#ai

All I see today is news on the new treasury AI from FIS. Nothing about the layoffs. Well timed press to cover up the layoffs? Well timed to make it seem like the "jump" in profit looks like its coming from this so shareholders spend more? Thoughts?

Good to see SC still has the bandwidth to dine with DJT et al to celebrate AI investments, midway thru one of ORCL’s biggest RIFs in decades …

The RIF to fund, at least in part, more investment in … AI infrastructure. Not the best optics.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-basks-tech-leaders-spending-005921620.html

Aug 21, 2025
PDF Version
Commitment builds on Kyndryl's existing presence in the country and advances AI initiatives,
while fostering the next generation of technology talent

BENGALURU, India, Aug. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Kyndryl (NYSE: KD), a leading provider of mission-critical enterprise technology services, today announced its growth plans in India with a focus on modernizing essential technology infrastructure for leading organizations. As part of this $2.25 billion commitment over the next three years, Kyndryl is focusing on the development of future-ready talent and establishing an AI lab in India to expand the Company's impact in the world's most populous country.

Martin Schroeter, Chairman and CEO of Kyndryl, met with the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modii on August 21, 2025, to discuss Kyndryl’s plans for expanding its presence in India, driving forward AI initiatives, and fostering future technology talent.

"Kyndryl is a proud, trusted partner to our customers and an employer of choice to tens of thousands of Kyndryls across India," said Martin Schroeter, Chairman and CEO, Kyndryl. "We're committed to further developing our people, expanding our technical capabilities and strengthening community partnerships to support growth, innovation and opportunity."

“India warmly welcomes global partners to explore the vast opportunities in our nation and collaborate with our talented youth to innovate and excel,” said Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi. “Together, we all can build solutions that not only benefit India but also contribute to global progress.”

Kyndryl serves many of India's leading organizations across industries including Bangalore International Airport, Canara Bank, Central Board of Direct Taxes, CreditAccess Grameen, Dr LalPathLabs, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, ESAF Small Finance Bank, Godrej Consumer Products, Honda Motorcycles and Scooter India, Noida International Airport, National Stock Exchange of India, Somany Ceramics, Suryoday Bank, and more. The Company is focused on strategic areas that will contribute to India's digital public infrastructure goals and long-term economic health, including AI, cybersecurity and hybrid IT modernization.

"India has established itself as a global technology powerhouse, driven by a thriving startup ecosystem, world-class digital infrastructure and skilled workforce," said Lingraju Sawkar, President, Kyndryl India. "With this commitment, Kyndryl is focused on further supporting our customers in meeting their diverse transformation needs and scaling their operations for the next era of growth."

Kyndryl's planned commitment includes establishing an AI Innovation Lab in Bengaluru, deepening its engagement with the Government of India on AI, developing IT talent, and supporting digital training for roughly 200,000 citizens.

Kyndryl AI Innovation Lab
Kyndryl is establishing an AI Innovation Lab in Bengaluru to advance the Company's AI-powered consulting services. The Lab will include data scientists, consultants, and professionals offering collaborative co-creation experiences to help businesses adopt and implement AI, software and platform engineering solutions. Similar to the AI labs Kyndryl has established in the UK and Singapore, the Bengaluru Lab will focus on hiring and training professionals with skills in AI and associated technologies, including data, cloud, applications and platform engineering.

Consistent with the priorities of the INDIAai Mission, Kyndryl is contributing enterprise-grade AI capabilities including digital public infrastructure, governance transformation and economic competitiveness. As part of this initiative, Kyndryl will utilize the new Lab in Bengaluru to lead high-impact engagements that showcase AI for governance, critical infrastructure and cyber resilience. These initiatives will culminate at the AI Impact Summit being hosted by the Government of India in February 2026, where Kyndryl will feature its award-winning AI-enabled operating platform, Kyndryl Bridge, which has been recognized globally for leveraging AI efficiency at scale.

Deepening Strategic Engagement with the Government of India on AI
Kyndryl is also advancing its collaboration with the Government of India to drive AI-led transformation in governance. Kyndryl is signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on its Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) initiative, demonstrating how, through its AI platform Kyndryl Bridge and agentic AI capabilities, Kyndryl is pioneering efforts to apply AI in India's regulatory reform agenda.

Commitment to Talent and Skilling in India
Kyndryl is committing to programs that address the rising demand for advanced digital skills, which are crucial for driving economic growth across India. Kyndryl is continuing to upskill its people on AI, cybersecurity and other next-generation technologies – empowering its teams to lead in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. As part of this commitment, Kyndryl plans to establish offices in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities to unlock high-potential talent and strengthen regional innovation ecosystems, as well as partner with graduate schools and research centers to create a new early career program in India.

In recent Kyndryl research, India leads in AI workforce readiness, with 37% of business leaders confident that their teams are fully prepared to adopt AI – well above the global average of 29%. AI adoption is also accelerating across business functions in India, with 72% of leaders prioritizing upskilling and workforce training to keep pace.

Social Impact at Scale
Through the company's social impact initiatives and grants by the Kyndryl Foundation, Kyndryl aims to provide resources to help train 200,000 beneficiaries across India, equipping them with in-demand digital skills. As part of this, Kyndryl is launching the Kyndryl Skilling program, which will expand access to advanced skilling courses including DevSecOps, Cloud Operations, and Resilient Systems. The program will be integrated within the portal of the National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT) to upskill students and professionals in new technologies. This builds on the recent announcement that the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), with the help of Kyndryl Foundation, has launched a state-of-the-art skilling facility in Mumbai focused on building cybersecurity skills and careers for underserved youth in India.

https://investors.kyndryl.com/news-releases/news-release-details/kyndryl-continues-invest-india-plans-spend-225-billion-over

MEETING WITH THE FIRST LADY, MELANIA TRUMP. AI INITIATIVE.

