AI is sorting the wheat from the chaff.
Specifically, it is exposing which organisations understood the role and what it is capable of, and which never did.
Many organisations have traditionally measured administrative value through outputs.
Meetings booked.
Emails cleared.
Documents produced.
Tasks completed.
So when AI arrived and started doing those things faster, the conclusion felt obvious.
“Do we still need this role?”
That question, to me, reveals the problem.
Administrative professionals were never there to maximise output.
They were there to protect outcomes.
Decision quality.
Executive focus.
Timing.
Risk.
Alignment.
What gets done, what waits, and what should never happen at all.
AI can generate output at scale.
It cannot judge consequence.
It does not know which meeting creates clarity and which creates noise.
It does not know when speed helps and when it damages judgement.
It does not know which issue looks urgent but is strategically irrelevant.
That judgement has always sat with skilled administrative professionals.
And this is where AI is creating two tiers in organisations.
Those that used their administrative professionals properly are not panicking. They are using AI to strip away noise and elevate the role further into judgement, prioritisation, and decision support.
Those that never got it are exposed.
Because when you only value activity, automation makes the role replaceable.
This is not a technology moment.
It is a leadership moment.
AI is not deciding the future of administrative professionals.
It is revealing which organisations understood how value was created, and which confused busyness with effectiveness.
And that distinction is about to matter a great deal.
