Microsoft AI Chief Predicts White-Collar Jobs Will Be Automated Within 18 Months

By: Shawn
‎For much of the 20th century, earning an MBA or law degree was widely regarded as a fast track to a stable office career and the American Dream. But in the 21st century, those traditional career paths face a looming threat: automation by AI.
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‎Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman warns that AI will soon automate most professional tasks, transforming industries like law, accounting, and marketing within 18 months.
‎Stephen Brashear/Getty Images
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‎Microsoft AI’s CEO, Mustafa Suleyman, recently shared with the Financial Times a stark prediction: within the next 18 months, AI could achieve human-level performance across the majority of professional tasks. Jobs that involve “sitting at a computer,” he said, including accounting, legal work, marketing, and project management, are particularly at risk. Suleyman’s outlook echoes the warning in a viral essay by AI researcher Matt Shumer, who compared this turning point to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020—but potentially more disruptive.
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‎Suleyman highlighted the rapid advancement of computational power as a major signal of impending change. As AI models become more capable, they could outperform human coders and other knowledge workers. Leaders like Shumer and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have publicly expressed concern—and even sadness—at seeing their work rapidly evolve toward obsolescence.
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‎This isn’t the first time AI executives have sounded the alarm. In early 2025, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that AI could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar roles, while Ford CEO Jim Farley predicted a 50% reduction in U.S. office jobs. The Atlantic’s Josh Tyrangiel compared the quiet from many CEOs to spotting a shark fin before disaster strikes. Most recently, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk suggested that artificial general intelligence—AI matching or surpassing human intelligence—could appear as soon as this year.
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‎Despite these warnings, the immediate impact of AI on professional work remains modest. A 2025 Thomson Reuters report found lawyers, accountants, and auditors experimenting with AI primarily for tasks such as document review and routine analysis. While some productivity gains have been noted, the evidence does not yet point to widespread job loss. In some cases, AI has even slowed productivity; a study by Model Evaluation and Threat Research (METR) revealed that software developers took 20% longer to complete tasks with AI assistance.
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‎Economic gains from AI so far have largely benefited the tech sector. Apollo Global Management’s chief economist, Torsten Slok, noted that Big Tech profit margins increased by more than 20% in late 2025, while broader indices like the Bloomberg 500 saw little change. Investors appear skeptical that AI will significantly boost earnings outside technology. Still, early signs of job disruption are emerging: Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported roughly 55,000 AI-related layoffs in 2025, and Microsoft reduced its workforce by 15,000 employees, with CEO Satya Nadella citing the need to “reimagine our mission for a new era.”
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‎The market reaction has been swift. Software stocks recently plummeted amid automation fears—dubbed the “SaaSpocalypse”—after Anthropic and OpenAI launched agentic AI systems capable of performing many enterprise-level SaaS functions.
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‎Suleyman remains confident about AI’s transformative potential. He believes organizations will soon be able to tailor AI to virtually any job function, boosting productivity across industries. “Creating a new model will be like launching a podcast or writing a blog,” he said, emphasizing the accessibility of custom AI solutions. His ultimate goal is to achieve “superintelligence” through independent Microsoft AI models, reducing reliance on OpenAI and pushing the company to the forefront of foundational AI technology.
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‎The next wave of workplace innovation will be on full display at the Fortune Workplace Innovation Summit, May 19–20, 2026, in Atlanta, where global leaders will explore the intersection of AI, humanity, and strategy.

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