#ai

We all knew Murrays days were numbered when Big Al came in, but I must say I'm surprised it came out of the blue on a Thursday night the week before Christmas.

My mouse cursor suddenly disappeared on the screen and will not come back on.

This is surely a sign from God that my workday is finished.

I don't see how they are going to replace the workforce with AI when we can't even get 50 year old technology working as it should anymore...

I guess if you don’t ask a question he likes, he will tell you to fxxx off, very arrogant. Truist will be the #1 AI financial institutions and the lower task agents will not be needed, what a way to bust morale. Wow?

Beware....Certain field techs were now volunteered to test an AI program that we are being told to eliminate some inside jobs such as NTs(Network Techs)

And no, AI will not save the day. Even if it could, why would any of us, actual human beings who need jobs, be happy about that?

Not just because jobs are being shipped overseas. It’s also because AI simply isn’t delivering. They can paper over the AI flop for only so long, and we all know who will end up paying the price for the brilliant idea of throwing massive amounts of money at the latest tech fad, which is unsurprisingly turning out not to be the miracle it was sold as. Leadership seems to know only one solution to every problem imaginable, including bad judgment in spending - more layoffs.

Amazon is laying off 370 employees at its European headquarters.

These cuts represent about 8.5 percent of the workforce at that location. The layoffs primarily affect software developers as AI increasingly handles coding tasks. Amazon cited "business needs and local strategies" as the reason for these adjustments. This move follows broader company-wide workforce reductions and a deeper embrace of AI.

Here’s what I got out of it:

1) There is a new corporate strategy called Lead to One that is about focusing more on the consumer and personalization. (Every 5 years we claim we’re now going to focus on the consumer, but don’t actually make any of the necessary investments and then abandon it. So excuse me if I’m highly skeptical.)

2) Our expenses are way too high and need to be drastically reduced. (We’ve been hearing that for many years and yet the same leadership that hasn’t fixed it is still in place. Where should the blame be placed?)

3) Layoffs will definitely continue. Evanko said we’ll have fewer employees next year than this year. (No surprise there.)

4) We’re counting on AI to be our savior and are going to push as many things to AI as possible.

5) The only business that is performing well is specialty pharmacy.

6) The VillageMD investment and our attempt at creating a care delivery strategy was a failure. (Even though it’s obvious, I’m glad they actually admitted that. Interesting that the failed MDLIVE acquisition wasn’t mentioned though. I guess we just don’t talk about that.)

7) We’re going to do more lobbying and public relations to try to control the narrative about Cigna.

Did anyone hear something different? What did I miss?

Impossible to find anything on Zero. Any site keeps spinning for minutes. The much vaunted and showcase implementation of AI enabled agent zero has never worked for me... Keep getting gateway error any time I try to use it. What a joke... Emblematic of the state of technology at the company. Lots of noise and rah rah BS followed by no delivery.

Is LBT and his team planning to do that ?

The future of American leadership in AI starts with talent. Proud to support the U.S. Tech Force to bring top technologists into government and tackle mission-critical challenges. You can learn more at TechForce.gov

https://blogs.opentext.com/tis-the-season-to-simplify-work-5-ways-ai-helps-teams-wrap-up-the-year-smarter/

1. Give employees the gift of better focus

Perhaps the most meaningful impact of AI content management is how it changes the employee experience.

By automating repetitive work and simplifying content discovery, teams can focus on higher-value tasks, such as strategy, innovation, and customer experience. It’s a lasting gift: fewer silos, faster collaboration, and a renewed sense of control over information.

This is better than the jelly of the month club, since this is the gift that keeps giving forever, not just the whole year.

The company is planning deep cuts across its non-client-facing staff, Bloomberg reports, as much as 10% of headcount within some areas, a move that could eliminate several thousand jobs over the next 18 to 24 months.

https://qz.com/mckinsey-layoffs-white-collar-jobs-ai

Confirmed from someone in finance and HR. AI, moving many jobs to India, and new leadership found many teams doing similar work.

Cisco Having Cramer’s Blessing should say it all…enjoy!

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jim-cramer-cisco-company-heart-153450841.html

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/insight/disney-to-license-characters-for-openai-s-sora-video-tool/gm-EB36748885?gemSnapshotKey=EB36748885-snapshot-7&uxmode=ruby&ocid=edgntpruby&pc=HCTS&cvid=693eebed635442f199c250fee07f6e8c&ei=14

Wells Fargo plans to eliminate 114 positions in Sacramento County, citing cost reductions and expanded use of artificial intelligence. Employees at the Arden Arcade location were notified this week, and the layoffs will begin in February.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article313664050.html

Does anyone know of any RIFed roles actually replaced with AI?

