IBM CEO predicts at least 30% of jobs will be replaced by AI and automation in the next 5 years

Amid the growing trend of artificial intelligence technology becoming a crucial resource for many businesses, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna revealed in an interview that the company anticipates ceasing recruitment for positions that can be replaced by AI within the next few years.

Krishna further estimates that within the next five years, at least 30% of jobs will be supplanted by artificial intelligence and automation technologies. The roles most vulnerable to replacement are those that do not involve direct customer interaction and can be handled through automated processes, such as frequently occurring customer inquiries or tasks involving code generation by AI.

For more complex customer issues requiring human intervention or production tasks necessitating greater human involvement, Krishna believes such positions are unlikely to be replaced rapidly within the next decade.

Although IBM has recently announced significant layoffs, Krishna asserts that the overall workforce is growing. For example, around 7,000 employees were added in the first quarter alone. Currently, IBM has approximately 260,000 employees worldwide and continues to recruit for software development and customer-facing roles.