Minute 5:08 - AK talks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjnBFBJkK10

"Top tech leaders including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, and Code.org President Cameron Wilson spoke at the White House AI Education Summit, hosted by First Lady Melania Trump. They announced major pledges to expand AI education, train millions of U.S. workers, and prepare students for the future of artificial intelligence as part of President Trump’s AI Action Plan. For more details, watch our story and subscribe to our channel, DRM News.

Melania Trump, AI education, White House, artificial intelligence, task force, live news, breaking news, technology, AI innovation, Sundar Pichai, Google, tech leaders, education policy, AI challenge, BE BEST, online safety, U.S. news, global tech, DRM News, youth education."

Can someone in the know explain what our AI strategy is?
When our people in AI without technical degrees are in charge of this, how can we compete? LLM? Transformers?
Any thoughts?

Amazon's strict return-to-office policy is limiting its recruitment efforts. Amazon's AI reputation and pay structure also challenge its ability to attract talent.

NVIDIA's non-existent return-to-office policy vastly improves its recruitment efforts. NVIDIA's AI reputation and pay structure vastly improve its ability to attract talent.

Duh, there are other places!

Not only did they announce a near 2 million dollar facelift in Round Rock the day after a mass layoff. They have now announced a 25 million dollar EXPANSION to RR. And its their initiative to hire financially challenged people 35% of the staff base they say....WTH so we will get even more unqualified people than we already do....When did it become lets hire to get our name out there in a good light vs hiring the right person for the job. Leadership is a JOKE at Dell, we are going to do this because XYZ company is. Just because someone else is doing it, doesn't mean its right. They are returning to their previous roots when they were nothing but box pushers. Heaven forbid you actually do something that is beneficial to the customer. They try to use AI and fall flat on their faces repeatedly. To me hard to sell people on AI when you can't even use it successfully in house...Their AI engine comes via Nvidia, again no development on Dells part, just push the product out the door. Someone with some brain please buy Dell...!!

Larry gave us forewarning. He wants his AI to rule. And at the very least, you can't be a prominent AI company without decimating your own workforce.

"Oracle, why should I buy your products? How will it help me? How has Oracle AI helped Oracle?"

"We reduced our workforce by 70% in the first year, and so can you!"

"Sold!"

In the gilded towers of BNY a bold new vision has emerged—one that promises to revolutionize banking by replacing logic with leveraged cost ratios, and employees with AI bots. The mission? A 25% displacement goal so ambitious it makes someone with an unusually large head look like a walking Super Dome.

This is not just a transformation. It’s a crusade. A cost-efficient, culture-energizing, AI-powered march toward oblivion.

RTO: Return to Office or Return to Obsolescence
The EC’s flagship initiative, Return to Office (RTO), is less a policy and more a spiritual awakening—one that beckons employees back to the fluorescent-lit temples of productivity. Not because collaboration improves, mind you, but because empty buildings are bad for optics and worse for lease negotiations.
Employees are given two choices:

1. Return to the office and pretend the vending machine is a coworker.
2. Voluntarily resign, thereby forfeiting severance and preserving the sacred cost-to-income ratio.
   It’s a masterclass in corporate jiu-jitsu: force attrition without triggering WARN notices, all while claiming “voluntary turnover.” HR calls it “strategic realignment.” Employees call it “gaslighting with a badge swipe.”

Leveraged Cost Ratios: The New Religion
The EC’s obsession with leveraged cost ratios has reached theological proportions. Every decision—from layoffs to latte restrictions—is filtered through the holy spreadsheet. If the ratio improves, it’s divine intervention. If it worsens, blame middle management or the interns.
To meet the sacred 25% displacement goal, the EC has deployed a three-pronged strategy:
• Radical Offshoring: Because nothing says “client intimacy” like a 13-hour time difference.
• Real Estate Consolidation: Turn five buildings into one, then fill it with crowded parking lots and free ice cream.
• Geographic Darwinism: Employees must relocate to “low-cost hubs” like Pittsburgh, Lake Mary or “somewhere near a functioning airport in Poland.”
Those unwilling to uproot their lives are gently nudged toward “career transitions,” which is EC-speak for “LinkedIn Premium trial.”

Offshoring: The Great American Job Evaporation Act
In a move that would make Machiavelli blush, the EC has embraced offshoring with the fervor of a startup chasing Series A funding. High-paying U.S. roles are being shipped to India and Poland faster than you can say “knowledge transfer.” Now tell that to your son or daughter with a new Comp Sci degree and a huge student loan!
The rationale? “Global talent optimization.” The reality? A 3 a.m. Teams call with someone who just inherited your Jira board and thinks “Agile” is a yoga pose.
Meanwhile, U.S. employees are asked to train their replacements with a smile, a script, and a non-disparagement clause. It’s like being asked to decorate your own guillotine.

Real Estate: Consolidate, Congest, Confuse
BNY’s real estate strategy is modeled after a game of corporate musical chairs—except the music is a fire alarm test and the chairs are pulled with barely a WARN notice
Entire floors are shuttered, cubicles are repurposed as “collaboration pods,” and thermostats are set to “Arctic Ambiguity.” Employees who once had offices now share hot desks with the ghost of productivity past.
The EC touts this as “space efficiency.” Employees call it “a dystopian WeWork with free Starbucks coffee.”

AI: The Messiah of Mediocrity & Risk
To distract from the mass exodus and morale collapse, the EC has unveiled its pièce de résistance: artificial intelligence. Not the kind that solves problems, but the kind that generates code fixes and sends and endless stream of calendar meeting invites.
AI is heralded as the “game-changing solution” to banking’s future. Never mind that it can’t distinguish between a compliance breach and a cat meme. It’s here, it’s expensive, and it’s definitely not replacing the EC anytime soon.
Investors are told that AI will “energize culture.” Employees wonder if that means replacing the annual bonus with Eliza-generated haikus.

Investor Relations: Fiction Meets Finance
In quarterly earnings calls, the EC paints a picture of a vibrant, energized workforce—one that’s “leaner, more agile, and deeply committed to innovation.” This is technically true, if by “leaner” you mean “unemployed,” and by “agile” you mean “dodging layoffs.”
Analysts and interns nod approvingly, spreadsheets and dashboards sparkle, and stock prices flutter upward like a paper airplane in a hurricane. Meanwhile, the actual workforce is Googling “how to fake enthusiasm in Teams meetings.”

Corporate Absurdities That Deserve Their Own HR Memo
To truly appreciate the EC’s strategic genius, one must examine the absurdities baked into the day-to-day experience of surviving their vision:
• Buzzword Bingo: “Let’s circle back after we socialize this idea.” Translation: We have no idea what we’re doing, but we’ll pretend to have a plan once enough people nod.
• Perks That Feel Like Punishment: Free kombucha on tap—but new high priced benefits premiums and no dental coverage and no payment for unused vacation.
• Performance Reviews by Ouija Board: “You exceeded expectations, but we’re giving you a ‘Meets’ to keep your raise under budget.” “Your leadership score dropped because you didn’t smile enough in Teams meetings.”
• Office Space Shenanigans: Hot-desking in a building with no available desks. Hot seating means stall #3 on the 11th floor. “Collaboration zones” are of course next to the expensive coffee makers because by design this is where innovation happens. Open floor plans are designed by someone who’s never worked in one.
• AI Adoption Theater: “We’re using AI to streamline operations.” Translation: We bought a chatbot that can’t answer basic questions. “We’re training AI on our internal data.” Including the EC’s lunch order history and passive-aggressive “word salad” emails.
• Layoffs Framed as “Strategic Realignment”: “We’re right-sizing the organization.” By removing everyone who knows how the systems work. “This is a growth opportunity.” For the remaining employees to do three jobs.
• Relocation Roulette: “You can keep your job if you move to Lake Mary.” With 10 days’ notice and no relocation support. “Remote work is no longer aligned with our values.” But offshoring is.

Culture: The Energized Mirage
The EC insists that culture is thriving. There are town halls, virtual scavenger hunts, and mandatory quarterly mindfulness fireside chats led by designated talking heads, but when it comes to answering questions about people issues and layoff concerns…. Guess what, sorry folks we’re out of time!
But beneath the surface lies a culture of fear, fatigue, and forced optimism. Employees speak in hushed tones, Teams channels resemble support groups, and “career development” means surviving until Q4.
Still, the EC remains undeterred. After all, nothing energizes culture like a 25% headcount reduction and a chatbot named “SynergyBot.”

Conclusion: The Cost of Cost-Cutting
BNY’s EC team has achieved something truly remarkable: a strategic plan so aggressive it makes a hostile takeover look like a bake sale. Through RTO mandates, offshoring, real estate consolidation, and AI evangelism, they’ve redefined what it means to “optimize.”
But in their quest for cost efficiency, they’ve forgotten one thing: people. The ones who built the systems, served the clients, and made the spreadsheets sing.
So here’s to the displaced, the disillusioned, and the deskless. May your severance be generous, your next job be remote, and your AI overlords be slightly less passive-aggressive.

I hope that O. Itself will create so monstrual internal AI tool that the Larry position will no longer be needed. One big LoL on what is happening nowadays.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/04/ibm_cloud_basic_support_changes/

Shift to self-service will apparently improve support, presumably Big Blue's bottom line too

Thu 4 Sep 2025 // 03:32 UTC
IBM Cloud will update the services it provides under its Basic Support tier, which will move to a self-service model in January 2026.

The Basic Support tier is free to all IBM Cloud customers. Big Blue describes it as “Basic business protection that is included with your IBM Cloud Pay-As-You-Go or Subscription account.” The service is well-named as it includes the ability to raise cases with IBM’s support team 24x7, but doesn’t include a guaranteed initial response time or a dedicated account manager.

In an email sent to customers, IBM advises the changes coming next year mean Basic Support users will lose the opportunity to “open or escalate technical support cases through the portal or APIs” but can “self-report service issues (e.g., hardware or backup failures) via the Cloud Console” and “open Billing and Account cases in the IBM Cloud Support Portal.”

The email advises customers that wish to stay on the Basic Support tier that they can continue using the watsonx-powered IBM Cloud AI Assistant that Big Blue upgraded earlier this year. The ancient IT company also promises that, come January 2026, it will launch a tool called “Report an Issue” that offers “faster issue routing”, and that an expanded library of support documentation will “provide deeper self-help content.”