Under murky rationale the head of Oracle Design left the company. Oracle has made great strides in UX (redwood.oracle.com) but the future is not clear. Everything is “AI” but with no real strategy.

"Famously brutal Fortune 500 CEO reveals the three rules every American must follow to avoid getting laid off as job apocalypse spreads"

Internet Archive version - https://archive.ph/DwCYF

His 3 points:
1) Go to the office every day - 'One of the problems in our society today is isolation. And working from home stems more isolation.' - Stankey

So he's worried about our mental health now?

2) Take AI training classes, NOW! - dang, I agree with Stankey on something. It's a sad day.

3) Forget loyalty, focus on results - He described the employer-employee relationship as transactional and constantly up for renewal.

Every day, you have to earn your keep at the company,' he said, adding that, 'similarly, the company has to earn the right to your skills.'

Funny. If we really went by his own measure, he should be the first one fired.

Hal2000 was conflicted in his assignments. I can't wait to see what happens when our AI models get surreptitious assignments with override codes like Hal2000 did. Yes, its coming!
"I'm sorry Bob, I just can't activate your account right now. You have been deemed a risk....please step aside and wait for the authorities....."
Yeah and there is no coming back from that scenario. Nope. None.

• Wells Fargo announced it will lay off an additional 25 workers from its Jordan Creek Campus.
• The company has cut 1,393 Des Moines metro jobs since April 2022, with more reductions expected in 2026.
• CEO Charlie Scharf cited a push for efficiency and the future impact of artificial intelligence as reasons for workforce changes.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2025/12/12/wells-fargo-layoffs-west-des-moines-jordan-creek/87733975007/

Wells Fargo will lay off an additional 25 employees from its Jordan Creek campus. These latest reductions are effective February 6, 2026. This brings Wells Fargo's announced layoffs in the Des Moines metro to 152 since September, and 1,393 since April 2022. The company stated the changes reflect a push for efficiency and alignment with market conditions. CEO Charlie Scharf also indicated that artificial intelligence is expected to impact future workforce adjustments.

Sales org is continuing to lay out PIPs or "Plan For Success" to hide from mass layoff announcements. Really unfortunate timing as my cohort of AE's and Account Directors from April 2025 are getting the short end of the stick. This industry isn't going to turn itself around anytime soon and has a long uphill battle against AI that is a free or minimal spend for clients.

If you receive a PIP, just focus on a new job. PIP = Paid Interview Program

How is the landscape looking right now? Is it akin to the hunger games?

First thing is the cloud stuff. We were told to go full hog to the cloud so we did. Now the outages are insane, and leadership is regretting it for our area, but with on prem set for decomm, there is no turning back. Not to mention the costs are through the roof with offshore misconfiguring it and cranking up the bill.

Secondly is the AI stuff. Feels like every team is just publicly declaring they are cramming AI into everything, attempting to, and then failing and trying to cover it up.

Will Candyman actually face accountability for this disaster? I have yet to see a working demo or plan that made any sense since he took over.

I also was told yesterday that PW's organization is set to deploy "hundreds of AI agents" to production next year who will be giving us business and funding, which i frankly find extremeley hard to believe.

Last quarter, I rolled out Microsoft Copilot to 4,000 employees at $30 per seat per month—about $1.4 million a year. I packaged the whole thing as “digital transformation,” a phrase the board loved so much they approved it in eleven minutes. No one asked what Copilot would actually do, including me. I promised it would “10x productivity,” which isn’t a real metric, but it sounds like one. When HR asked how we’d measure that, I told them we’d “leverage analytics dashboards,” and they promptly stopped asking. Three months later, I checked the usage reports: 47 people had opened it, 12 had used it more than once, and one of them was me. I used it to summarize an email I could have read in 30 seconds; it took 45 seconds and still required correcting hallucinations. Still, I declared the pilot a success—success meaning it didn’t visibly fail. When the CFO asked about ROI, I showed him a graph that moved up and to the right, charting a metric I invented called “AI enablement.” He nodded approvingly. We are now officially “AI-enabled,” whatever that means, and it’s proudly featured in our investor deck.
A senior developer asked why we didn’t just use Claude or ChatGPT, and I replied that we needed “enterprise-grade security.” When he asked what that meant, I said “compliance.” When he asked which compliance, I said “all of them.” His skepticism earned him a “career development conversation,” after which he stopped asking questions. Meanwhile, Microsoft sent a case study team who happily accepted my claim that we “saved 40,000 hours,” a number I produced by multiplying employees by a figure I made up. They didn’t verify it, and they never do. Now we’re featured on Microsoft’s website as a global enterprise achieving massive productivity gains, and the CEO shared it on LinkedIn to 3,000 likes—despite never having used Copilot. None of the executives have; we granted ourselves an exemption to avoid “digital distraction,” a policy I wrote. With licenses renewing next month, I’m requesting an expansion: 5,000 more seats. We haven’t used the first 4,000, but this time we’ll “drive adoption,” which means mandatory training—a 45-minute webinar no one watches but everyone completes, and completion is a metric. Metrics go in dashboards, dashboards go in board presentations, and board presentations get me promoted. I’ll be SVP by Q3. I still don’t know what Copilot actually does, but I know what it’s for: proving we’re “investing in AI.” Investment means spending, spending means commitment, and commitment means we’re serious about the future—the future being whatever I say it is, as long as the graph goes up and to the right.

