Make no mistake: Big tech AI isn’t just coming for your job. They’re gunning to replace your business, too.

By Chris Dodds, Managing Director, Digital at ICON

Big tech AI isn’t knocking politely at the office door. It’s kicking it in, rummaging through your data, and rewriting your business model while you’re still updating your LinkedIn profile.

Tech companies were the first to undertake mass layoffs as they were developing their own tools and had the in-house knowledge to implement wide automation. Large corporates are next, followed by SMEs.

The past year has been brutal. Not just because the economy tanked, but because the machines finally showed up for work. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, IBM, Salesforce – all of them have been quietly laying off humans while pouring billions into AI.

Microsoft alone has culled around 17,000 people. IBM replaced hundreds of HR staff with an in-house chatbot that now runs 94 per cent of their processes. Salesforce cut almost half its support team after AI agents outperformed human ones. And at Microsoft, about 30 per cent of the company’s code is now written by AI. When a third of your developers are digital, “redundancy” stops being a department and becomes a direction.

The contagion spreads

This isn’t just a Silicon Valley thing. The automation virus has gone global. UPS is shedding 20,000 workers. BT in the UK will cut 55,000 by 2030, with 10,000 replaced by AI. Banking, logistics, telecoms – all once considered too human to automate – are now discovering they’re not.

Here in Australia, the symptoms are showing. Commonwealth Bank tried to quietly lay off 45 chatbot support staff last year until public pressure forced a reversal. WiseTech Global cut jobs this winter “to maximise efficiency via automation and AI.” Telstra, NAB and ANZ haven’t said the word “AI” yet, but their “digital transformations” speak volumes.

And capturing creative industry headline, global tech giant Oracle announced it had parted ways with its local communications lead, Aurora Sassone, amid a wave of global layoffs driven by increased investment in generative AI.

It’s only a matter of time before politeness gives way to pragmatism. The rest of the world isn’t waiting for Canberra to hold hearings before cutting costs.

The disappearing middle

AI isn’t killing the top or the bottom of the workforce. It’s hollowing out the middle. The competent. The professionals. The billable hours. Writers, designers, editors, coders, analysts – the backbone of the service economy – are watching their roles dissolve in real time.

In China, one of the country’s biggest marketing agencies fired its entire creative team after AI started producing campaigns in minutes (with dubious results). In Western media, CNET and BuzzFeed have tested AI-generated journalism. Some of it wasn’t half bad. That’s the problem. “Good enough” is the new competitor to “great.” Volume wins, for now.

Even the coders are getting coded out. GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT now write and debug faster than entire junior dev teams. Microsoft admits nearly a third of its output is now AI-written. That’s not a tweak. That’s a tectonic shift.

The new target: service industries

Communications and creative businesses won’t be spared. Big tech is moving from “replace humans with AI” to “replace service-based businesses with AI.”

If you’re not asking, “Why would a client hire us when an AI platform can produce a media strategy, analyse engagement, and optimise campaigns overnight?” then start preparing for retirement. These tools don’t bill for meetings, admin or overtime – or call in sick. They don’t have an ego, either.

Entire categories of business – yours included – are now on notice. Even OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, recently said AI isn’t far from replacing his job. However, someone (a human) still needs the expertise, insights, and courage to invest $10 billion in a new data centre.

How progressive PR agencies are responding

There’s an old adage that says, “During a crisis, look for and move towards the helpers.” At ICON, we’re walking toward the storm. Like many, we’re formalising our AI strategy, tools and processes across communications, creative, digital, and finance. We’re training our people to work with AI, not against it. We’re integrating generative tools into workflows with expert human oversight, strategic interpretation, and a clear ethical framework.

AI isn’t replacing what we do. It’s amplifying how we do it. The goal is sharper thinking, faster delivery, and smarter value for clients. Front of mind is protecting jobs by ensuring our team is enabled and encouraged to learn.

The key is showing clients where the value lies: subject matter experts driving expert AIs.

The last advantage

The irony of AI is that the more capable it becomes, the more valuable our humanity gets. Creativity, empathy, ethics, and intuition can’t be coded. Not yet. We’re also seeing a harking back to analog. The tactile, messy, authentic “vibe” that will make something feel real in a world of remixed and regurgitated content.

AI can fake emotion but it can’t feel it. That’s our edge. That’s what clients will still pay for.

And here’s the kicker. I didn’t author this piece alone. Like many of us, I used AI to do the heavy lifting. But I conceived it, guided the research, validated the facts, edited the tone, and injected my own perspective and personality. That’s where humans remain relevant. As expert conductors, we’ll direct an orchestra of technology to play something worth listening to.

Chris Dodds is Managing Director, Digital at ICON, an integrated communications, creative and digital firm helping clients navigate transformation in the age of artificial intelligence.