AI roles are emerging, but are they being defined correctly?

AI roles are emerging, but are they being defined correctly?

I recently saw an advertisement on a Caribbean job board for an AI Adoption Specialist role in Jamaica. I was excited to see what the job was about, as it was the first job post of this nature that I have seen locally. However, when I reviewed the job ad, through the lens of an HR Practitioner, it stopped me in my tracks.

I realised that there was a fundamental challenge that organisations need to address as they begin to introduce new AI roles.

How do you write a job description for a role that has not yet been clearly defined?

In this article, I examine a job advertisement for an AI Adoption Specialist role to illustrate some of the challenges in designing these job descriptions and highlight what HR and Business Leaders should consider.

The Core Problem: Blended Roles Without Clear Boundaries

One common issue emerging is the tendency to combine multiple functions into one position. From the job description I reviewed, the role appeared to require:

• A technical AI expert
• A change management specialist
• A corporate trainer

Job Description – AI Adoption Specialist

While it is understandable that organisations want versatile employees, these are three distinct roles requiring different competencies. When roles are not clearly defined, expectations become unrealistic, measuring performance is challenging, and employee retention may be at risk.

Misalignment Between Job Description and Job Specification

The job specification and description lay the foundation for how people are trained, how performance is measured, how people are paid, and how you attract and retain people hired. They therefore deserve careful thought and attention.

The job description outlines the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of the job. The job specification addresses the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) needed by the person who will perform the job.

Job Specification – AI Adoption Specialist

In this case, the advertisement asks for someone with a Computer Science or Data Science background and 3+ years of hands-on AI project management experience. However, the responsibilities described focus less on technical skills and more on:

• Driving the adoption of AI tools
• Influencing employee behaviour
• Embedding AI into workflows

These are largely change management and capability-building activities.

As a result, the company may find that this role may go unfilled for months, or it will eventually have to compromise on the job requirements.

What the Organisation Actually Needs

When we read between the lines of the advertisement, the role being described is about:

• Driving organisational change
• Building internal capability
• Supporting the adoption of new tools

This becomes even clearer when we see that the successful candidate is expected to structure and lead an AI Champions network, develop firm-wide training programmes and create an official playbook for AI adoption. This suggests that a different profile is needed.

The ideal candidate is likely someone with strong project management credentials (PMP/Scrum), excellent stakeholder management skills, reasonable working knowledge of AI tools (not deep engineering expertise) and the credibility to influence senior colleagues.

If the job is positioned this way, the talent becomes more realistic and accessible in Jamaica. In fact, the talent needed may already exist within the organisation, particularly within HR, Learning and Development and operations functions.

Traits for Success – AI Adoption Specialist

Risk of Getting it Wrong

When job descriptions are unclear, there is a ripple effect. It can be costly.

Unsuitable candidates are attracted, which increase time to fill. Pressure to fill the role may then lead to selecting someone who isn’t aligned to what is needed. Alternatively, you find the right person on paper, but they struggle because a realistic job preview was never provided.

The new hire becomes frustrated. The organisation becomes frustrated. AI initiatives then fail, not because of technology, but because of poor role design.

Final Thoughts

AI may be transforming how we work, but it does not change the fundamentals of effective HR practice.

Before you post that next job ad, pause. Be clear about the work. Be honest about what it really requires.

Remember, it is a human being hired and not a bot.

Yolande Hylton is the Managing Director of Hylton Insights, an HR Consultancy Firm with a mandate to guide businesses from the transactional to the transformational HR realm, thereby enhancing individual and organisational performance. For inquiries or to learn more, you can reach out to yolande@hyltoninsights.com or visit www.hyltoninsights.com