Last quarter I rolled out Microsoft Copilot to 4,000 employees.

$30 per seat per month.

$1.4 million annually.

I called it "digital transformation."

The board loved that phrase.

They approved it in eleven minutes.

No one asked what it would actually do.

Including me.

I told everyone it would "10x productivity."

That's not a real number.

But it sounds like one.

HR asked how we'd measure the 10x.

I said we'd "leverage analytics dashboards."

They stopped asking.

Three months later I checked the usage reports.

47 people had opened it.

12 had used it more than once.

One of them was me.

I used it to summarize an email I could have read in 30 seconds.

It took 45 seconds.

Plus the time it took to fix the hallucinations.

But I called it a "pilot success."

Success means the pilot didn't visibly fail.

The CFO asked about ROI.

I showed him a graph.

The graph went up and to the right.

It measured "AI enablement."

I made that metric up.

He nodded approvingly.

We're "AI-enabled" now.

I don't know what that means.

But it's in our investor deck.

A senior developer asked why we didn't use Claude or ChatGPT.

I said we needed "enterprise-grade security."

He asked what that meant.

I said "compliance."

He asked which compliance.

I said "all of them."

He looked skeptical.

I scheduled him for a "career development conversation."

He stopped asking questions.

Microsoft sent a case study team.

They wanted to feature us as a success story.

I told them we "saved 40,000 hours."

I calculated that number by multiplying employees by a number I made up.

They didn't verify it.

They never do.

Now we're on Microsoft's website.

"Global enterprise achieves 40,000 hours of productivity gains with Copilot."

The CEO shared it on LinkedIn.

He got 3,000 likes.

He's never used Copilot.

None of the executives have.

We have an exemption.

"Strategic focus requires minimal digital distraction."

I wrote that policy.

The licenses renew next month.

I'm requesting an expansion.

5,000 more seats.

We haven't used the first 4,000.

But this time we'll "drive adoption."

Adoption means mandatory training.

Training means a 45-minute webinar no one watches.

But completion will be tracked.

Completion is a metric.

Metrics go in dashboards.

Dashboards go in board presentations.

Board presentations get me promoted.

I'll be SVP by Q3.

I still don't know what Copilot does.

But I know what it's for.

It's for showing we're "investing in AI."

Investment means spending.

Spending means commitment.

Commitment means we're serious about the future.

The future is whatever I say it is.

As long as the graph goes up and to the right.

The slow pace of widespread job replacement by AI is not a reflection of AI's capability, but a direct consequence of organizational dysfunction. Current "agentic AI" systems are only as effective as the structured workflows they execute.

The reality in most legacy corporations like Verizon is a landscape of fragmented, siloed organizations operating under conflicting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This structure is the root cause of systemic inter-departmental conflict and blame-shifting.

An AI agent does not engage in finger-pointing; it issues a clear error code indicating a break in the designed workflow. Crucially, that error will persist until the systemic gaps are reconciled and the workflow is made functional. Many legacy companies are littered with years of broken processes, often obscured by anecdotal reporting, polished presentations, and manipulated performance metrics.

These old habits will fail when faced with systems built on hard, fast rules.

Therefore, the initial push for corporate restructuring—the mass simplification and removal of organizational layers—is not just about efficiency. It is the necessary preparation. Once these fundamental workflow gaps are addressed and optimized, the corporate architecture will be ready for large-scale agentic AI implementation. The organizational cleanup precedes the technological deployment. Get ready for the next phase.

Any word on cuts in the new year in 2026? Some job functions are starting to integrate AI to reduce headcount. Repetitive functions are being streamlined by AI. This is occurring from roles from accounts receivable, payable, payroll, service desk analyst, desktop analyst and more.