The missive also suggests “If your organization needs technical support, faster response times, or severity-level control, we recommend upgrading to a paid support plan.” Prices start at $200/month.

IBM opens its email by stating “This no-cost support level will shift to a self-service model to align with industry standards and improve your support experience.”

We leave it to IBM customers to judge the veracity of the second assertion, but IBM isn’t remiss with the claim that its future low-end support offering is close to industry standards. The basic support tier offered by AWS and Google Cloud includes access to community forums, online docs, and help with billing. Microsoft’s basic tier adds an “Azure Advisor” that suggests ways to optimize use of its cloud based on consumption patterns.

The big difference here is that AWS, Azure, and Google are the world’s three leading hyperscale clouds, with 30 percent, 20 percent, and 13 percent market share respectively according to recent data from Synergy Research Group. IBM Cloud has two-to-four percent market share, a position that could mean it needs to cut costs by reducing free services, or that it’s just not interested in serving the kind of users that want free support.

If Big Blue has decided to ditch small cloudy customers, it’s not alone: China’s Tencent chose to stop working with customers who only use basic cloud services because they weren't profitable.

I parsed posts listed here over last 48 hours.

Here is what's emergin:

Themes in the Oracle Layoff Discussions

## Leadership, Greed, and Corporate Culture

Employees repeatedly criticize Oracle’s leadership and describe a culture of greed and disregard for employees.

"Oracle is straight-up garbage to its employees… They treat you like disposable code, not a person. The fish rots from the head… one rich a--hole called LE ... Moral vacuum at the top, trickles down. HR is a clown show, laying folks off via public Slack channels like its an open-mic night" (Anonymous)

"Larry is a joke... who owns his own island. These layoffs are just to raise his stockholdings by a quarter of a point" (Anonymous)

"Exec leadership is a joke, no rhyme or reason for anything we did" (76)

"Making billions, ruining lives. Worst environment I've ever seen. When I left on my own after 8 months, I was the 9th person to leave. Upper mgt here are sc-mbags" (Irish4life)

"Cost cutting without innovation is a slow death. You can only slash your way so far before there’s nothing left to grow" (Anonymous)

## Layoff Process and Treatment of Employees

The process is often described as brutal, sudden, and demeaning.

"Torpedoed in Nashua. 26 years in db org. I f’d up and trusted the wrong people… I go the call tues am and knew what was up. The guy didn’t even offer up a thank you. Human garbage" (Anonymous)

"10 min call to say your job has been eliminated. Even my manager was blindsided… Slack was shut down and then the computer. 10 min call, that’s what we get" (Anonymous)

"I created a virtual environment test bench… It got so popular that it is now used in a global environment. Never once did I get a raise or promotion, and now they axed me entirely. Thanks Oracle" (Richard)

"Laid off after 21 years. How the he-l do I even start a job search after two decades? I was convinced I'd retire here. I was given zero indications that I wasn't safe" (Anonymous)

"My manager is laid off. He's the best manager I've had since I started working here. I don't hold too much hope that somebody as competent is going to replace him" (Anonymous)

## Age and Discrimination Concerns

Many see a pattern of older workers being targeted.

"Age discrimination. Too many old-timers have been hit. I wonder if there's grounds for an age discrimination suit" (Anonymous)

"Too old? Got laid off Sept 2 in Fusion apps just days from my 25th anniversary" (Anonymous)

"Yet they are hiring provided you are under age 40" (Fired_for_being_too_old)

"These layoffs are clearly hitting more experienced workers hard. Sure, some are worn out, but lots are top-notch. Gotta pay for those AI chips somehow" (Anonymous)

## RSUs, WARN, and Severance

Much attention is paid to stock vesting schedules and WARN obligations.

"HR FAQ that was posted says 'Unvested RSUs will stop vesting and be canceled on the final termination date.' That seems it would be the actual date of service ending ex. Sept 22" (Anonymous)

"They gave you the two extra months for RSUs not out of the goodness of their hearts but because of the WARN notice period" (Anonymous)

"WARN in CA? Anyone know how many layoffs there were in California? Wondering why they didn’t file a WARN notice in CA" (Anonymous)

"Severance is 1 month for first year, 1 week for every additional year, capping at 26 weeks. Separation date allows vesting of RSUs" (Anonymous)

## H-1B, Outsourcing, and Nationalism

The layoffs sparked heated debates about foreign workers and outsourcing, often tinged with resentment.

"OP: you have been replaced by cheaper younger H1Bs" (Anonymous)

"Help America and call this tip line to crack down on H1B fraud and help deport H1Bs while Americans are being laid off" (Anonymous)

"Laid off Americans are being replaced by in.dian H1Bs" (Anonymous)

"My neighbor said: 'American students spend $250k or more for a college education, and then they get replaced by H1Bs who used fa.ke degrees and are brought over here: what a cool system!!'" (Anonymous)

Counter voices also appeared: "Don’t let the fact that there are 1 or 2 very noisy racist trolls in this forum trick you into thinking they're in any way representative. They are not" (Anonymous)

"I don’t know of anyone who’s happy that folks in India (or anywhere else for that matter) are being let go. We’re all in the same boat. Have some compassion" (Anonymous)

## Calls for Unionization and Resistance

Some advocated for collective action rather than resignation.

