The Jobs Most (and Least) Impacted by AI, According to a Microsoft Study • 360 Mozambique

Artificial intelligence won’t replace all jobs, but it will certainly transform many of them. That’s the conclusion of a new study by Microsoft, which analyzed more than 200,000 anonymous user interactions in the U.S. with Copilot — the company’s own AI assistant — to map the most automated daily tasks and, from there, identify the professions most (and least) affected by the technology.

The result is the “AI Applicability Index,” which ranks occupations based on how much their tasks can be performed with the support of AI. Jobs related to writing, communication, and data analysis — such as translators, copywriters, sales representatives, and journalists — appear among the most exposed to AI’s influence.

On the other hand, jobs that require manual skills, direct empathy, or physical labor — such as machinery operators, nurses, and health technicians — remain relatively protected.
“What we’re going to see is not AI taking over all jobs, but changing the way professionals work,” says Lucas Brossi, partner and AI practice leader at Bain & Company, a global strategic management consultancy, in South America.

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“AI is a support tool, not a full replacement,” says Maria Sartori, market director at Robert Half, a human resources consulting firm.
“Technology can take on repetitive tasks, but it also enhances what professionals already do best,” adds Brossi.

“It’s not about competing with AI in what it already does well, but about strengthening what only humans can deliver: strategic vision, sensitivity, creativity, and judgment.”
— Lucas Brossi, Partner at Bain & Company in South America

In this new landscape, human skills remain the biggest differentiator.
“Empathy, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, adaptability, and ethical judgment remain out of reach for machines,” emphasizes David Dias, AI leader at EY, a global consulting firm specializing in audit, tax, strategy, and digital transformation, in Latin America.
“The big challenge will be the reinvention of people: the speed of transformation demands that we reinvent ourselves quickly and continuously.”

According to experts, the trend is a reconfiguration of roles.
“Processes will be redesigned with AI at the center, creating hybrid functions — part automated, part human,” explains Brossi.
“Human work will be elevated to a new level of decision-making, creativity, and strategic impact. Meanwhile, AI will no longer be a differentiator, as it is today, and will become a basic competency,” adds Sartori.

Most and Least Impacted Professions by AI, According to Microsoft

The study “Working with AI: Measuring the Occupational Implications of Generative AI” focuses on the U.S. job market.

Researchers created an “AI Applicability Index” — a score indicating how much each profession’s tasks can be performed and automated using artificial intelligence. The higher the score, the greater the potential impact of AI on that job. Here’s the breakdown: