The head of one of the leading tech firms in San Francisco has provided some insight into the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on his business…and potentially people’s jobs.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff reportedly said his firm is accelerating its use of artificial intelligence in automating workloads, and 30 to 50 percent of internal work is being handled by AI.
If correct, previous warnings and predictions about the impact of AI on people’s jobs could bare true.
Indeed, it should be remembered that Salesforce has already axed thousands of staff in the past two years.
Cost cutting
In January 2023 Salesforce reduced its workforce by 10 percent, cutting more than 10,000 jobs.
That came after it had axed close to 1,000 jobs in November 2022.
But the layoffs didn’t stop there.
In January 2024 Salesforce reportedly laid off 700 workers, or 1 percent of its workforce.
Earlier in 2025 it emerged that Salesforce had cut more than 1,000 positions as it restructured around AI.
It is clear tech firms are seeking new ways to trim costs, boost efficiencies and transform their workforce with the help of AI.
“All of us have to get our head around this idea that AI could do things, that before, we were doing, and we can move on to do higher-value work,” Benioff reportedly said in the interview with Bloomberg, noting that the technology currently accounts for about 30 to 50 percent of the company’s work.
Benioff also called the rise of AI in the workforce a “digital labour revolution,” estimating that the software company has reached about 93 percent accuracy with the technology.
“It’s pretty good,” he reportedly said, but it’s not “realistic” to hit 100 percent.
Benioff added that other vendors are at “much lower levels because they don’t have as much data and metadata” to build higher accuracy.
AI layoffs
A number of big name tech firms have already confirmed that staff jobs are being replaced by AI.
Last week Amazon CEO Andy Jassy warned that Amazon white collar staff that their jobs could be taken by artificial intelligence in next few years.
BT had announced back in 2023 that it would cut 55,000 jobs by 2030, and that a fifth of the roles would be replaced by AI.
Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, reportedly said AI could wipe out half of all entry-level office jobs.
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said the company has shrunk its headcount by 40 percent due in part to AI investment.