"some of you are saying oh the numbers dictate blah blah blah we all know that's bullsh-t… it's time for us to unionize and send Larry to bed" (Anonymous)

"maybe it's time that we unionize instead of saying that's just the way it goes" (Anonymous)

"your approach is very individualistic which I do like but it doesn't do the whole group of us any good. join a union, strike now otherwise we're just going to keep doing this to us every year from now on" (Anonymous)

"should we work hard or should we unionize? in fact everything we should do should be to confound and frustrate the enemy, our employers: join a union" (Anonymous)

## Fatalism and Cynicism

Resignation and dark humor are common.

"There is no such concept as 'last round of layoffs'. Always more around the corner" (Anonymous)

"Layoffs are not a bug in Oracle world, they’re the feature" (Anonymous)

"Happy RIF Tuesday! It's over for me" (Anonymous)

"We are the kings of all ranking lists" (Anonymous)

## Personal Reflections, Coping, and Hope

Some posters tried to take positives from the situation or show gratitude.

"Leaving Oracle two decades ago was the best career decision I ever made" (Anonymous)

"I spent 12+ years at Oracle and I loved it. I was laid off yesterday… Despite the poor messaging, I still hold Oracle in high regard and will look to find meaningful work that utilizes the rich experience I acquired at Oracle" (76)

"I was at Oracle 12 years, but they paid me well for all those years… I bet we all figure out how to do the job search and end up somewhere even better" (76)

"I keep in touch with your Oracle team members and others… Layoffs have always been in the water at Oracle. There are good jobs with good people that treat people well" (Anonymous)

## Uncommon or Outlier Opinions

Some posts stand apart, often mixing humor, conspiracy, or irony.

"All US workers will be restored to their rightful position and criminal prosecution will begin… mark my words two weeks for SEC crackdown" (Anonymous)

"Endgame: Universal Basic Income! 🎉 AI pays, Gov heals, Humans Netflix & Chill" (Anonymous)

"Team, it has come to our attention that the layoff channel was accidentally set to public visibility… layoffs aren’t layoffs, they’re 'career path recalibrations'" (Anonymous, parody of HR)

"What a joke- Def Leopard at O World. The irony that on layoff day O posts on LinkedIn that they are having Def Leopard play at O World in October" (Anonymous)

## Concluding Remarks

• The overall sentiment is deeply negative.
• Most see Oracle’s layoffs as ruthless cost cutting with little care for employees.
• Criticism of leadership and culture dominates, but conversations also expose divisions - over H-1B workers, with both hostile and empathetic voices.
• Amid the anger, a minority call for unionization or show optimism about moving on, though the prevailing mood is despair and mistrust.

Optum tech here. The amount of AI cr-p being posted in chats or through email by managers is ridiculous. Be a leader not a product of a computer because you are graded on using it. My message to tech execs. You will always be a great asset and daily worker using AI daily but you will innovate and lead by not using AI. Feels just like the cloud last year which wasted everyone’s time.

Looking at the stats today.
Eliza Pulse
Own it. -37%
Stay curious -17%
Thrive together -43.13%

Engagement with Eliza is tanking.

Sadly, corporations don't have souls and if you thought they did, shame on you.

I was let go this morning after 10+ years of service. My team are stunned. If it can happen to me it can happen to anyone. Consider my termination an AI casuality. Might be time for all Oracle employees to seriously consider what the end game is at Oracle with these huge AI plans.

Dear ELT,

Since it's known that members of your team monitor this site, I would like to talk to you about your use of ChatGPT in writing firm wide correspondence.

ChatGPT has a few idiosyncrasies that make it's use obvious to anyone that knows them. Reading today's "Penny's Page" it's clear that the message, outlining the impact and intention of Enterprise Reimagined, is just AI generated slop. Penny isn't the only one known for sending out ChatGPT slop. Chubak does it too.

For firm with sincerity and trust issues, it would come across much better if leaders of the firm took the time to send out genuine messages, instead of promoting ChatGPT to craft something for you.

Amazon Sits Out AI Talent War — Here’s Why

By Eugene Kim, August 28, 2025

Full story: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-ai-talent-wars-internal-document-2025-8

Amazon, one of the world’s largest technology companies, has largely sat on the sidelines of the AI talent war that is reshaping Silicon Valley. While competitors such as Meta, Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft are actively pulling in high-profile researchers and engineers, Amazon has failed to make equivalent moves. A confidential internal document and testimony from current and former employees help explain why this has happened, and the picture is complex.

The internal memo identifies several major challenges. It lists location restrictions, strict compensation bands, and a reputation for lagging in AI as the central reasons Amazon is struggling. It states: "GenAI hiring faces challenges like location, compensation, and Amazon's perceived lag in the space… Competitors often provide more comprehensive and aggressive packages." These constraints, insiders argue, have placed Amazon at a significant disadvantage at precisely the moment when demand for AI expertise is surging.

Compensation has emerged as one of the most hotly debated issues inside the company. Amazon is known for its cost-conscious culture. From the earliest days, founder Jeff Bezos embraced frugality, with the company famously using doors from Home Depot as makeshift desks. This "door desk" philosophy became a symbol of Amazon’s careful spending and has continued to shape its culture decades later. In AI recruiting, however, frugality has clashed with the reality of the market. The company’s adherence to fixed salary bands and its reluctance to adjust ranges for highly specialized roles mean that many offers fall short of those from rival firms. The memo warns: "The lack of salary range increases for several key job families over the past few years does not position Amazon as an employer of choice for top tech talent." Amazon’s stock compensation model adds another challenge. Its vesting schedule is heavily backloaded, making it less appealing to new hires compared with upfront-heavy packages at competitors. Even executives receive few cash bonuses, which makes the offers less flexible.

