Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff recently highlighted the significant impact of artificial intelligence on the workforce, estimating that the tech giant has achieved approximately 93% accuracy with its AI technology. The rapid incorporation of AI has created what Benioff called a new “digital labor revolution.” In line with this goal, Salesforce is significantly increasing the use of automation across its business.
To fund Salesforce’s rapid adoption of AI, the company announced significant layoffs to refocus its workforce. Just earlier this year, it eliminated more than 1,000 jobs in a corporate restructuring plan to best position itself for the inevitable shift toward AI. This change reflects a broader pattern among major tech companies. In lieu of actual tangible benefits, companies are looking to capitalize on this AI wave to automate for good and bad.
Of course, Benioff recognized AI’s limitations, calling it pretty good, but not realistic to achieve 100%. This sober assessment of the state of affairs reveals a tough, but crucial, reality. AI can significantly increase productivity but it cannot do it on the back of massive human labor displacement.
The influence of AI extends beyond Salesforce. Yet they’re not the only industry leaders who are taking the plunge on automation in their operations. Just last week, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski announced that AI helped his company lay off 40% of its employees. For example, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has suggested that the e-commerce leviathan will use artificial intelligence to eliminate more positions.
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike recently reported a 5% cut of its workforce, pointing to the reshaping impact that AI is having across multiple industries. This transition calls for a fundamental reassessment of roles and responsibilities throughout the tech ecosystem. Meta has responded to this competitive environment by offering $100 million bonuses to OpenAI staff as Mark Zuckerberg intensifies efforts to recruit top AI talent.
At the same time, commercial players such as OpenAI are under tremendous pressure to innovate and iterate as quickly as possible in a rapidly-changing technological landscape. As their new recruiting chief says, they are under “unprecedented pressure to expand.” As many commenters noted, Google has largely been using YouTube as a training ground for its AI systems. Those who make content on the platform were kept entirely in the dark about these plans.
Benioff’s vision extended beyond the social effects of this technological revolution to their financial ramifications as well. He noted that states could forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue to tech companies, including Salesforce, in pursuit of attracting data centers. Additionally, he sees data centers and chips as commodities, driving home the important message of the changing nature of technology and labor.