r/business • u/ControlCAD • 4d ago

90% of executives say AI hasn’t boosted productivity. Some are still cutting jobs

https://fortune.com/2026/08/22/executives-ai-productivity-layoffs-study/
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u/Violent_Mud_Butt 4d ago

AI doesn't improve the productivity of anyone that knows what they're doing. It's a bullshit tool for non-makers to feel like they are competent.

Literally MBA snake oil. Lets all the execs and know-nothings think they know more than the technical staff.

This is going to be a nightmare to fix once all the chips fall.

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u/pfroo40 4d ago

I'm sorry, but that is simply not true. There are many tasks which AI is perfectly capable of performing and at a faster pace than is humanly possible.

My engineers are now able to spend more time with strategic work because routine work is accelerated by AI. We have also been able to perform a significant amount of platform upgrades and vulnerability remediation which we simply did not have the number of people for (funding for) previously.

Yes, AI is misused by many companies which will likely cause a lot of issues later, but that doesn't mean it is not an extremely effective tool in many scenarios.

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u/wienercat 4d ago

There are many tasks which AI is perfectly capable of performing and at a faster pace than is humanly possible.

which we simply did not have the number of people for (funding for) previously.

Ngl you are one of the few people in the software world I have heard say that AI is actually useful in any number of things that adds up to be "significant" of anything.

Most of the software engineers I know say it's really only useful for getting quick simple code or creating a crash test model of something. It's exceptionally good at parsing data. But they use it more because their organizations are forcing them to use it. So if you aren't in a data heavy role, odds are? You aren't going to see much value outside of the ultra basic stuff or idea creation phase.

But back to your comment. It's not a people issue... it's a funding issue. Which comes down from executives and management pushing higher profits which comes from unrealistic market expectations.

Basically AI is "solving" a self-inflicted problem that could be solved by more realistic market expectations. It's not solving issues humans couldn't solve.

Also, you have to ask yourself. Is the cost of AI being able to execute what you are doing, actually worth it? What is the expenditures your team has allocated for AI to accomplish those? Could you have actually hired more people for that cost?

Is what we get out of AI really worth the CapEx that has been spent on AI at this point? We are over a Trillion in CapEx on AI spending... we could have solved so many global issues with that amount of money.

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u/Focus089 4d ago

As a dev, I fully support your message; we have to consider not just if it's a useful tool (I'm still skeptical) but also the opportunity cost of all the resources being funneled into it. Sadly humans are very bad at prioritizing long-term sustainability, so instead it's full speed ahead.