CEOs are trying to warn you: Use AI or else

Business Insider

9 hours ago

The latest corporate mantra: AI or bye-bye.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's warning this week that expanding use of artificial intelligence will mean the company needs fewer people in some roles — and more in others — is the latest sign that, increasingly, CEOs see no place in the corporate world for AI holdouts.
While messages that amount to "learn AI or be left behind" might be unnerving, corporate observers told Business Insider that it's ultimately better for cubicle dwellers to hear this message now, rather than when they're sidelined.
"If I were an employee, I would be very frustrated with my leader saying, 'No, we're still not sure if this is going to have an impact,'" Christopher Myers, the faculty director of the Center for Innovative Leadership at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, told BI.
Instead, he said, corporate leaders are wise to acknowledge that AI "almost certainly" will rejigger roles and entire org charts.
Several other high-wattage CEOs are saying as much.
OpenAI's Sam Altman said this month that AI agents were already starting to churn out work comparable to that of junior employees. That followed a warning in late May from Dario Amodei, who runs Anthropic, that AI could eliminate half of entry-level desk jobs within five years.
Even Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who disagreed with Amodei's sobering take, has said AI is likely to change "everyone's" job — as it had already done to his.
Managing humans and AI agents
Salesforce chief Marc Benioff has also spoken regularly about the changes AI is bringing. He has said the software giant likely won't hire any more engineers in 2025 because AI is supercharging its existing workers. Benioff also said in a February call with investors that he tells fellow chiefs that they're the last generation of leaders to oversee only people.
"I think every CEO going forward is going to manage humans and agents together," he said.
Yet CEOs' straight talk doesn't always go over well with employees or customers. Luis von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo, said in a recent memo to staff that the language-learning company was going to be " AI-first" and that, as such, it would gradually stop turning to contractors when AI could do the job, among other changes. Some Duolingo users said the company was driving out workers in favor of AI.
Later, von Ahn wrote on LinkedIn that one of the most important things leaders can do is to provide clarity. "When I released my AI memo a few weeks ago, I didn't do that well," he wrote.
In the post, von Ahn added that while he didn't know exactly what would happen with AI, it would "fundamentally change the way we work, and we have to get ahead of it."
Some of that change could involve cutting workers. In its annual outlook on the future of jobs, the World Economic Forum said in January that among the more than 1,000 employers it surveyed globally, 41% said they planned to trim their workforce as AI takes on some tasks.
Clearing the way
Myers, from Johns Hopkins, said Jassy's latest pronouncement on AI's impact could create space for other CEOs to have sometimes difficult discussions about how AI will affect workers.
"Having the frank conversation may be better than allowing people to just speculate wildly about whether it will or won't have an impact," he said.
Myers said those who think they have AI all figured out are fooling themselves — as are those who think they can ignore it.
"Anyone who's putting their head in the sand is missing a very rapidly changing thing," he said.
Leading workers through what are likely to be rapid changes is something leaders have to nail, Sarah Franklin, CEO of the HR software company Lattice, told BI. She said those in charge need to make clear that while prior periods of transition didn't occur as fast, it will be possible to get through this one.
At times, though, it could be a treacherous passage. Franklin said the structure of some organizations is shifting from a triangle shape — with a plethora of entry-level jobs at the bottom — to more of a diamond, as AI takes on more of the rote work once handled by less-experienced workers. That means the elimination of many starter roles.
There could be other challenges, as well. For all the zeal some CEOs have shown for AI's promise of soaring productivity, Melissa Swift, the founder and CEO of consultancy Anthrome Insight, told BI that she often hears from clients that the tech investments they've made aren't paying off.
She said one part of the problem is that companies need to orchestrate changes in how humans work, not just invest in shiny new technology.
Swift said people often learn by playing with things. So, until more workers dig into AI, it could be hard for some bosses to bring about some of the widespread changes they're hoping for, she said.
Another challenge: Changing how organizations work is easier when technology is more or less static, Swift said. Yet AI is clocking massive gains in its abilities every few months.
"None of this stuff is mature," she said. "We're doing the world's biggest beta test."
Lattice's Franklin said the speed of the technological changes is one reason it's essential that leaders communicate clearly with employees about what's underway — and that workers listen.
"Armageddon isn't happening," she said. "But our world is evolving at a very fast pace."