November 18, 2025
Many non-technical professionals are wondering how their expertise and experience fit into a work world increasingly dominated by AI. Yet behind every effective model is a web of context, translation and judgment that machines can’t replicate—and that AI system developers can’t weave alone.
As AI initiatives expand, business insight, user understanding and strategic framing have become essential to ensuring systems stay grounded in real-world needs and deliver measurable ROI. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council share how subject matter experts across industries can become indispensable collaborators for AI-driven teams.
Bridge The Gap Between AI Developers And Stakeholders
Non-technical specialists bring an understanding of market goals, user needs and nuanced communication to AI-driven teams. They help build solutions that resonate and create value and contextualized impact. They can also translate technical possibilities into accessible narratives, help bridge gaps between developers and stakeholders, improve user adoption, and embed qualitative empathy, cultural awareness and ethics into design. – Adita Karkera, Deloitte Consulting
Outline Requirements And User Behaviors
Increased adoption of AI puts more emphasis on the needs of users and the business. So non-technical professionals who are able to articulate requirements, user behaviors and so on are going to do well. There is a debate about whether technical product managers are going to replace developers or whether devs are going to end up looking more like product managers as a lot of the coding work becomes commoditized. – Stephen de Vries, IriusRisk
Act As Semantic Architects
Non-technical professionals can act as semantic architects, translating nuanced business context (for example, defining “LTV” or “successful sale”) into the precise rules of the semantic model. This human input provides essential data definitions, guaranteeing AI accuracy and preventing the model from hallucinating due to misinterpretation. –Francois Lopitaux, ThoughtSpot
Provide Context For The Challenges AI Is Solving
Non-technical professionals improve outcomes for AI-driven teams by bringing greater context for the challenges AI is solving, including a nuanced understanding of how an AI solution needs to function to be truly valuable for the end user. Non-technical team members who translate complex business realities for technical teams help AI models solve the right problems using real-world experience and judgment. – Rochelle Blease,G2 Risk Solutions
Connect Data-Driven Insights To Strategic Business Decisions
Non-technical professionals can make themselves indispensable to AI teams by becoming translators of value—connecting data-driven insights to strategic business decisions. AI can reveal what drives trust, performance and risk. Therefore, leaders who can interpret data intelligence and turn it into credible action help their organizations move from data collection to enterprise accountability. – Haider Nazar, MAHA Global
Help Refine Best Practices And Question Assumptions
It’s essential to build a culture where knowledge goes beyond prompts and code and challenges the status quo. When tunnel vision sets in, non-technical team members show strength by encouraging dialogue around best practices and questioning assumptions that prompts can’t address. Non-technical professionals enhance AI’s momentum by making sure it connects to the ultimate goal: growth and innovation. –Dan Dodson, Fortified Health Security
Deepen And Apply Your Domain Expertise
Continue to deepen your domain expertise, and apply that knowledge effectively. Stay informed about AI tools and emerging trends, but focus on engaging with AI experts. Collaborate by asking insightful, challenging questions and exploring how specific tasks or processes could be improved or replaced by AI to drive practical, measurable outcomes. – Hemanga Nath, Amazon
Identify Process Gaps That AI Can Improve
A process can only be improved when it’s fully understood. Non-technical professionals provide invaluable assistance by using their experience to identify the process gaps that can be improved by AI so that the experts can implement the appropriate AI solution. Clearly explaining the processes that you want to use AI to enhance is key to ensuring a smooth integration, because an AI solution is only as good as its prompt! – Daniel Wagner, Rezolve Ai
Pinpoint Processes That Are AI-Ready
Non-technical professionals understand when a process is AI-ready. AI is not just about speed, but about making every next deliverable smarter. A process is AI-ready when it repeats—like a ticketing system where teams handle similar client requests again and again. AI can tag, draft or route those tasks automatically so no one starts from scratch. –Chai Outmezguine, Becausal
Explain Concrete Business Needs To AI Teams
