#ai

In a meeting about AI, (I am working on two Claude AI models now) it was slipped to myself and another by a market VP that they are looking deep into AI driven models to replaced human bodies. May is the month they will be collecting names of those that have not done all the AI training, looking to flat out replace them with AI driven models. The bottom line is this, on June 4th those that have just rejected AI and have not embraced AI will be removed from Verizon. Those that have embraced AI and have done all the training will still be employed on June 5th. That is the plan as it was told to me. On a side note our Claude code will replace many bodies in finance.

Sales has always been more of a face to face type of job even for remote meetings. Do you really think Larry would try to replace us with AI or cut down on us? Less sales less profits.

Article... AI can cost more than human workers now _
https://www.axios.com/2026/04/26/ai-cost-human-workers

Every week I use Gemini to create my weekly report for my boss. They use Gemini to read it. They then use Gemini to extract the highlights of my Gemini generated report along with the highlights of my peers to send another Gemini generated report to their VP. Is anybody actually reading or understanding anything anymore?

Now it’s the same thing… just with “AI” copy-pasted on every slide.
Principal Architects running the show, somehow always in the room, rarely in the outcome.
They don’t build.
They don’t run.
But they definitely “align.”
Every problem gets a framework.
Every framework gets a deck.
Every deck gets approved.
Nothing actually gets better.
“Agentic systems,” “AI platforms,” “north star”, all discussed at length, all safely far from production.
Decisions sound big.
Ownership stays small.
Meanwhile, teams that ship are rewriting the plan in real time just to get something out the door.
At this point, the architecture isn’t enabling delivery, it’s something delivery has to survive.
But sure… one more review, one more workshop, one more “AI strategy” session.
That’ll fix it.

We tried to warn you early on a couple years ago that both outsourcing and AI was coming for al of our jobs. But you simply did not want to listen.

Well, now it is coming for your jobs as well. You should have listened and joined your voices with ours, when there may have been a chance if enough people would have early on voiced their concerns and complaints as to what we were all seeing.

Perhaps, leadership would have expressed upstream their employees frustration. And maybe senior leadership would have given in and taken a different course.

In the BNY annual letter, BNY leadership credits ‘culture and connections’ for our strong performance. Really? Or is this just a poetic way of saying the balance sheet looks fantastic when thousands of employees mysteriously vanish through ‘efficiency initiatives.’ Apparently 2025 was a triumph because nothing boosts margins like RTO‑driven attrition, frozen hiring, and AI agents quietly absorbing entire job families.

And 2026? Even more ‘opportunity,’ which is corporate code for deeper cuts wrapped in inspirational hashtags emojis.

But don’t worry — leadership says we’re all thriving together. Afterall, check the stock price and EC Compensation Plans. Some of us just happen to be thriving right out the door.” #onwardandupward

Amid budget constraints, Verizon stopped issuing new tokens..
sooner and later, most companies will catch up to the fact that how fast cost of AI will stack up compared to Human salary.

Meta just offered a glimpse at what it thinks the future of work looks like: training and supervising artificial-intelligence systems to do what used to be your job. And that’s if you still have a job at all.

The social-media company has been unusually aggressive, even by the standards of Silicon Valley, at pushing to incorporate AI into its employees’ workflows and using it to streamline and accelerate its operations. https://on.wsj.com/4sY3ovU

Already this year, it has started grading employees in performance reviews on their AI use; created ultra flat teams with almost no managers; and begun to develop a so-called CEO agent to assist Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg in performing his job.

On Thursday, the company said it planned to lay off 10% of its workforce, or about 8,000 people, on May 20.

Earlier in the week, an internal memo notified employees of a new software tool that would record their keystrokes, mouse movements and click locations to teach “the next generation of our AI models to use computers.”

It is all part of the tech company’s plans to become “AI native” and transform the way its teams and employees do their jobs as it seeks to spend up to $135 billion on AI infrastructure this year and build what it calls personal superintelligence for its 3.5 billion daily users.

