The rise of generative AI has sparked widespread concern about the future of high-paying IT jobs. While some fear widespread displacement, new findings from a Microsoft Research study present a more nuanced picture. The study shows that AI, particularly tools like Microsoft Copilot, is significantly changing how IT professionals work—but not necessarily eliminating their roles. Instead of replacing workers, AI is shifting tasks, skills, and expectations in ways that reflect broader technological and economic evolution.
Copilot Use Reveals High AI Applicability in IT
Microsoft’s research team analyzed how users engaged with its AI tools throughout 2024, offering unique insight into real-world job impacts. Using over 200,000 anonymized conversations with Bing Copilot and 100,000 feedback entries, the team examined how users applied Copilot to a variety of tasks. They found that computing and IT roles scored high in AI applicability, meaning that AI could perform a large portion of work typically handled by humans in these fields.
Researchers calculated this by breaking jobs into smaller activities, evaluating how often Copilot could perform each task effectively. IT roles consistently appeared at the top of that list. The implication was clear: generative AI is highly capable of executing IT-related functions when prompted correctly.
However, the study acknowledged its limits. It focused solely on Copilot accessed through Bing search, a platform more commonly used by general office workers rather than technical professionals. Specialized IT domains like cybersecurity, software development, or systems maintenance were less represented in the dataset.
AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement
Despite the high task overlap between Copilot and IT roles, the study urged caution against assuming full job automation. The research emphasized that AI integration doesn’t guarantee that specific roles will disappear. Instead, AI is more likely to change how people work, speeding up routine processes and freeing professionals to focus on higher-order tasks.
The researchers drew parallels to historical shifts in workforce roles. For example, they cited the introduction of ATMs in the 1970s, which many believed would eliminate bank teller positions. In reality, the number of tellers increased as banks expanded their services and physical branches. The nature of teller duties evolved, but the roles themselves remained vital to customer engagement.
Similarly, Microsoft’s findings suggest that the automation of specific IT tasks won’t necessarily reduce job demand. Rather, AI may reassign those tasks and push workers toward new responsibilities that require problem-solving, creativity, and strategic thinking.
Real-World Impacts Still Unclear
The study repeatedly pointed out that while AI shows strong task-based performance, this doesn’t directly translate to predictable workforce changes. Many job roles include activities not easily categorized or written into descriptions. Collaboration, intuition, and experience-driven decisions—critical in many IT functions—remain largely outside AI’s current capabilities.
The research also stated that the business outcomes of adopting AI tools like Copilot are difficult to predict. Automating certain functions may drive efficiency, but that can lead to expanded roles, new business lines, or increased demand for specialized human oversight.
Experts involved in the study warned against drawing linear conclusions. They cautioned that assuming high AI overlap leads to job loss, or that lower overlap leads to job security, is misleading. The downstream effects of AI tools depend on broader organizational decisions, market trends, and societal needs.
Office Usage Shows One Side of the Picture
Another key limitation of the Microsoft study is where Copilot is used. Since Copilot is embedded in Microsoft 365, Edge, and Bing, it primarily reflects how office workers—not technical teams—use AI. Therefore, the study does not offer much insight into how Copilot or other AI tools affect core IT areas like infrastructure management, coding, or network security.
Those specialized roles may see a different kind of AI impact, especially as purpose-built tools emerge. Cybersecurity software, low-code platforms, and DevOps automation tools already incorporate AI features not captured by Microsoft’s analysis. Understanding the full picture requires studying how those domain-specific tools affect skilled technical roles.
Skills, Not Jobs, Are the Real Shifting Ground
Even as automation becomes more capable, the need for IT professionals may not shrink. Instead, the skill set required to thrive in the field is evolving rapidly. Being able to use AI effectively could become as important as writing code or managing servers.
Microsoft’s researchers echoed this view. They stated that most modern job categories have formed in the last century, many as a response to past technological advances. Cybersecurity, for example, barely existed decades ago. Today, it’s one of the fastest-growing tech sectors, with consistent talent shortages highlighted in the annual ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study.
This trend suggests that emerging technologies like AI won’t reduce jobs but create entirely new categories of work. IT workers may shift from task execution to AI system supervision, policy development, or integration planning.
Automation Enables Evolution, Not Elimination
Its results affirm the claim that AI will enable IT employees to undertake more valuable tasks. This is nothing new as far as labor history is concerned as technology takes over one aspect and allows the workers to gain another. The fact is that such evolution tends to add more complexity and greater satisfaction in work rather than redundancy.
The researchers noted that this shift is a feature, not a failure, of AI integration. Just as previous innovations sparked new job creation, AI might accelerate the creation of new tech-adjacent roles. Automation simplifies repetitive tasks, opening doors for IT professionals to apply judgment, strategic planning, and human-centric problem-solving.
Organizations Must Adapt Alongside Workers
The study that Microsoft indirectly suggests is that there is an even bigger truth beyond the work of a computer IT provider: business strategy and technology interdependence. Companies will have to redesign the way they employ groups, allocate roles, and shape their manpower along with the new tools. Implementing AI without changing the structures and re-educating the employees could result in missed opportunities.
Technology adoption decisions should think beyond short-term gains in efficiency to lasting business results, the study said. Things that rethink automation as enhancement rather than supplantion will see more value and durability in the length run.
