I lost my job to AI. Here’s why mass layoffs won’t transform your company

In 2022, I was hired to build AI operations at a health-tech startup. At the time, we were pioneering the use of AI in healthcare, which required significant human oversight until one day, it didn’t. GPT-4 launched and within a short period of time, I realized my role no longer made sense. My employer came to the same conclusion. There was no plan to retrain me or redeploy my skills into a new version of the work. My job simply disappeared. I say this not as a cautionary tale, but as context. When I look at the wave of mass layoffs being justified as AI transformation, I’m not reading about it from a distance. I’ve been on the other side of that decision. What I learned on the way down What I understand now that I didn’t fully see then is that my employer wasn’t transforming. They were optimizing. Layoffs offer clean math. They deliver immediate cost savings and a simple story for boards eager to see returns on AI investments. What they don’t deliver is increased capacity, creative leverage, or new kinds of work. I was a cost that disappeared. The underlying capability question — what should this work become? — was never asked. When companies like Meta and Microsoft cut tens of thousands of employees, many leaders frame it as a necessary step in becoming more “AI-native.” I recognize what’s actually happening. They are choosing the fastest path to efficiency instead of the harder path to reinvention. They are laying off their way to transformation because it’s easier than rewiring how work gets done. I know the difference between those two things firsthand. What I did differently Today I head up AI Operations at Pearl, an AI company for independent professionals, where we’ve taken a different path: upskilling employees, reshaping roles, and having uncomfortable conversations earlier than most companies are willing to. One of those conversations stands out. I work closely with a technical writer who recently asked a question many employees are quietly thinking: “AI …