The moves have left some staff filled with anxiety and wondering: Am I helping automate my own job away?

https://on.wsj.com/4sY3ovU

Block laid off 984 California employees in its recent job cuts. This represents about one-fourth of its total global workforce reduction. The company attributed these layoffs to its adoption of artificial intelligence tools. Block initially faced noncompliance issues with state WARN Act filings. The company is now largely compliant with the California EDD.

Oakland, California

https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/technology/california-takes-big-hit-in-blocks-massive-layoffs/article_3bb72b47-4305-49de-bb80-9dae9f52c7c3.html

One star for the paycheck, one star for the high-speed office Wi-Fi I used to research my move to California.

If you enjoy the creative challenge of building a sandcastle while the tide is coming in—and the tide is actually your Executive leadership with a shovel—this is the place for you.

I spent nearly 30 months here as a contractor, and it was a masterclass in Dynamic Indecision. My weekly workflow was incredibly efficient: I would spend Monday through Thursday writing code, and Friday morning hitting Ctrl+Z because leadership had a "new vision" that was diametrically opposed to the vision they had during Tuesday’s stand-up.

The goalposts here don’t just move; they’ve been mounted on a Tesla and are currently speeding toward a different zip code. I eventually realized that intense pressure is just the sound the company makes while it’s spinning its wheels in the mud. Once I accepted that I was essentially a highly-paid digital eraser, the stress vanished.

I left this company with the same number of production-ready features I started with: zero. My legacy is a series of deleted branches and a lot of wasted electricity.

Since nobody knew what we were building, I had plenty of time to get handsy with AI tools. Thanks for funding my self-taught Master’s degree in Prompt Engineering!
I successfully used my 30 months of experience (read: paid study hall) to land a job on the West Coast.

If you actually want to build something that exists in the physical world, look elsewhere. My sincere hope is that the leadership can actually define the word "AI" before they accidentally spend another two years paying someone to delete their own work.

Pick a direction. Any direction. Even if it’s off a cliff, at least you'll be moving.

While the culture is terrible, one thing the bank does offer is the Skills Academy. This is a huge opportunity to gather and learn new skills for your next opportunity. Not many companies offer this type or level of learning. Take advantage of this while you are here. It’s a huge advantage to add these skills to your resume. Especially any AI courses you can take advantage of. Times are tough, jobs are scarce. Take advantage of what you can. Skills you learn here are transferable. Take advantage!!!

Senior Leader claims AI innovation and DMM costs to be blamed for LR.
Thoughts? Are others hearing these claims?

I accomplished something today in about 20 minutes with my manager using Copilot a project that would have taken the India team 11 hours to accomplish. 1 hour to explain. 6 hours to read the document and do the work. Another hour to re-explain what I wanted because they did it wrong, and then another 3 hours to finish the project.

The co-pilot answer was structured, tabular, concise, without excessive use of passive voice that makes my brain hurt.

Definitely the future

Is there any good reason to have Cresta installed? We were forced to download it this week. Most of the time it’s in my way and the conversation summaries are not accurate. I don’t see much use for that application other than it probably training AI to take our jobs. Another failed use of Schwab trying to force AI into the business.

Can AI fix walgreens systems without a human?

:) No!

IBM is in a strong financial position, backed by consistent cash flow, disciplined capital allocation, and a well-managed balance sheet under CFO Jim Kavanaugh. The company continues to invest strategically in high-growth areas like AI and hybrid cloud while maintaining financial stability, showing that its transformation is being executed from a position of strength—not weakness.

https://share.google/4ngeV04IsIvD0qMR0

Inside ExxonMobil, job security varies a lot by function. The pattern isn’t about “good vs. bad jobs”—it’s about how directly a role ties to revenue and how easy it is to cut or outsource.

Here’s how it typically breaks down:

Roles that tend to be more stable
1) Core operations (production & refining)
Field operators (oil & gas production)
Refinery technicians
Maintenance crews for critical infrastructure

Why they’re safer:
These roles keep oil and gas flowing—the company literally can’t operate without them. Even during downturns, ExxonMobil usually trims elsewhere first.