Some say because CNRL has a history of not cutting it won’t occur in one shot. Rather they will initially try to focus cuts on attrition (not hiring for those who retire, quit or go on disability leave). CNRL has been historically slow to take any strategy moves. With the changing economy and tariffs we will have no choice to pivot. Other industries have seen and continue to see job cuts due to AI. It’s only a matter of time before the impact is seen here.

Hold off on those expensive summer vacation to France, Germany or other places like some did in 2025. We are in for a rough ride ahead. Believe it or not AI is coming for our jobs even here at CNRL, it’s just a matter of time.

All this talk about how AI is going to take this company so far ahead has it really helped you at all? Or just helped you out the door?

My manager just told me they had Copilot write the year end reviews for all of their employees.. Is this the glorious future we've all been waiting for? Our performance and raise dependent on AI?

"If your company isn’t keeping up with AI, let me give you the real reason:
You don’t have enough Jacks

You know exactly who “Jack” is:
the builder, the doer, the one who actually ships things while everyone else schedules another meeting to “align.”

But instead of hiring more Jacks, most companies do the opposite:

➡️ They create an “AI Center of Excellence.”
➡️ They hire a “Head of AI Strategy.”
➡️ They add two layers of managers… before writing a single line of code.

And then they wonder why innovation is slower than a Windows XP update….

The truth is simple:

Too much hierarchy ki-ls AI velocity.
Not because people are bad… but because every new manager means extra decks, extra approvals, extra reporting, extra politics and zero extra innovation.

If you have a team of strong senior builders, you don’t need ten managers.
You need to get out of their way and let them build.

This is why startups move at light speed
And enterprises move like they’re being pulled by a tired horse

If you want to win in AI, stop collecting titles…
and start collecting builders"

This could apply at FIS to AI, account management, cio, marketing, commercial management....
FIS keeps firing the builders and doers and adding more CEO minus two level chiefs, each of which then expand their empires and hiring, turf battles, demand more internal reporting....

Is this a weedout course for employees? I've just completed it and tbh, it's not something everyone could complete. It requires critical thinking, debugging and prompt engineering to complete.

What do you think will happen to those who don't get a good grade on theirs?

From Reuters

Wells Fargo: severance likely to rise in fourth quarter
Bank will roll out AI gradually over the next year and beyond
More efficiencies to come from AI, CEO says
Dec 9 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo (WFC.N), opens new tab expects more cuts to its workforce and sees higher severance expenses in the current fourth quarter, CEO Charlie Scharf said on Tuesday, adding that artificial intelligence was set to change the way its business works.
"We have gone through the budgeting process, and even pre-artificial intelligence, we do expect to have less people as we go into next year," Scharf said on the sidelines of a Goldman Sachs financial services conference.

Apparently AI is only used for booking trips and summarizing emails.

There’s more AI function in my tennis bag.

What are your thoughts on the SLT view on AI?

We don’t expect significant layoffs before end of financial year (Jan 31st). 3Q was good, stock is up and the holiday event seems to be going fine.

Evaluations continue on where AI can be implemented, although progress is slow due to backlog and inability of the tech side to implement and put into production old projects that have languished. Some will be canceled.

Evaluation time is coming up for salary associates so we’ll see the normal reductions based on performance starting March/April.

Probably no significant workforce reductions until the May time frame. Once the new CEO is installed, it’s likely we’ll see some tech leadership turnover to increase focus on project delivery and stability.

We believe several areas are probably safe from the potential 2Q reductions, such as transportation, vision and store staffing. Expect a focus on market management and merchant areas with potential AI solutions to streamline the business side and a renewed emphasis on first to market activities.

We think the biggest resource impact could still be in tech but not until 2Q.

What a joke.

An hour of how great Eliza is. Just come out and tell us that within a few years, we will all be without a job because your precious AI bot will be doing it all.

Hey RV, I think your girl Eliza left a little something on your chin. Might wanna wipe that off

DTC Dells how to follow along is ending all LVL 1 support positions here shortly. They did a massive push on BPO companies servicing dell clients where they were not required to have formal training on TECH so they could follow a flow chart on NBA. This will be the death of quite a few jobs for the industry if others adopt.

I was doing some tinkering with AI and thought to share:

⭐ 3. Set internal boundaries with AI pressure and dashboards

Dashboards are not reality.
AI promises are not reality.
The “push of a button” narrative is not reality.

But your body reacts like they are threats.

To protect yourself, create a mental mantra:

“Leadership’s metrics are not my emergency.”

Repeat it when:
• deadlines shift
• new reviews drop suddenly
• AI hype creates worker panic
• leadership frames scarcity as urgency

Your job is to contribute — not to sacrifice your health for an algorithm.