I attended Tech Connect’s AI Innovation Network monthly meeting yesterday and it was clear from the conversations in the room that every industry is feeling the same shift. People were talking about how their fields are changing, how AI is reshaping jobs, and how the next few years may bring real upheaval. Some were excited, some uneasy, and some openly worried about layoffs and what happens next as businesses try to find a new balance with AI as part of the workforce.
I have also been reading the criticism directed at companies like Microsoft for the layoffs they recently made as a result of AI integration. Many people see these decisions as cold or ruthless, and it is understandable why they feel that way. But there is also a harder truth that often gets left out of the discussion. Businesses that refuse to evolve eventually disappear. If a company does not adapt to changes in the economy and the tools that shape it, it will not stay competitive. It will not stay relevant. And as history shows, the economy does not pause to soften the landing for the businesses that choose not to adapt.
The old analogy about the buggy whip manufacturers during the rise of the automobile feels especially timely. Those companies did not fail because they were unimportant or because the workers lacked skill. They failed because the world changed around them and they insisted on preserving the familiar instead of evolving into what the market needed next. We have seen the same pattern repeat itself with the personal computer, spreadsheets, word processors, the internet, cell phones, and social media. Each one dramatically reshaped work. And while there was disruption, there was no winning strategy that involved resisting the change.
AI is following that same arc. It is bigger and it is faster, but it is not fundamentally different. We can already see entire categories of work shifting. The question is not whether AI will change business. It already has. The real question is how we will adapt as individuals, teams, and industries. Pretending we can hold everything in place is not realistic and it is not responsible leadership. What we can do is shape the way we evolve. We can think carefully about how people transition into new roles, how we retrain, and how we keep our organizations humane even while we modernize them.
Change on this scale will be uncomfortable. There is no way around that. But refusing to evolve does not protect anyone. It only guarantees that the organizations who make that choice will be left behind. I want to see us approach this moment with clear eyes. We can acknowledge the disruption and still move forward. We can care about the people who are affected and still recognize that staying competitive requires adaptation.
AI is not something to fear or fight. It is something we need to understand, integrate, and use thoughtfully. We will find a new balance, just like we always have during every major technology shift. And the sooner we start embracing that reality, the better prepared we will be for what comes next.
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