2) High-value technical specialists
Petroleum engineers
Reservoir engineers
Geoscientists (especially in active drilling regions)
Certain chemical engineers tied to refining

Why:
They directly impact how much oil/gas is found and produced → tied to revenue.

The more your work affects output or efficiency, the safer you generally are.

3) Project-critical roles during growth phases
Engineers and managers on major projects (e.g., offshore developments, LNG, carbon capture)

Why:
If Exxon has already committed billions to a project, they don’t stop midway unless conditions are extreme.

4) New strategic areas (selectively stable)
Carbon capture
Hydrogen
Lower-emissions technologies

Why:
These are long-term investments, though still smaller and not immune to cuts.

Roles with moderate risk
5) IT and data roles (mixed stability)
Data engineers, cybersecurity → more stable
General IT support → more vulnerable

Why:
Some are mission-critical; others can be outsourced or consolidated.

6) Mid-level management
Supervisors, team leads

Why:
They’re needed, but during restructuring Exxon often “flattens” layers of management.

Roles that are most at risk during layoffs
7) Corporate / back-office functions
HR
Finance (non-core roles)
Legal support
Communications / PR

Why:
These don’t directly generate revenue and are easier to cut or centralize.

8) Administrative and support roles
Admin assistants
Internal support staff

Why:
Often reduced through automation or outsourcing.

9) Early-career / less specialized roles
Entry-level positions without niche expertise

Why:
They’re easier to replace or eliminate compared to highly specialized staff.

10) Roles tied to declining or non-core assets
Staff in fields or refineries being sold or shut down

Why:
When Exxon exits a region or asset, those jobs often disappear or transfer.

One important nuance

Even “safe” roles aren’t immune.

Example:

During the COVID downturn, even engineers at ExxonMobil were laid off.
But cuts were still heavier in corporate and support functions.

Simple rule of thumb

Ask yourself:

“If this role disappeared tomorrow, would production or revenue drop immediately?”

Yes → safer
No → higher risk

https://chatgpt.com/

To layoff TAC engineer, Sherlock is created few years ago to take case. Until now more and more cases should be touched by Sherlock first. He even can't handle an RMA case and can't understand customer's problem description.

What a stupid guy, he brings too much troubles for TAC engineer and now there is an "overwatcher" process to help train Sherlock.

TAC help Sherlock to layoff TAC??? What a stupid company!!! Customers are willing to buy stupid Cisco products and services? ridiculous

Sure, revenue's way up. But the culture and morale are in the underworld--seriously it's depressing. Run like a prison daycare if that's even a thing. Senior leadership is awful and arrogantly tone deaf. I give it 2 quarters before it's 80% black screens and nothing but fresh college grads to try and pick up the pieces as they continue to crumble. The ship ain't crashing, it's being sunk by ignorance. AI, Saleschat, and ODW will NOT save MB on its current course.

Here’s the current tech market we all work in, and a warning below:

“There are many different ways to lose your job. On Thursday, two tech giants decided to take different paths in dispatching thousands of their employees.

First there was Microsoft, which is said to be offering voluntary retirement to thousands of its workers. About 7% of of its US employees will be eligible for the buyouts, something the legacy giant has never previously done at this scale.

Then there’s Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. The company shot out a memo on Thursday saying it planned to terminate 10% of workers, or roughly 8,000 employees, starting May 20. Meta employees have spent much of the year fretting about job cuts, which already hit the Reality Labs division and other teams. Now many more are coming.

So what’s driving the continuing, arguably accelerating series of mass terminations across tech companies? AI.”

WARNING

FIS are pushing AI usage really hard.

They will tell you it’s an amazing new tool that will revolutionise what you do.

Maybe.

But ultimately it is a tool that must pay for itself just like any other. And more than that - it’s providing corporations with an easy way to reduce resource costs.

