A short interview with Matt Britton about how AI is reshaping work and corporate strategy. Britton argues deterministic, routine jobs are most at risk as AI automates layered corporate functions, while creative, critical thinkers who can apply AI will see their value multiply. He discusses a "capital rotation" toward tech leaders (e.g., Amazon) that are already cutting roles or restructuring, and cites examples (Salesforce, Adobe, Google) to illustrate how proactive leadership and product innovation determine winners and losers.
Chapters
Welcome to Next Gen Investing. And now it's time to dive into broader trends we're seeing in AI and how it could be still shaping the workforce as we know it. And I like to welcome in Matt Britton, AI and consumer trend expert and the author of Generation AI. So Matt, thank you so much for joining us. As we know you call yourself a Gen Z, Gen Alpha AI expert. You have decades of experience following the younger generations and these emerging trends. And, and your book of course is State How I Will Change Everything. So to start more broad here, what are the most, the biggest changes that you are anticipating in the working world?
Well, I think the focus and the spoils are going to go to those who are adept at identifying the problems that need to be solved versus those who know how to solve the problem. You know, has become so very powerful at executing everyday mundane tasks that are deterministic in form. Meaning if you wait to be told what to do every day by your boss, there's a good chance that your job is going to be automated. Conversely though, if you are somebody who is a critical thinker, is creative, is a problem solver and knows how to put the power of these incredible tools to work well, you're going to be able to 10x your value in today's workforce.
Matt, talk to us about what you're calling a capital rotation and how this automation that you're describing is changing court the corporate world not only for, you know, for the working force, but also, you know, how companies are choosing to invest.
Yeah, well, the future is already here. It's just not evenly distributed. But where it is distributed is the big tech. And with that we are seeing the largest tech leaders, Amazon being the most recent example, you know, routinely cut five figure amounts of employees because they're seeing the impact that is creating on automation and over time, profitability. And I think unfortunately we're just in the very early stages because it's just a matter of time before mainstream corporate America is going to catch on. And again, if your job is deterministic, you are right in the crosshairs of this massive transformation we're about to see.
Okay, so to speak to that, we did hear from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy last week. I mean, highlighting the recent workforce reduction was not financially or AI driven, claiming that the growth had created too many layers for the company. And I'm very curious your thoughts on that because he basically tried to refute all of the claims, you know, that they're, they're basically firing in terms of AI for efficiency. So I'm very curious what you make of some of his commentary.
Well, layers is exactly what AI is reducing. So I think he is actually saying both things at the same time. I think AI enables you to reduce layers. Layers in the past in a corporate structure where people moving information from one area to the next or making decisions that agents can autonomously create today. So it is AI that is enabling companies like Amazon to reduce costs and obviously it's financial because they're reducing their cost structure. And we haven't even seen the impact of robotics and what it's going to do to Amazon's business over time. Because if you think about the hundreds of thousands employees that they have in factories for shipping and fulfillment, once the brain of AI enters the body of robotics, they're going to see continued efficiency, arguably more than any other company on planet earth, as a result of AI innovation.
Matt, at some point, if it follows the track of many technologies and innovations, this will be relatively commoditized in some, in some fashion and more widely available. What can companies now that maybe don't have the resources to deploy the way that these big mega cap tech firms are for innovating, learn from the decisions that companies like Amazon are making now sent another way, like what is this restructuring that they announced signaling to others?
I don't think capital is the limiting factor to drive AI automation or in an organization. I think it requires a thorough understanding of what I can do for your business and frankly, just bold leadership. I think too many leaders at large enterprises are working simply not to get fired and hope that they're going to be able to kind of fade off into the night with a golden parachute. And that's why you're seeing startups say we need to reinvent ourselves. Now, one of the exceptions obviously is Salesforce. You look at Marc Benioff and he's sticking his neck out and saying Salesforce is not our future agent. Force is. And despite the fact that only a fraction of the revenue is with agents, he sees the future. But I think most companies don't have that level of bold leadership. They don't have founder operators. So for many companies, it's going to be too late by the time they make the decision. And we saw that happened during the digital revolution. I think in many ways history will repeat itself. And so many of today's leaders across many categories will no longer be unless they have that bold leadership, unless they're acting fearless. And part of acting fearless is making these cuts to reduce layers.
Okay? And so speaking on that same point, really, you know, outside of leadership as an employee level, look here, who is the most at risk and who's really set to thrive in this new era of AI?
Well, I mean again, if you are somebody who walks into work every day and waits to be told what to do, you are at risk because that's what AI is built to do. People who are trained to color inside the lines, which, let's face it, we've been taught to do that since we've been in grade school. Right. Those however, who can come in and identify the core problems that need to be solved at an organization from a strategic level and have the hands on skill set and experience in building an AI, are there going to, are going to be those who can separate from the pack and command outsized value moving forward.
Matt, you mentioned Salesforce. I'll throw another in there in the case of Adobe for this question. You're describing kind of micro impact, right? Like if you're just doing a mundane task, you're going to be potentially automated out. But I can make the case that whole companies can be automated out and replaced by AI if they don't adapt. What we've said and again this show is primarily for self directed investors looking for opportunities is it's now taken a company like Adobe, I use this for the example that had consistent subscription based revenue, was beloved best in class and it's now made it have two very, very extreme outcomes. It succeeds and it innovates or it's innovated away from entirely and potentially obsolete. You think that's a fair characteristic, not necessarily just of Adobe, but of that, you know, playing out in this way?
Absolutely. That's well put. I mean Adobe on one hand has a strong brand, has a strong leadership team and arguably most importantly has a very strong and dedicated install base of customers, especially in the enterprise. And what you're seeing Adobe do is roll out a variety of new products like Firefly that are leveraging the power of AI. And arguably Adobe's new set of product expand expands the total addressable market of graphic designers because you no longer need a specialized skill set to be able to be a graphic designer. At the same time, the barrier to entry to creating software is lower than ever before. And you see upstarts like Canva who have gotten quite a head start at democratizing the notion of graphic design. So I think over time, you know, it is a winner takes all world. But I think over time the answer within a company like Adobe might be somewhere in the middle. I think it remains to be seen how well they're going to innovate, but they certainly see both risk and opportunity ahead as it's really every major software company. You know, the legacy established SaaS companies which I would put Adobe in the bucket of, you know, have their work cut out for them because they're going to need to go through the classic innovators dilemma of reinventing their business based on this powerful AI technology while maintaining their base. And again, it remains to be seen which ones are going to come out as winners and losers. But that's certainly the challenge that every SaaS enterprise CEO certainly faces right now.
Yeah, definitely an environment where it seems like it's going to pay hugely to be proactive rather than reactive to some of these AI trends.
Google, right? Look at, you know, I speak all around the world at conferences and right now when I ask people how many people have used ChatGPT instead of Google for an everyday search, 80% of people are now raising their hand. So Google, who has built arguably the best business model over the past century, right now has to determine am I going to push more AI powered search or am I going to lean into my base of algorithmic search that has gotten them to where they have to be. And that's really a proxy for almost every SaaS company that's created a powerful business model over the last 20 years.
Yeah, no kidding. And a really great place to leave it. Really interesting conversation, I think so timely given all of these AI earnings we're breaking down. So we so appreciate it. Matt Britton, the author of Gener AI.
