Whenever a college student asks me what is the essential skill in the new world of AI, my answer is always – ‘Continuity’. Doing a job not just for a few months or years, but for decades. Don’t take a break for even a single day. It is not just hard work, but the discipline which every mother follows without complaining. HR professionals may have different answers to this question. Such as being organized, honest, positive, trustworthy and dedicated or having good communication. But if you ask Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, his answer will be different from all the accepted and tested qualities required for success and he will say, ‘Be high agency.’ However, Altman has long advocated the virtues of extreme flexibility and long-term focus, particularly in his famous essay ‘How to Be Successful’. But as AI automates everyday tasks, their public advice has shifted to ‘high agency’ (HA). You can see this in his interviews given between 2024 and 2026. Before understanding what ‘HA’ is, let us start with a ‘detention test’. Are you ready? Don’t cheat yourself by reading the entire article, rather take the test with an open mind. Imagine you are stopped at a foreign airport and the authorities allow you only one call. Now tell me, who will you call? Will the wife, who is a housewife, get upset? To a 70 year old father? Or to the brother, who holds an influential government position? If you know the meaning of ‘HA’ then you will call brother. Because perhaps he is the person with the ‘highest agency’ in your life. They won’t panic, maybe ask a dozen questions. Will not curse the system, but will start finding ways to solve the problem. ‘HA’ is a mindset in which you become the driver of your life instead of being a passive passenger. This thinking refuses to accept circumstances or limitations as they are. It also involves the inner belief that your actions affect the outcome. The following are some of the behaviors seen in a high agency person. 1. Readiness to action: They do not wait for explicit permission, ideal circumstances, or precise instructions. If a problem arises, we start taking action immediately. 2. Taking full responsibility: They take responsibility for problem-solving, even if it is outside their job description. 3. To be resourceful: Instead of stopping by saying ‘This is impossible’, they think ‘Come on, let me try another method.’ They keep adopting such methods until they get the desired results. How to Develop an HA Mindset in the Workplace? Just like building muscle through regular exercise, some deliberate daily habits can develop ‘HA’. For this, work should be done on five areas: 1. Go with solutions, not problems: Do not take any problem to your manager without suggesting two practical solutions. 2. Treat rules as guidelines: Bend rigid corporate processes into legal and ethical ways to deliver results faster. 3. Overcome barriers: If a colleague says ‘no’, seek out other stakeholders or data sources. 4. Work with limited resources: Create a high-quality product using free tools even if the budget is tight. 5. Take calculated risks: Take important decisions on your own when leadership is unresponsive or unavailable. The core concept of ‘HA’ is that we all have the power to make changes in our lives. Adopting this can become a cure for the feeling of despair and helplessness. In a culture obsessed with constant work, deciding where exactly our focus should lie may be our highest agency move. The bottom line is that ‘HA’ is a value-neutral term, neither positive nor negative. It describes a person who takes action even when there is risk.
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N. Raghuraman’s column: Inside you in the world of AI "Must have ‘high-agency’ skills
