Digital workers will outnumber humans in two years – are you ready to unleash the full potential of digital workforce?
Leading organisations are shifting their focus from isolated AI pilots to building a digital workforce – rapidly and at scale. At the same time, organisations are facing a new kind of leadership challenge that only a few are prepared for. But what becomes possible when a thousand or ten thousand digital workers are available?
“AI agents are no longer isolated pilots; they are becoming a significant part of the workforce. The question is not whether or when this will happen, but how organisations choose to lead it,” states Juho Nevalainen, Executive CTO and Head of Enterprise AI Services at Sofigate.
There is a clear shift towards a world where digital workers operate side by side with people. In many organisations, they may outnumber humans within the next few years.
“We see this development clearly in our work with hundreds of large Nordic and European companies and public sector organisations. Discussions with our customers and partners, as well as insights from technology events, confirm the same direction: the shift is already underway,” Nevalainen says.
This marks a transition from individual AI agents to a coordinated digital workforce embedded in business processes.
But how does it challenge leadership, and what does it mean for people? This is what we explore in our brand-new playbook, There is no more work without AI, which focuses on leading a digital workforce.
Don’t optimise, maximise
Digital workers are becoming part of everyday operations. Composed of multiple AI agents, they execute tasks, act independently and drive workflows forward.
“This is no longer mainly a tool question. The leadership task is to decide which end-to-end business processes to redesign first, how people and digital workers share the work, and how the outcome is measured in speed, quality and customer value,” says Aleksi Halttunen, Vice President, Disruptive AI at Sofigate.
The goal is not just to improve efficiency, optimise existing operations or make savings, but to maximise the value created across the organisation.
“The trap is to ask how AI can cut costs in today’s process. The more strategic question is what becomes possible when capacity is no longer the constraint. What would you redesign if you had a thousand digital workers available?” Halttunen adds.
Many organisations are still progressing through separate pilots, where individual AI solutions deliver value, but the overall picture is missing. This insight is backed by our survey, conducted in late spring 2026, which combines hands-on client observations with structured input from 63 organisations across the Nordics and the Benelux.
According to the survey, fewer than 20% of organisations are actively discussing a future where digital workers play a major role. Meanwhile, 53% lack a clear view of their current AI landscape, and 73% are still using AI primarily to automate existing tasks rather than redesign work.
“As new capabilities emerge almost weekly, the bigger risk is standing still. Organisations that wait may find that competitors are redesigning their business faster,” Halttunen says.
Four urgent themes for the management agenda
The shift towards a digital workforce requires clear choices from leadership. In our playbook, we highlight four key themes that determine which organisations succeed in this transformation:
- Digital worker management. Digital workers must be managed in the same way as human employees. This requires clear ownership, defined roles, lifecycle management and continuous supervision.
- Digital workers’ business value. Real value is created only when digital workers are embedded in end-to-end processes and measurable workflows. Isolated pilots are not enough.
- Work redesign. True transformation does not come from automating the old. Work must be redesigned so that people and digital workers can operate effectively together.
- Digital worker development and deployment. Organisations must move from individual pilots to a scalable, consistent operating model that enables hundreds or thousands of digital workers.
“These four themes are not optional. They define whether organisations move from experimentation to real, scalable transformation,” Juho Nevalainen says.
What does this mean for us humans?
The rise of digital workers does not eliminate human work – but it reshapes it. As routine tasks are automated, people’s roles shift towards creativity, decision-making and human interaction. Organisations must also decide how to use the newly available capacity.
“The real question is how people and digital workers operate together. What is the role and responsibility of humans? Why do we need people in our organisations? The answer is clear: people have a critical role in creating value, making decisions and driving change,” Nevalainen emphasises.
“Responsibility must always remain with people. As work becomes more automated, human strengths lie in recognising the real problem, reading weak signals and understanding context where human judgement is needed,” Halttunen adds. “Responsible AI is not the opposite of speed. It means that ownership, boundaries, auditability and human oversight are designed in from day one.”
Sofigate’s playbook: how to lead a digital workforce
Our newly published playbook, There is no more work without AI, provides a concrete framework for building and leading a digital workforce, and for moving from AI pilots to a fully scaled, value-driven operating model.
The playbook also includes the AI Value Canvas: a practical tool to help leaders and teams get started with designing, managing and maximising the value of digital workers in their own organisations.
Download the playbook to learn how to build, scale and lead a digital workforce.
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