India, Jan. 23 -- Traditionally undervalued in the tech industry, empathy - which is the ability to read and respond to another person's feelings, thoughts and experiences - is a trait hiring managers and C-level executives can no longer ignore. After all, in a world where artificial intelligence will take up to 5 million jobs away from humans by 2020, the McKinsey Global Institute predicts that up to 14% of human workers will need to adapt to new occupations to secure our future in the workforce. In other words, as we start sharing the workforce with more machines, human soft skills such as empathy will be at a premium.

And, that premium is justified. Hiring employees who are empathetic helps companies increase productivity, develop str...