AI is rewriting résumés before people even graduate, as students try to steer toward “AI-proof” careers. But according to former Google X Chief Business Officer Mo Gawdat, the sunny idea that AI will replace drudgery with shiny new jobs is, in his words, “100% crap.”
Gawdat, who spent years at Google’s secretive “moonshot factory” developing futuristic projects like self-driving cars and internet-beaming balloons, joined “The Diary of a CEO” podcast to dismantle the rosy talking points tech leaders keep repeating.
“The best at any job will remain,” he said, pointing to elite software developers who deeply understand architecture and technology. “The best… will stay — for a while.” That pause matters. Gawdat believes even top performers will eventually feel the pressure once artificial general intelligence — a level of AI that can perform any intellectual task a human can — hits its stride.
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And the threat isn’t limited to rank-and-file workers. Gawdat warned that executives patting themselves on the back for cutting staff with AI might want to check their own job security. “AGI is going to be better at everything than humans, including being a CEO,” he said.
AGI — short for artificial general intelligence — refers to AI capable of performing any intellectual task a human can, not just narrow, specialized skills like today’s systems. “You really have to imagine that there will be a time where most incompetent CEOs will be replaced,” he said.
It’s not exactly shocking that bad bosses could be swapped out — plenty of employees might call that an upgrade — but Gawdat’s point is sharper: AI’s reach is so broad it will challenge anyone who isn’t the absolute best at what they do. If algorithms can outperform you, title or corner office won’t save you.
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He’s already seen the shift firsthand. His current AI startup, Emma.love, was built by three people. Without AI, he estimates it would have taken 350 developers. That’s 347 jobs gone before the company even launched. The efficiency is staggering — and for most workers, unsettling.