Amazon’s workplace policies have further reduced its ability to compete. The company’s strict return-to-office mandate, combined with its "hub" policy requiring employees to relocate to specific offices, has limited its talent pool. The internal document plainly states: "Hubs constrain market availability." Recruiters note that candidates have started turning down offers, even when salaries are competitive, simply to avoid relocation or commuting. One recruiter admitted: "We are losing out on talent." This policy has made it easier for competitors to poach Amazon employees. Bloomberg reported that Oracle alone hired more than 600 Amazon staff in just two years, citing the rigidity of Amazon’s RTO rules as a key factor.

Externally, Amazon also faces a reputational challenge. SignalFire, a venture capital firm, reported that Amazon ranks low in engineering retention compared to Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Jarod Reyes of SignalFire explained: "Amazon hasn’t clearly positioned itself as a leader in the generative AI wave… Engineers are paying attention and they’re voting with their feet." In other words, even if Amazon offers competitive pay, many engineers do not see the company as the place to work on groundbreaking AI research.

Amazon has responded publicly by insisting it remains competitive. A spokesperson initially emphasized that the company is adapting its compensation and work arrangements. Hours later, the response was updated to call the story’s premise "wrong." The spokesperson also insisted: "Our compensation is competitive, but we also want missionaries… there’s no better place in the world to build." Despite this, the internal documents and accounts from employees suggest that the issues are systemic and not easily fixed.

Amazon is not entirely absent from the AI landscape. It recently brought in Adept’s CEO David Luan as part of a licensing deal, placing him in charge of Amazon’s AI agents lab. It also continues to build AI capabilities through AWS Bedrock, its cloud-based generative AI platform. Still, the company has seen key departures, including senior leaders such as chip designer Rami Sinno and Bedrock vice president Vasi Philomin. These departures reinforce the perception that Amazon is not keeping pace with rivals.

Plans are underway to address the challenges. The internal memo describes upcoming strategies such as refining compensation and location approaches, hosting events to showcase generative AI capabilities, and creating specialized AI recruiting teams within business units like AWS. However, multiple insiders told Business Insider that no formal changes have been implemented yet. One manager noted the company’s reluctance to abandon long-standing systems: "Based on how we run our business… there are more risks than potential benefits from changing an approach that has been so successful for our shareholders over the past several decades."

This caution reflects Amazon’s broader identity. The company has long prioritized efficiency, frugality, and consistency. These traits have delivered strong results in e-commerce and cloud computing, but in AI, where talent is scarce and competition is fueled by high spending, they may become liabilities. Amazon risks being left behind while rivals make bold bets on generative AI.

The consequences of missing out on AI talent could be significant. The pool of world-class researchers and engineers is limited. Without them, companies struggle to push the boundaries of large language models, computer vision, and multimodal systems. Amazon has yet to deliver a breakthrough product to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude. Instead, it is relying on incremental progress through AWS services. Investors are noticing. On a recent earnings call, a Morgan Stanley analyst pressed CEO Andy Jassy about fears that AWS is falling behind in AI. His answers did little to reassure the market, and Amazon’s stock slipped.

Some argue that the AI hiring frenzy may itself be overblown, driven by hype and investor pressure. Indeed, a few of the high-profile AI hires made by Meta have already left. Yet the risk for Amazon is clear: if generative AI fulfills its promise, the companies with the strongest teams will be positioned to lead. For now, Amazon appears to be struggling to convince both talent and investors that it belongs in that group.

In summary, Amazon’s cautious culture, rigid pay structures, and strict return-to-office policies are limiting its ability to compete in the generative AI talent race. While the company insists it is adapting and remains a strong player, insiders and analysts point to clear signs of weakness. Whether Amazon can overcome these barriers and reassert itself as a leader in AI will depend on how willing it is to adapt the very cultural and structural elements that have defined it for decades.

Source: Eugene Kim, Business Insider, August 28, 2025

“Benioff called the first eight months of 2025, during which an estimated 10,000 jobs have been lost to AI, “eight of the most exciting months of my career.”

https://www.kron4.com/news/technology-ai/sf-tech-ceo-says-ai-enabled-him-to-cut-4000-jobs/

We should be proud of CA making it to the Time100 Acute Incompetency list, yaay.