Non-technical professionals can make themselves indispensable by becoming the translators between business needs and technical execution. They understand not only what the data says, but also what it means in the context of strategy, processes and customer outcomes. AI teams depend on that perspective to ensure models are solving the right problems, not optimizing for the wrong metrics. – Rohana Meade, Synergy Technical
Provide AI Oversight, Synthesis And Strategy
Technology doesn’t replace human ability; it amplifies it. To stay relevant, expand your competence to include AI literacy, prompt design and ethics. As AI automates routine work, humans should take on more meta tasks, such as providing AI oversight, synthesis and strategy. Responsibility stays human, as trust ultimately depends on fairness, transparency and accountability. – Hans Guntren, Deliberately.ai
Turn Data And Models Into Business Context And Strategies
Learn to translate between the technology and the business. The most valuable non-technical people are the ones who can turn data and models into context, risk management strategies and outcomes leaders can act on. If you can ask better questions and frame problems clearly, you’ll always have a seat at the table. – Vince Carrabba,Specialized
Translate Real-World Needs Into Actionable Goals
Non-technical professionals can be indispensable by bridging tech and business—translating real-world needs into actionable goals. By asking the right questions and aligning AI work with user and market insights, they ensure solutions are both technically sound and strategically impactful. – Tony Chang, InsForge
Connect Innovation With Impact
Non-technical professionals become indispensable to AI teams by translating business goals into actionable insights. By framing the right problems, aligning AI with strategy and ensuring its ethical use, they connect innovation with impact, essentially turning data and algorithms into measurable business value. Business value is currently where companies are struggling most with AI adoption. – Marc Crudgington, CyberFore Systems Corporation
Apply Lean Process Engineering To Streamline Workflows
Non-technical professionals can add value by using their domain knowledge to define problems AI should solve and applying lean process engineering to streamline workflows. They translate business needs into clear AI use cases, ensure solutions fit real operations and drive adoption through context, clarity and stakeholder alignment. – Atif Saad, saashaven.ai
Ensure Successful AI Deployments By Providing High-Quality Data
Non-technical professionals play a critical role by working with operational teams to ensure successful deployments and the fidelity of information. Ensuring every team understands their area of focus will enable successful AI implementations across the board, ensuring organizations realize the true value of AI. – Chaim Mazal, Gigamon
Guide AI Strategy Development And Rollout Plans
Non-technical professionals can be a guiding force in strategy development and rollout plans for AI-driven teams. While AI can perform many tasks, it cannot replace the expertise of employees who are directly involved in operations or company planning. AI must be a copilot, not an autopilot. Contextualizing your company’s goals and contributing to adoption plans is a clear way to add value. – Jo Debecker, Akkodis
Provide Context On Customers’ Thought Processes And Behaviors
As long as we’re making stuff for humans, a human point of view will stay indispensable. Non-technical experts are crucial because they bring context. They let us know how customers think and how they make decisions. If you don’t know anything about AI, that’s fine. We still need you to tell us how to shape AI work into real solutions for real people. – Omry Litvak, Mize
Participate In The Foundational Work
Don’t just sit on the sidelines with opinions. Get into the work. Write the test cases, map the customer journey and stress-test the assumptions. When non-tech people roll up their sleeves like that, the tech experts stop seeing you as “the business side” and start seeing you as part of the delivery team. – Karan Jain, NayaOne
Create Clear Prompts And Review Outputs
Mastering how to guide and critique AI can help make you a vital cog in a big machine. Creating clear, well-structured prompts steers AI thinking and reduces errors, while critically reviewing outputs ensures tasks meet intent and quality. The better humans guide AI through precise input, the more accurately, and with fewer hallucinations, it performs. – Agur Jõgi, Pipedrive
In a new Forbes Technology Council article, our President Rochelle Blease highlights how non-technical leaders play a crucial role in shaping effective, responsible AI — from defining business context to ensuring alignment with risk and governance.
Read the article