The next time you load copilot at FIS and automate something or speed up tasks - what you are actually doing is helping FIS to eventually reduce headcount.

Everyone su-king up to AI right now needs to wake up and think about this. You are not an AI champion, you are an AI as-----n.

If you lose a trusted colleague or one day you yourself get that tap on the shoulder - you only have yourself to blame…

Dear Intel HR, and Lip BuTan,

My former undergrad mate went to Wharton (MBA finance), entered the industry and was mentored by the likes of Dan Niles. His view on justifiable Head Count for Intel Inc.

Design team = 20,000
Manufacturing = 40,000
Total = 60,000

Scrutinize, double scrutinize and triple scrutinize each and every engineer and upper management, especially the dead wood at HIGHER grades. Most of them are needless overheads and only serve to drag the company down. This is the ERA of AI assisted development...
Leverage AI assisted development to layoff DEADWOOD.

As an INTEL INC's investor (long term) and a significant retail investor of INTEL INC.,
I humbly request the above in the BEST interest of Intel Inc - for all INTEL employees, all investors, all partners, and the entire semiconductor industry, ...

Thanks and best wishes,
A US citizen and Intel Inc long term investor

Well, the company with the funny name N-everPure run by the man with the funny hat is in deep… all their moat of DirectFlash is in a bit of hot water, every-green is now never-green or ever greenER as in pay up more, no matter what the little paper you sing says… they either missed the rise in pricing of just lied to customer and the street about how much their DirectFlash was deflecting the pricing pressure… looks like their major price hikes is going to put all the “momentum” under lot’s of pressure… little man is going to put his chopping blades to good use… the field is getting recalibrated… yes, their going to blame AI, only this time, it’s true…

In case you missed the earnings report, they have reduced staff by 3% and plan on aggressively reducing staff to be replaced by AI. They consider employees liablities not assets. I have tried and tried to get out but being middle aged is tough. The discrimination is real. I hope the younger generation leaves and doesn't deal with this BS. BTW the employees that are not coming into the office? Their bonuses were NOT impacted. This means they were effectually making more than the rest of us su-kers going in. Unreal.

IT&V’s town hall is scheduled the day before Tuesday… are they doing layoffs the day before??
What will the topics be?
My guesses:

• AI
• The need to reduce headcount
• AI
• Do more with less
• AI
• India
• AI

It begins. More big layoffs due to AI.

https://www.dailymail.com/yourmoney/article-15760081/meta-zuckerberg-axes-jobs-ai.html

Let me start with that all of the below are my opinions based on very close up observations of the people I'm commenting on and that I won't refer to anyone by name below the ET Level.

Cengage is only about optics at this point and I wouldn't be surprised if their main focus was maintaining the illusion as they work to go public and cash out.

First, Mr. Hansen has been and is a terrible leader who has largely rewarded terrible leaders and pushing out those that inspired.

He brought in one of the worst bullies I've ever seen in as Chief Product Officer and has continued this pattern of getting rid of true leaders with true vision that challenged the status quo over BS artists whose only talents are internal backstabbing, firing people, and posting articles that appear to be written by AI on LinkedIn as to appear as some profound thought leaders (see Mr. Wolbe and Mr. Persons).

How many reorgs and transformations do the same folks get before realizing the real problem is with leadership, not the operating model nor the people doing the jobs of 4 people for the salary of someone that is entry level.

How much money does Mr. Wolbe get to spend on consultants that do nothing but waste money while people that kept the company functioning are let go?

Instead of leveraging things like Cengage Unlimited to be disruptive, they just added this to yet another offering in their overly complex GTM model as none of these back stabbing leaders understand this business or, seemingly, any others.

The AI strategy is a joke with tools that are unlikely to be used and the arrogance and incompetence of "fake it until you make it" Mr. Persons running the show. The company is thus likely many years behind competitors here and AI is pure theater at Cengage.

For the competent, hard working folks at Cengage, the reward is layoffs or taking on the work of those laid off. Then training your likely, incompetent replacements.

