The technology conversation around AI is well rehearsed. The people conversation is where most leaders are genuinely unsure. We take a look at what the workforce actually looks like 24 months into a serious AI programme, once the entry-level work has been absorbed and the old career ladders no longer quite fit. We explore how to rebuild career paths and performance management for that reality, and the cultural signal, easy to miss, that quietly decides whether AI is adopted across an organisation or subtly resisted.