote work with AI-driven tasks for greater efficiency and competitiveness.
This article is based on the Allwork.Space Future of Work Podcast episode featuring Liam Martin, Co-Organizer of Running Remote, Co-Founder of Time Doctor, and author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Running Remote. Click here to listen to the full episode.
If you’re still on the fence about embracing remote work and AI today, you’re already falling behind.
Liam Martin, a leading voice in the global remote work movement, made it clear during his conversation on The Allwork.Space Future of Work® Podcast that these are no longer trends or passing fads — they are the future of work.
As both remote work and AI continue to reshape the business landscape, the companies that fail to adapt will likely struggle in the decade to come.
Martin, the Co-Organizer of Running Remote, Co-Founder of Time Doctor, and author of Wall Street Journal bestseller Running Remote, is no stranger to remote work challenges. He’s spent years growing his company while managing teams across the globe.
The Remote Work Transition
While remote work’s popularity with corporate decision makers is waning, the embrace of this work model is still much higher than in the past.
Pre-pandemic, just 4.5% of the U.S. workforce worked remotely. But, by March 2020, that number skyrocketed to 58-62% of the U.S. workforce.
This massive shift — what Martin refers to as “emergency remote work” — was the largest change in how people work since the Industrial Revolution. And yet, Martin insists, we haven’t even fully absorbed the long-term impacts of this change.
It’ll likely take until 2030 for us to fully recognize the transformation it’s sparked.
This evolution isn’t about going back to “normal” or the old way of doing business. Instead, we must look ahead to how work is evolving — not just in terms of location, but in terms of how we use technology to manage people and produce results.
“Remote work is here to stay,” Martin asserted, but the critical question is: how will we manage this new normal? Companies that treat remote work like a temporary change rather than a long-term shift risk losing out on productivity, employee retention, and future business opportunities.
AI: The Future of Efficiency and Competition
The second major shift in the workforce today is the rise of AI.
According to Martin, “AI is not going to replace you, but someone using AI will.”
It’s one of the most urgent lessons for business leaders in today’s market: If you’re not leveraging AI, you’re not just missing out on a productivity tool — you’re setting your company up for irrelevance.
As AI continues to evolve and become more accessible, it will play an integral role in how businesses operate, grow, and compete in the future.
The Rise of AI-Enhanced Workplaces
Martin shared a shocking example of integrating AI into key business operations that he saw in a recent pitch deck for a company he was considering investing in.
In the deck, the company introduced an AI agent as their Chief Technology Officer (CTO), while their senior engineers focused on quality assurance and fixing issues in the AI-generated code. “For the first time ever, I saw this,” Martin noted, pointing to the potential of AI to handle increasingly complex tasks traditionally performed by human employees.
This highlights the incredible evolution we’re seeing in the workplace, where AI is not only assisting but leading critical aspects of business operations.
In other industries, similar changes are being seen. Martin also referenced a conversation with a creative director at Ubisoft, the company behind the Assassin’s Creed series, who had spent his career developing characters by hand.
The creative director explained that he would never advise students today to invest the same amount of time in learning how to design characters the traditional way. Instead, AI can now generate characters, speeding up the production process significantly.
This doesn’t mean the creative director’s role is obsolete, but it changes from being hands-on in the design process to overseeing and refining the AI-generated output.
The same principle applies to copywriting, a field where Martin personally experienced an existential crisis when he compared his copywriting performance to that of AI tools like ChatGPT.
Despite the growing capabilities of AI, there’s still an essential role for human “taste” and judgment — what Martin referred to as the “quality assurance” that can’t be automated.
AI can generate code, characters, or marketing copy, but it takes a human with experience to ensure that the output aligns with the company’s standards. This blend of human expertise and AI efficiency is what will drive future success.
Prepare for the Future Now
The message is clear: If you’re not embracing remote work and AI, you are already falling behind.
As Martin emphasized, the combination of remote work, hybrid models, and AI will be the defining features of the future of work. Companies that want to succeed need to manage remote teams effectively, create a culture of trust and accountability, and integrate AI into their workflows to stay competitive.