Most people are clueless of the world around them but please prepare. Here is why they are coming out with the severance plan(s) changes. SF is f-cked and so is our society. Verify and do your own research, you don't have to believe me... but this is what politics and corporations like SF have done to you! Greed, corruption and immorality, as history always repeats itself. Wake up and become truly WOKE! It's all going to come crashing down sooner than later!
AI will eliminate thousands of job
Automation is here! Ask underwriting
Too many non-customer facing jobs at SF - going away! Horrible new hires/workforce!
70-75% of people can't afford a home - we sell homeowners insurance ????
65-70% of people can't afford to buy a new car - we sell car insurance ????
2032-That is 6 years - Social Security goes insolvent and will only be able to pay 74% of benefits. What do you think people will do?
50% of people have no retirement savings.
60% of American can't cover a $1000 expense - everyone is broke!
Personal Credit Card debt just hit an all time high of $1.21 trillion.
$1.6 trillion dollars of student loan debt.
Average new car payment is $735! Record repossessions!
45% of Women Will Be Single by 2030 and will never have kids. (no more life insurance sells) Why do you think the US and Europe is flooding its countries with the third world, as Nancy P. said who is going to pick our crops or build stuff? I don't see white and black kids out there, do you?
Populatons - China - 1.46 billion and India 1.4 billion, USA - 356 million! Who do you think wins the economic wars with that much disposable labor!
60% of men are not dating and do not want to date.
$38 Trillion dollars in debt and we are spending $1 trillion a year to pay the interest on the loan. Still running trillions of dollars deficits.
By 2032 it will be $50 trillion and will cost taxpayers/you $2 trillion in interest. That means your taxes will have to double and inflation will get worse as we print more money! We have 801 billionaires in the USA worth $6.5 trillion. If we seized all their wealth/assets it would run the government for about 9 months! They would be broke...one time deal. It would also mean no more Amazon, Tesla, Meta, Microsoft etc...because most of their worth (Musk, Gates, Zuckerberg, Bezos) is stock ownership, not actually money in the bank. Sounds good but is not reality......
Not even going to even get into all re--rded culture issues .....
This does not end well, SF knows it but most of you do not! Educate yourself. At the end of the day, most of you will be standing in a bread line, begging for water and will ask yourself how this happened overnight...ignorance is bliss. Probably can't do anything about it as it is going to happen anyways. What comes next when it all goes down.... well, let's just say, it will be beyond anyone's comprehension and will make WWII and/or the Great Depression look like a vacation! Su-ks but true! Again you can research anything written here..take a few minutes....don't be that mindless lemming walking off the cliff like the rest of the retar-s! Severance packages are the least of your worries! Your welcome.....

In his now infamous “to all employees” diatribe, Mr. Stink penned, "We run a dynamic, customer-facing business, tackling large-scale, challenging initiatives“ but I am here to inform you that we actually run a telephone company. For a hundred years it was a monopoly, but even after divestment, it’s basically the same business. People (aka customers) want to communicate and we provide the utility infrastructure. The end. What your still here? Waiting for me to eat shawarma? Since you’re still here, ask Mr. Stink at his feeding trough in South Akard why we need him? If I ask Ask AT&T, ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot Chat how to run a successful dynamic customer facing system, it will give me a 2,500 word double spaced response in 30 seconds and ask if I want it in PDF or PowerPoint. I can ask that question while chained to a desk or watching the TV and I wwill get a response. So maybe instead of chasing all of us Gen Xers off your lawn because we can dial on a rotary phone, you can pack up your shine box and hit the road, pyjam-pa!

Intel might not need any more CPMs since the attrition will be so high due to the non-existent AI strategy,no accountability, no decision making, high handedness , absolutely no market/product insight , just PPTs for academic purpose, thanks to our AI CTO. People are frustrated , angry and disillusioned. Don’t know why LBT cannot see it

"IBM: AI Reality Remains Disappointing" (Seeking Alpha). GenAI Summary (because of paywall):

IBM's much-hyped AI business is failing to generate significant revenue growth. The author, a self-described "ultra Bearish" investor, advises selling the stock, as the recent rally is not justified by the company's financial performance.

AI is mostly for consulting, not products: IBM's large "AI bookings," which reached over $1 billion in the second quarter of 2025, are primarily for consulting services rather than for its proprietary AI software. This is not a high-growth business and doesn't scale as well as software sales.

Weak organic growth: Despite all the AI excitement, the article concludes that IBM's core organic revenue growth is only 2–3%. The overall revenue boost is inflated by factors like favorable currency exchange rates and the acquisition of HashiCorp.

Overvalued stock price: The stock's valuation is considered "stretched," trading at a 20x forward price-to-earnings ratio, well above its historical range of 10–15x. The author finds no fundamental growth to support this higher multiple.

Stagnant free cash flow: The company's forecast for free cash flow in 2025, at over $13.5 billion, is essentially flat from its initial projection for the year.

Focus on consulting: While IBM highlights a growing book of business for generative AI, a large portion of this is tied to consulting—a business that saw no growth in the second quarter of 2025.

In summary, the article portrays IBM's AI ambitions as more hype than reality, with little evidence that generative AI is meaningfully accelerating the company's overall revenue growth. The author sees the company's recent stock rally as unwarranted and views the stock as a sell.

Sources:

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4816847-ibm-ai-reality-remains-disappointing

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4675533-ibm-artificial-rally

• Dell Technologies reported second fiscal quarter results on Thursday that beat Wall Street expectations for sales and revenue.
• The company attributed the results to strong growth in its AI server business.
• Dell said that it now plans to ship $20 billion of AI servers in its fiscal 2026, double what it sold last year.

Despite beating on its top and bottom lines, shares of Dell Technologies fell more than 5% Thursday in extended trading after giving third-quarter earnings per share guidance that below Wall Street’s expectations.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/28/dell-earnings-report-q2-2026.html

Crazy to think that after being forced into giving all of his team insulting and fabricated feedback (we exceed our deliverable metrics and objectives) this is the effort he puts in, when his whole job is to manage a small team. I really agree with someone on here who said the behavioral things are we-ponized against high performers who deliver what they’re asked to.

The Indians coming here as AI specialists are all fakers.

You have a very short window sir to do the right thing until the new CEO comes and sees right through your wall of snake oil and misdirection. Your presentation onstage at the internal kickoff was an hour of wasted time I will never get back. You showed Google AI and Notebook LM and pretended it was a technology forward development. It was not sir. We all saw through your charade.

