The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies on the world of work is often framed in terms of broad, universal consequences. But to what extent do such narratives overlook the everyday negotiations, contestations, and adaptations through which technology is actually integrated into professional life? Prevailing perspectives tend to downplay human agency, instead attributing technological change to an abstract and often deterministic notion of economic or technological agency. In contrast, this paper examines how professionals at the forefront of digitalisation—particularly those in the digital and creative industries, including architects, designers, programmers, CEOs, and COOs—make sense of generative AI’s incorporation into their daily work. Drawing on a series of in-depth interviews, we highlight how AI adoption is not merely a matter of large-scale structural transformation but unfolds through subtle, often contested, micro-level organisational shifts.

By situating these insights within the broader discourse on technological change, we challenge and problematise three key perspectives that have shaped scholarly and policy-oriented understandings of digitalisation’s effects on labour markets. First, the Skill Biased Technical Change (SBTC) hypothesis suggests that technological advancements primarily benefit highly skilled workers, fostering an overall upskilling of the workforce. Second, the Routine Biased Technological Change (RBTC) perspective points to job polarisation, whereby routine-based middle-wage occupations—regardless of skill level—are increasingly displaced by automation. Finally, a third, more disruptive perspective envisions a future in which AI and robotics extend beyond routine tasks to replace even highly qualified professionals, raising concerns about large-scale structural unemployment.

Drawing on insights from Science and Technology Studies (STS), sociology of expectations, and labour market sociology, we demonstrate that the impact of AI is not uniform. Instead, technological change is socially embedded and contingent upon a range of organisational imaginaries and interactional dynamics. Our findings reveal that the integration of AI is shaped by workplace negotiations in which professionals redefine and contest its role, often navigating tensions between creativity and efficiency. By shifting analytical focus from broad systemic shifts to the lived realities of AI adoption, this article contributes to a more nuanced understanding of digitalisation in practice and challenges deterministic narratives that portray technological transformation as an inevitable trajectory. In doing so, we provide insights relevant to policymakers, business leaders, and scholars seeking to better understand the future of work in an era of AI-driven change.