CHESTER, UK, June 17, 2026 – As artificial intelligence continues to transform the workplace, some of the professionals most at risk may be those widely regarded as the strongest performers. According to data leadership specialist James Matthews, highly skilled technical experts who have not developed commercial understanding and communication abilities could find themselves increasingly vulnerable as AI takes on more complex technical tasks.
Matthews, who has spent 25 years working in banking and financial services, believes technical expertise alone is no longer enough to guarantee career security. Through his new venture, DataCareer.Coach, he aims to help data professionals strengthen the human skills that technology cannot easily replicate.
“The people who are really technically strong but socially a bit weak are going to be challenged a lot by AI,” said Matthews. “If they are relying on technical skills alone, AI will quite likely take them out.
“For business owners and senior leaders, the frustration is just as acute. They have invested in technical talent that struggles to translate its work into language the boardroom understands, or to ask the right questions before spending weeks solving the wrong problem. AI will not fix that gap. If anything, it will widen it.”
The issue is becoming increasingly urgent. The World Economic Forum estimates that 92 million jobs worldwide could be displaced by 2030, while 41% of employers are already considering workforce reductions in areas where AI can perform routine tasks. Research from Sigma Computing also revealed that one in five business professionals feel judged by data teams because of their perceived lack of technical knowledge. Matthews believes this disconnect highlights the communication challenges DataCareer.Coach was created to solve.
His perspective stems from a background that combines both technical and commercial disciplines. After studying Computer Science and Business at university, Matthews began his career at KPMG, where he gained experience understanding both the opportunities and risks technology presents to organisations. Exposure to his father’s work as a commercial accountant further shaped his business mindset, helping him view technical execution and commercial value as inseparable.
Over the course of his career, Matthews has led data teams that generated tens of millions of pounds in business value. Throughout that time, he repeatedly observed technically talented professionals struggling to connect their work to broader business objectives.
“There are a lot of people who can do really technically brilliant stuff, but they cannot communicate the value of that work to the people they are working with, or establish what is really required beyond the high-level request,” he said. “They deliver something technically brilliant that does not solve the problem.”
According to Matthews, the challenge extends far beyond presentation skills. Success often depends on understanding the real business requirement behind an initial request and having the confidence to explore it further.
“A lot of the time, people will say they want to understand something simple, sales by channel, for example, when what they are really after is sales by channel for new customers. The skill lies in being able to ask further questions in the right way to work out the actual brief. Understanding how this fits into the commercial picture may also mean they can add additional insights over and above those originally requested, delivering real value and positioning themselves well for more senior roles.”
Matthews is passionate about ensuring technical professionals focus on business impact.
“A lot of people with technical skills go into work and think: ‘I enjoy playing around with this tool and I get paid to do it. Happy days.’ Well, actually you get paid to do it because you are supposed to deliver value with that tool. Having business value front and centre of what you do, and using your technical skills to augment that value, that is the way it should be.”
Drawing on his own experiences as an introvert, Matthews understands the difficulties many technical professionals face when communicating with senior stakeholders.
“The types of people who are in these roles tend to be pretty introverted and pretty geeky, and I include myself in that. As a result, they tend to internalise a lot of emotions when they are struggling to communicate with their manager, or do not know how to handle a difficult stage in their career productively. I spent a couple of years working for a manager who did not get me at all, and even though I am a naturally positive person, I hated it.”
Over time, he developed a range of techniques influenced by psychology and NLP frameworks to strengthen his communication and leadership capabilities.
“I did not become a different person. I simply became a more effective version of myself. That is exactly what I want to help others do.”
Today, DataCareer.Coach supports three key groups: ambitious professionals pursuing leadership positions, individuals seeking greater purpose and stability in their careers, and business leaders who want their technical teams to deliver stronger commercial outcomes.
Matthews’ commitment to developing people was demonstrated during a redundancy process that placed half of his team, including himself, at risk. While four employees chose to leave, the three who wished to remain all secured their positions and achieved pay increases.
“I have always believed that if you focus on developing people properly, their confidence, their commercial thinking, their ability to communicate, the outcomes take care of themselves. That redundancy process proved it. I just want to help more people experience that.”
“AI is great at many things, but it struggles to provide constructive challenge which is often exactly what is needed in these conversations. That is where a human coach, with real commercial experience, makes the difference.”