For some reason, many of those that are known underperformers have slipped under the radar while top performers are moving onto competitors and the companies that will ultimately disrupt Cengage.

The focus seems to be to try and make the P&L look as good as possible for the IPO and then for those that can cash out to do so while leaving the barely functioning company and problem for the next regime (assuming there is a company left)

For those still there, everything you have worked on and given your blood, sweat, and tears to has already been destroyed.

You can stay and train the incompetent, ex-management consulting replacements or you can try to find another job now and leave those working to cash out holding the bag.

With the outsourcing of content and seemingly irresponsible use of AI in creating content for products, I'm not sure why anyone would use or trust a Cengage Product at this point.

The industry and customers are watching as those you fired are the trusted thought leaders in the future of Education and those you have leading are seen as irrelevant folks regurgitating AI-generated slop. I'm sure you were embarrassed at ASU.

Is it actually causing layoffs? Is it really being used productively anywhere? I'm not talking about CoPilot, but rather focused projects with a specific purpose. Would be interested in hearing from people involved with or affected by such endeavors, rather than the usual PR fluff that gets spewed by leadership.

BNY Mellon’s shift toward AI, digital workers, and platform‑based operations is reshaping job families across the bank. Roles built on repetitive processing, documentation, reconciliations, onboarding, KYC refresh, and basic QA are being automated or moved to lower‑cost hubs. As the company expands its agentic‑AI model—where one employee supervises dozens of autonomous agents—traditional career paths in operations and service centers will continue to narrow.

Employees can protect their careers by moving toward the work AI cannot easily replace. The most resilient paths include:

- AI governance, model oversight, and risk controls

- Exception handling and complex client‑service roles

- Data quality, lineage, and supervisory functions

- Platform product management and workflow design

BNY Mellon is also training thousands of employees to build and manage AI agents. Learning these tools—prompting, workflow orchestration, and agent supervision—positions employees for the emerging “human‑in‑the‑loop” roles that will grow as automation expands.

The most vulnerable job families are those tied to manual processing, standardized workflows, and mid‑skill operational tasks. Over time, many of these roles will consolidate or disappear entirely.

The strongest strategy is to pivot early: build AI‑adjacent skills, move toward analytical or client‑facing work, and position yourself where judgment, escalation, and oversight—not repetition—define the role. Learning to become a carpenter or electrician are also attractive options.

It seems to me the leadership is trying to have its cake and eat it. Stretch the remaining workforce as much as you can whilst expecting them to adopt AI, close multiple offices, remove any hope of career advancement unless you want to move 1000 miles, provide no clear strategy or plan and leave everyone on tenterhooks wondering if they’re the next one to be riffed. No empathy or support from senior leadership or HR. It’s a complete shambles and something major is going to go wrong very soon operationally. Verizon is not currently a coherent or fully functioning company. It’s crying out for some strong and clear leadership that adopt an understandable and logical communication plan

I’m excited to provide my kids visibility to the wonderful life of being a Vteamer today! They are also honored and humbled to attend. We have been going through post it notes as a family to train them for today with key critical learnings. These include inquiring about the power of convergence, setting the foundation, playing to win, JOMO, and of course harnessing AI. They also know not to ask about building closures, layoffs, offshoring American jobs, reorgs, aol, yahoo, blue jeans, Verizon global services, plus play and more. I can’t wait to follow up, circle back and close the loop to hear about their day. Proud to be vz. Let’s go team!!!!

We’re all getting hit with the same weekly barrage. This isn’t shared responsibility, they’re offloading theirs onto us. The nonstop AI push is conditioning so no one pushes back when the PIPs start, because PIPs are cheaper than severances. Meanwhile ROI looks great and the shareholder buybacks keep flowing, so leadership acts like everything is fine. As long as the numbers stay green, the people doing the work don’t matter.

Is the AI hype just a bubble, or is it a legitimate threat to our jobs? Curious to hear if you think it’s just a proof of concept or if we should actually be worried about workforce disruption.

