Wednesday 5th August: IAB Australia has launched an extended version of its free AI Impact Assessment tool to help professionals working across agencies, brands, publishers, creative businesses and ad tech understand how AI is likely to affect their individual roles and identify practical steps they can take to prepare for the future of work. The tool forms part of the IAB Australia’s AI Working Group’s broader commitment to building practical, accessible AI resources for everyone across the industry.
Using guided prompts, the Assessment takes users through a structured mapping process that breaks their role into individual tasks and considers each against an AI exposure spectrum. This helps people identify which parts of their work may be more readily automated, where AI is more likely to augment their performance, and which responsibilities will continue to rely heavily on human judgement, creativity, relationships and expertise.
Rather than producing a fixed prediction about whether a role will disappear, the Assessment provides a personalised map of how the work within that role may change. It then offers a practical pathway for preparing for that change, including identifying the skills users should strengthen and the actions they can take to remain valuable as their role evolves. It also provides access to a broad range of recommended training, tools and resources aligned with different capability needs and levels of AI exposure.
IAB Australia CEO Gai Le Roy said: “Most conversations about AI and jobs treat a role as something that either survives or it doesn’t. It’s not that simplistic. A role can be made up of ten or twenty different tasks, and AI affects each of them differently. Employers and industry bodies have a responsibility to support workforce development as they deploy AI, but individuals also need the tools to take an active role in preparing for what comes next. This assessment provides a practical way for people to understand how their work may change and which skills they should start building now.”
The AI Impact Assessment tool was originally developed for media agency roles by Kellyn Coetzee, digital industry expert and IAB Australia AI Working Group co-chair. It has now been updated and expanded to cover the whole industry.
“Conversations about AI and jobs are often framed too broadly, which can create unnecessary anxiety for employees,” Coetzee said. “Most roles are made up of many different tasks, and AI will affect each of those tasks differently. The assessment does not attempt to predict someone’s future, but I hope it gives people a structured way to identify their development priorities and connect with practical training and resources that can help them prepare.”
The AI Impact Assessment tool forms part of IAB Australia’s broader AI Hub, which provides guidance and resources to support the responsible and effective adoption of AI across the advertising industry.