The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts

Richard and Daniel Susskind argue that the traditional monopoly held by professionals—including doctors, lawyers, teachers, and accountants—is collapsing due to increasing automation and the decentralization of knowledge. They identify two parallel futures: one where existing experts use technology to streamline current methods and another where increasingly capable systems replace human practitioners altogether. The book introduces the concept of the commons of practical expertise, where information once held behind expensive professional barriers becomes accessible through online platforms and artificial intelligence.

Leaders in professional services and students entering these fields use this text to understand shifts in the labor market. It provides a framework for identifying which tasks machines will likely absorb and which niche roles may remain for human experts. Readers gain a technical forecast of how information technology dismantles the billable hour and the bespoke consultancy model. By the end, they possess a clear view of the new specialized roles emerging in a post-professional society, such as knowledge engineers and system designers.