Employees 2.0: Rethinking Roles, Rights, and Relationships with AI

Throughout this series, we’ve followed the rise of live AI avatars across industries — as HR assistants, sales reps, educators, and even healthcare guides. They’ve been shown delivering information, responding to queries, adapting to emotions, and supporting users with surprising nuance.

But now comes the more complex question:

If an AI avatar contributes to work, communicates with your team, and is evaluated on outcomes. Is it just a tool, or has it become something more?

As we welcome these digital colleagues into the workplace, we need to reflect not just on their tasks, but on their roles, rights, and relationships.

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The Expanding Definition of “Work”

Traditionally, being an employee meant performing tasks of value within a structured organization; under the direction of a manager, and in exchange for compensation. But that definition is being stretched.

Live AI avatars now:

• Complete measurable tasks

• Respond to team members and customers in real time

• Are integrated into workflows with defined outputs and goals
  
  

And yet, they have no legal identity, no salary, and no emotional stake in outcomes. So what are they?

We are entering a new phase of workforce evolution. A hybrid model where:

• Some teammates are full-time, salaried humans

• Others are digital agents, billed monthly or run as part of an enterprise platform

• Both contribute to business outcomes but in fundamentally different ways
  
  

The boundaries of employment are blurring.

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Practical Implications for Organizations

This shift is no longer theoretical. Companies using AI avatars must now tackle very real questions:

• Management: Who is responsible for assigning tasks to avatars? Who "supervises" them, and how is their performance reviewed or improved?

  
  

• Governance: When an avatar provides incorrect or biased information, who is accountable: the team, the vendor, or the enterprise?

  
  

• Culture: How do digital coworkers fit into team rituals like meetings, feedback sessions, or onboarding? Do we include avatars in Slack channels? Can they "join" a virtual town hall?

  
  

  
  

This is no longer the stuff of science fiction, it’s happening now.

Case in Point: UBS

The global financial firm UBS has begun using AI avatars to create personalized video content based on analyst reports. Rather than relying on PDFs or plain text, clients can now watch digital versions of UBS analysts presenting findings powered by avatar technology. UBS is aiming to expand its AI avatar program significantly, aiming to produce around 5,000 analyst avatar videos annually once fully operational.

These avatars extend the reach of the firm’s human experts, freeing them to focus on analysis, while digital colleagues handle delivery and personalization.

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The Case for a New Workforce Model

As digital workers become more capable and embedded, organizations must evolve how they define work itself. A new workforce model should:

• Clearly define digital roles: What AI avatars are responsible for, and what decisions remain human-only
  
  

• Protect meaningful human roles: Ensure automation augments rather than displaces work that offers purpose, creativity, or leadership
  
  

• Enable human-AI collaboration: Equip employees to delegate tasks, interpret insights, and build workflows that include AI
  
  

• Build ethical infrastructure: Uphold transparency, informed consent, and fairness when avatars interact with customers or teams
  
  
  

This isn’t just about process, it’s about culture design. Organizations must build environments where human and AI collaboration is intentional, inclusive, and accountable.

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Vision: Augmented, Not Replaced

The goal of integrating AI avatars is not to automate humanity out of the workplace, it’s to allow people to focus on what they do best, while digital agents handle the rest.

In a well-designed system:

• HR professionals focus on people and culture, while avatars handle scheduling and policy questions
  
  

• Sales teams build relationships and close complex deals, while avatars nurture and qualify leads
  
  

• Educators inspire and mentor, while avatars reinforce concepts and provide scalable review
  
  

• Doctors focus on diagnosis and care, while avatars guide patients through procedures and instructions
  
  
  

This is not humans vs. AI. It’s humans amplified by AI.

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Final Thoughts: Designing the Workforce We Want

The workforce of tomorrow won’t be defined by job titles alone, it will be defined by how humans and AI work together. It won’t emerge by accident. It must be designed, with care and foresight.

Live AI avatars are already here: capable, expressive, and ready to contribute.

Now it’s up to us to decide… What kind of colleagues do we want them to be?

The answer will shape not just work, but the future of human agency, creativity, and connection in the digital age.