Florida businesses like HCL and Bahama Breeze are among those affected. HCL is cutting 51 to 100 employees in Florida. These layoffs reflect restructuring efforts, cost-cutting measures, and shifts tied to artificial intelligence. Workforce reductions span technology, finance, health care, manufacturing, and hospitality sectors.

Florida

https://patch.com/florida/southtampa/list-companies-planning-layoffs-week-include-these-fl-businesses

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4397200392/

KPMG is currently seeking a Director, Banking and Payments IT M&A – Due Diligence, Integration and Separation – Strategy to join our KPMG Strategy practice.

Responsibilities:
Lead and oversee comprehensive Buy-Side and Sell-Sideassessments across critical IT domains for potential client acquisitions, witha focus on banking / payments platforms and ecosystems; identify key IT risks,opportunities, and investments needed, and deliver executive-level duediligence reports with strategic recommendations
Direct IT integration andseparation initiatives from planning through execution for banking andpayments-related transactions, including retail and commercial banking,merchant acquiring, issuing, processing, and digital payments capabilities;oversee development of IT current state assessments, entanglementidentification, operating model definitions, synergies, and Day one andpost-close plans. Platforms include Fiserv, FIS, Thought Machine and understanding of the data landscape in banking (e.g., Customer360, familiarity with key data platforms such as Snowflake, Databricks etc.)
Develop and executego-to-market strategies for Technology Mergers and Acquisitions offerings focused on payments,fintech enablement, platform modernization, and ecosystem integration; providethought leadership on banking and payments technology architectures, includingcard networks, core banking platforms, fraud platforms, and modern cloud-nativebanking /payment stacks
Establish and manage program governance frameworks,ensuring rigorous oversight of execution across complex, multi-vendor paymentsenvironments; lead development of governance work products including statusreporting, risk management, and issue tracking; implement AI-powered tools forpredictive analytics on project timelines and risks and collaborate with seniorcross-functional teams to identify technology dependencies, risks, andopportunities across payments operations, product, risk, and compliancefunctions
Lead strategic discussions andpresentations with executive IT and business stakeholders, including CIOs,CTOs, and payments product leaders
Manage efforts to mentor and develop junior staff, fosteringdeep payments technology expertise, delivery excellence across the team, anda culture of innovation with a focus on leveraging AI and other emergingtechnologies
Act with integrity, professionalism, and personal responsibility to uphold KPMG's respectful and courteous work environment

Qualifications:
Minimum eight years of recent experience in technology/businessconsulting and/or technology leadership, with a proven track record of leadingIT transformations and advising on complex Mergers and Acquisitions transactions
Master's of Business Administration degree from an accredited college or university is preferred; Minimum of a Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Finance, or a related field is required
Demonstrated success in leading high-impact IT-focused Mergers and Acquisitions projects with expertise in at least three of the following: systemintegration/separation, platform migration, IT architecture modernization,outsourcing of IT operations, or regulatory technology implementation; advancedprogram management skills, with the capacity to oversee large, complex projectsand deliver strategic insights to executive audiences; familiaritywith leveraging AI-powered platforms for due diligence, synergy analysis, andintegration/separation planning is a significant plus
Proven track record leading complex technology Mergers and Acquisitions engagements (pre- and post-deal) within the Financial Services industry,covering banking / payments sectors; in-depth knowledge of the technology andregulatory landscape specific to Financial Services, including experience withcore banking/payments platforms and the IT implications of regulatory rules and changes
Comprehensive understanding of IT best practices andenterprise IT ecosystems, including major ERP and business applicationplatforms, IT solutions, systems, infrastructure, and cybersecurity
Strong strategic thinking and leadershipabilities with experience developing and executing IT strategies that alignwith business objectives; experience developing and executing go-to-marketstrategies incorporate AI-driven solutions and driving business growth in theM&A space, including client relationship management and engagement inbusiness development activities; proven ability to lead and mentorcross-functional teams

https://www.theverge.com/tech/916681/meta-ai-agents-employee-tracking