Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the defining technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The CEOs participating in the Fortune CEO Series unanimously agree: AI will profoundly change the workplace, the workforce, and the very nature of what it means to work.

The CEOs participating in the Fortune CEO Series unanimously agree: AI will profoundly change the workplace, the workforce, and the very nature of what it means to work. One question and one answer The biggest question is: “How will we — as CEOs, citizens, and people — manage this change?” The consensus is that education is the answer. It means retraining workers whose jobs are disrupted by AI-powered technology in the near-term, while in the longer term changing primary and secondary education to prepare young people for the AI-augmented workplace of the future. Getting it right CEOs agree that rethinking education for this new world will require:

• Demystifying the AI conversation. Leaders must acknowledge that AI will change workplace roles while creating new opportunities. Said one CEO, “The average employee has a lot of fear. How do we create the calm awareness that this is coming and that people have to get ready?”

• Solving the issue of labor mobility. The impact of AI isn’t distributed evenly. Business and government leaders must make it easier for retrained workers to move to where their new skills are most valuable. Asked one CEO, “How can we make sure people are in the right places with the right skills?”

• Moving quickly. Unlike the first Industrial Revolution, which took decades to unfold, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is spawning change at an unprecedented speed. One CEO said, “We don’t have 30 years, we have three.”

Who is accountable?

CEOs acknowledge their accountability in closing the education gap. Profound societal change will require new policies at many levels, but government intervention generates mixed feelings: On the one hand, as one CEO said, “The whole system has to change, and we as business can’t change it all.” On the other hand, said another CEO, “Government should facilitate business, not be deeply involved in it.” 

Reframing the conversation

CEOs agree these much-needed education reforms could be hampered by resistance to change and anxiety about the future. However, today’s workforce is also passionate about jobs that have a social purpose. If leaders were able to reframe the conversation and speak of AI as a potential ally in improving the world, education reforms might more easily accommodate the workforce needs of an AI-augmented future.

To learn more about how CEOs are taking action read the Fortune CEO Report.

To read more insights from the C-Suite, check out the Executive Insight Exchange where this article was originally published.