Eric Schmidt says AI agents could reshape C-suite roles

Schmidt warned that development cycles are compressing: a model may take roughly six months to build, another two to test, and be overtaken within five months of release. He suggested that for a firm with 10,000 employees, AI could leave “a couple of thousand people who you don’t need.” He cited a friend whose fast‑growing company cut 20% of staff, including “glue people,” and later received death threats over the cuts. He also pointed to Anthropic’s rapid revenue growth as evidence AI is not a bubble.

He compared AI competition to historic battles like PC‑versus‑Mac and Android‑versus‑iPhone, saying the speed of model turnover leaves little adjustment time for companies. Schmidt expressed concern that AI assistants that monitor employee performance could become abusive, even as they speed up executive decisions.