Jason M. LemkinCEO, SaaStr · Co-Founder of SaaStr AI, SaaStr Fund, Adobe Sign

Why AI Won't Make Junior Employees Obsolete

16 Oct 2026 · 1 min

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In this segment of his talk, Jason M. Lemkin confronts a common belief among C‑level executives that hiring senior staff combined with AI tools can fully replace junior employees. He argues that junior workers produce lower‑quality AI‑generated output (“AI slop”), require extensive training, and typically do not deliver measurable value until their second or third year. Lemkin labels this view a “huge misconception” and emphasizes that the long‑term investment in junior talent yields benefits that senior‑only, AI‑augmented teams cannot replicate.

Chapters

The second big misconception that we have around people is, I hear this all the time from C-levels, I don't need to hire juniors anymore. You know what I'm going to do? I'm just going to hire a senior person with AI. You know why? Juniors, there's so much AI slop that comes out of a junior staff. I don't trust them. There's quality issues. Secondly, I just can hire a senior who could just do more work than a junior. So I'm getting a better investment there. And the third investment here is, I have to invest a lot to get time from AI, from a junior. Juniors don't give me a lot. I have to invest a year in them, and I don't really get anything out of them by— until the second or third year. This has been a huge misconception that we've debunked.