From operational proficiency to interpersonal capabilities : The transformation of business development professionals' roles

Sammanfattning

Currently, Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming embedded as a normality in a growing amount of work positions and is reshaping how professionals perform tasks, process information and create value. While previous research has largely focused on organizational outcomes, less attention has been given to how AI is experienced within specific professional roles, where both analytical and relational work are central. This study explores how AI reshapes the everyday work and perceived value creation of business development professionals (BDPs). Adopting a qualitative-dominant mixed-methods design, the study combines semi-structured interviews with a mixed-method survey in order to examine how AI integration influences task execution, competence requirements, and professional role expectations. The analysis is guided by the EPOCH framework and Role Theory and follows an abductive thematic approach. Our findings suggest that AI has become deeply embedded in the daily workflows of business development professionals, functioning not only as an efficiency-enhancing tool but also increasingly as both a cognitive and strategic support system. While AI tools reduce time spent on repetitive and information-intensive tasks, the findings indicate that it simultaneously increases the importance of several human-centered capabilities such as judgment, contextual understanding, relationship-building, and communication. AI appears to shift value creation from operational execution toward interpretation, validation, and relational anchoring of AI-generated outputs. The study further suggests that business development work is becoming increasingly defined by the ability to balance AI-supported efficiency together with human reflection, trust, and sensemaking. The findings support perspectives viewing AI primarily as augmenting rather than replacing human work. Theoretically, the study contributes with time-relevant insights into how AI reshapes competence requirements and perceived value within a boundary-spanning role. Practically, the study highlights the growing importance of combining AI literacy with interpersonal and interpretive capabilities in contemporary business development work.