Ford CEO Jim Farley is drawing a hard line between blue-collar work and the jobs most exposed to automation. At a backstage media roundtable during Ford Pro Accelerate, he said AI will arrive in factories, repair bays and skilled-trades workplaces as a 'companion' that helps workers perform more complex tasks and build expertise faster.
'I think most of these jobs will be both using AI and also protected from it,' Farley said. But he added that if someone works in finance doing spreadsheets, in a call center, or as an entry-level programmer, 'those jobs are definitely going to be changed and eliminated with at least this first inning of AI.'
Farley said the technology is more likely to disrupt routine, screen-based, standardized knowledge work than electricians, technicians, mechanics and factory skilled-trades workers. Those jobs will still be transformed by AI, automation and software, he said, but they remain dependent on people who can diagnose failures, apply practical judgment and work safely around complex physical systems.
At Ford, that shift is already visible. Farley said the company has more than 10,000 skilled-trades workers, or roughly 20% of its 56,000 UAW workers. Their work is moving beyond traditional maintenance of conveyors and mechanical systems and toward repairing robots, handling fiber, maintaining automated equipment and working in increasingly digital manufacturing operations.
He said the line between skilled trades and engineering is getting harder to see in newer auto plants. In those facilities, skilled-trades workers may maintain large robotic casting systems, configure digital manufacturing processes or troubleshoot machinery used in battery production. Farley said some battery-equipment maintenance is closer to semiconductor fabrication than to a traditional auto plant.
Ford is also using AI and augmented reality to support technicians repairing vehicles. Farley pointed to an engine removal from a Ford Super Duty truck, saying the job can take two days and require extensive disassembly. Ford Pro is using AI to help dealers who have not done that work before complete it faster.
'We are using AI for them to say, 'Okay, do this, do that,'' Farley said. 'They’re good mechanics, they just don’t know. They’ve never done it before.'
Chris Nelson, CEO of Stanley Black & Decker, described AI and robotics as a way to confront a shortage of construction and industrial workers. He said tradespeople often see large volumes of work their employers cannot complete because they lack labor capacity, and that technology can help companies finish current projects and take on new ones.
Nelson also said he has not seen backlash in the trades. He said workers are 'pretty all-in' when technology makes them 'better at what you’re doing, quicker, safer, and you’ll get more done in a given day.' He added that many see 'a backlog of future revenue that they cannot access because they can’t get through what they need to do right now.'
Farley said trust will matter if companies want workers to accept AI systems. He warned that if employees think the data will be used against them, 'it’s going to be a problem.'
The numbers come first. Ford says skilled trades are being upgraded, not erased, while AI pressure is landing harder on office routines. Capital rewards clear rules, and the market is already sorting between work that can be digitized and work that still needs human judgment on the factory floor. For manufacturers, the promise is higher productivity. For the white-collar layer, the message is harsher: software is moving faster than bureaucracy can adapt.