If you want OpenText to succeed, you need to:

• perform deep product consolidation. Go from 1000 products down to 150. We need one product for each segment we want to play in. Why do we have content server, documentum and core content? Why do we have multiple faxing solutions in BN?
• The products you choose to keep need to be completely rewritten from the ground up using cutting edge architecture and memory safe development languages. Putting a legacy product inside a container doesn’t make it containerized. We need a real automated orchestration layer than can handle availability, capacity in real time by itself. Patching should be done in the middle of the day by scaling and moving without impacting customers.
• Security and privacy need to be designed into all of the products from day 1. As a European developer, I cringe every time someone tells me we will comply with GDPR. Our products are not designed for security and privacy by default. As governments become more demanding, we will be left in the cold. The time is NOW!
• Fire 50% of your direct reports. Most of your VPs and directors are incompetent and would be unable to find a job anywhere else. Most have been here too long and don’t know what modern software architecture looks like.
• Understand that AI is not a product and will quickly become a feature. Slapping AI on something (like Ollie AI) doesn’t make it modern or desirable. Where are your real product managers thinking about building world class functionality? Aviator is nothing more than a Google AI wrapped in OpenText clothes. It is NOT innovation. It is not unique and customers aren’t buying it.

Worries about being replaced by offshore contractors or poorly implemented AI tools are often refered to in the main thread:

• "My guess is a suspicious number of offshore contractors will be onboarded soon..." (84.51 casualty, Post ID: @py+1k3eddae2)
• "Supposedly 84.51 laid off 183 people in March but they went the extra step and hired 152 offshore contractors from TechM from India and Mexico to replace them." (Anonymous, Post ID: @nz+1k3eddae2)
• "Seems like Kroger is going very heavy on internal AI tools and AI curated/generated experiences." (Anonymous, Post ID: @ns+1k3eddae2)
• "nah. The AI tooling is a total joke. Can't replace anyone... Plus Kroger won't pay for the good tiers so it's extremely slow and d-mb" (Anonymous, Post ID: @p1+1k3eddae2)
• "when I changed teams a few years ago it took five Indians and 4 years for them to even grasp a basic understanding of the applications." (Anonymous, Post ID: @p0+1k3eddae2)

reading previous post how AI will lead to next round layoffs I have a proposal, hear me out.
let's be clear most of leadership all the way to VPs are basically walking chatbots, you don't even need "thinking" AI models to replace them, some older ones will do the job. Then add agents workflows to generate endless stupid powerpoints and initiatives, randomize meeting creation and that's it. At least that kind of leadership will do a better job - faster, more accessible, zero price, less d-mb noise, jokes and posts. Their shallowness and lack of any deep knowledge is literally any area is insane.

Worthless anyway, at least we save some money, win win!?

Sure, it has some practical value. It can speed things up and automate basic tasks, but it still needs constant babysitting. It’s nowhere near what it’s been hyped up to be, and it’s definitely not the real driver behind the layoffs. From what I’ve seen in recent media reports, it’s just turned into a convenient excuse for more cuts and offshoring.

At what point do all these "ideation" sessions and powerpoints revolving around AI amount to actual working products in production and increased productivity? We are on year 3 of the company mindlessly pushing this cr-p on people, and all we have to show for it is document summarizing and code review "agents".

When is the board going to ask Candyman when these multiplicative productivity increases that he promised are going to materialize? When will there be an expected return on investment for all this money lit on fire for AI? Cuz right now its all just charlatans making GPT wrappers and demoing to clapping seals while it bugs out

https://www.thedailyupside.com/technology/semiconductors/ibm-and-amd-team-to-develop-quantum-centric-supercomputers/

Amid 12000 layoffs TCS forms new AI, services transformation unit in…, appoints new head named as…

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest IT services firm, has set up a new Artificial Intelligence and service transformation unit, appointing Amit...

https://www.india.com/business/amid-12000-layoffs-tcs-forms-new-ai-services-transformation-unit-integrating-existing-teams-inteappoints-new-head-named-as-amit-kapur-who-is-he-8036868/

India.com

Aug/27/2025 03:24 AM
Location: Mumbai, India (TCS HQ)

The IT jobs most vulnerable to layoffs in 2025

AI is driving tech layoffs, but so far it looks like an adjustment leaning up to an increase in demand for new skill sets.

https://www.spiceworks.com/it-careers/the-it-jobs-most-vulnerable-to-layoffs-in-2025/

Spiceworks

Aug/26/2025 02:24 PM
Location: United States (general IT industry)

Quick question for those still at SAS...I keep seeing posts on LinkedIn where SAS is doing webinars, presentations, etc. on Agentic AI.

I'm genuinely curious, has SAS actually built Agentic AI capabilities into Viya, or are they just talking about it and wanting to be associated with the big shiny new thing?

If it's the former, I'd be interested to know more...if it's the latter, that's a bit disingenuous and actually a little sad and desperate.

Same playbook happening this coming earnings report. New revitalisation exercises (cost cuttting actually) to reward shareholders, drive innovations (long dead decades ago). 10% cost cutting expected, mainly in the Print space. PC is undergoing massive challenges as well from lack of excitement in the "AI PC" space. Print is embarking into AI Print space as well (actually all BS, trying to stoke and ride the AI wave).

From yesterday’s post ,so that this gets more traction
@OP AI officer
So long as SK remains in charge of Intel AI, and for that matter, so long as he remains in a senior position inside Intel, I don’t think there is any chance. One must question LBT‘s judgment in assigning AI to somebody who has been proven to be a completely inept leader.