IBM CEO sees 30 per cent of jobs replaced with AI by 2028

US technology company IBM hopes to discontinue select roles in the company and replace them with AI in the coming years. As per Bloomberg report, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna has suggested that some administrative functions could be replaced by AI in the next five years. Mr Krishna further adds that HR could be replaced by AI. This comes after several companies, like Amazon, laid off HR staff and planned to use AI instead. IBM also announced tough measures earlier this year to limit spending. In January, the company announced plans to lay off nearly 4,000 workers.

The IBM CEO said in the interview: "I could easily see 30 per cent of that getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period." IBM has approximately 26,000 workers; therefore, almost 7,800 jobs could be replaced by AI in the next few years.

The company employs approximately 260,000 people and continues to hire for software development and customer support roles. Mr Krisha said in the interview that the company added about 7,000 people in the first quarter despite the cutbacks. IBM cut jobs earlier this year after it announced plans to spin off and sell two business units.

IBM CEO Krishna, who has been running the century-old company since 2020, has divested of slower-growing businesses and may consider selling his weather unit. IBM Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh said the new productivity and efficiency steps are expected to generate $2 billion annually in savings by the end of 2024.

IBM CEO Krishna's comment comes as generative AI has captured people's imagination around the world following the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Bing Chat and Google's Bard. Some tech companies around the world and in India are even hiring speedy managers to help complete office tasks through commands that AI chatbots can understand. In fact, a Bangalore company decided to give away ChatGPT Plus subscriptions to employees after seeing increased productivity.

Some tech entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk, believe AI needs regulation and government intervention. Musk even signed an open letter calling for a halt on AI developments for the rest of 2023. Whereas Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella say AI would kill some jobs that are meaningless in 2023. which will help employees save more time. The duo have also called for some form of regulation to prevent misuse of the technology.