By 2027, stuffing your resume with "ChatGPT," "AI prompt engineer," or corporate buzzwords won’t cut it anymore.
To find out what big-name employers actually want, writer Rachel Wells sat down with heavy-hitting executives—including celebrity real estate mogul Ryan Serhant, Adecco CEO Denis Machuel, and SAP Chief People Officer Megan Smith.
The verdict? Leaders are looking for human leverage—not just people who can generate AI slop.
Here are the three high-value actions that will separate top performers from the rest of the pack in 2027:
1. Act Like the Role Before You Get the Title
"Be the role before you are the role."— Ryan Serhant, CEO of SERHANT.
Waiting around for a promotion to start showing leadership? You’ve already lost. High-value professionals don’t wait for permission—they build their own proof of concept.
How to execute:
- Identify a gap: Find a revenue leak, customer complaint, or workflow bottleneck your team hasn't fixed.
- Pitch the solution: Don't just complain—propose a fix and volunteer to lead it.
- Quantify your impact: Track the metrics (hours saved, extra revenue generated, or risk reduced).
When management sees you already delivering value at the next level, giving you the title becomes a formality.
2. Become an "AI Multiplier"
Only 22% of business leaders feel confident in their workforce's ability to keep up with AI. That massive skill gap is your biggest career opportunity.
Instead of hoarding AI hacks to do your own job faster, elevate the people around you.
How to execute:
- Train your peers: Show a struggling teammate how to streamline their workflow with a new tool.
- Build use cases: Connect AI capabilities directly to your department's key goals.
- Mitigate risk: Flag compliance or quality risks before management even notices them.
When you raise the productivity of your entire team, you become indispensable to executive leadership.
3. Exercise Applied AI Judgment (Ditch the "AI Slop")
Nothing drains workplace morale faster than an employee passing off generic, unverified ChatGPT outputs as finished work.
Leaders are looking for professionals with taste, domain expertise, and critical thinking.
How to execute:
- Treat AI as a draft, not the final word: Always review, fact-check, and refine AI outputs using your personal expertise.
- Eliminate cognitive debt: Don't pass off unrefined work that forces your manager to re-do your thinking.
- Combine tech with human nuance: Use AI for speed, but use your judgment for accuracy, tone, and strategic alignment.
In 2027, high-value status won't come from your resume keywords. It will come from your proactive ownership, your ability to elevate your team's tech capabilities, and the human judgment you bring to machine outputs.
Which of these three shifts are you prioritizing in your career this year? Drop a comment below!