53% of IT leaders expect AI to reduce jobs

More than half of IT leaders believe that artificial intelligence (AI) will lead to job cuts in their organizations. A recent survey found that 53% of these leaders think AI capabilities will enable workforce reductions. Many view AI mainly as a tool to improve employee productivity rather than a driver of innovation. Some experts, like Brian Weiss from Hyperscience, argue against seeing AI purely as a job replacement. He emphasizes that while certain repetitive tasks may be taken over by AI, history shows that technology often creates new jobs as well. Weiss believes AI can help employees focus on more valuable work, and companies should invest in retraining their workforce for this change. Sanjeev Vohra from Genpact also supports the idea of reskilling employees. He sees AI as a means to drive innovation and improve business operations, stating that AI is meant to empower rather than replace workers. Tomás Dostal Freire from Miro notes that instead of cutting jobs, companies should rethink roles to enhance the workforce's capabilities with AI. Despite these positive views, some leaders, like Rohit Nichani from Encora, anticipate significant job losses in areas like software development. He predicts that up to 40% of software engineers may be needed in three years, as AI takes over more routine tasks. Nichani stresses the need for engineers to adapt and innovate to remain relevant in the changing landscape. Even though many IT professionals feel their roles may become obsolete, Nichani offers hope. He points out that while some skills may decline in demand, new opportunities will arise as companies learn to harness AI effectively. He believes that existing employees possess valuable knowledge that cannot be easily replaced, making it important for companies to balance AI expertise with that institutional knowledge.