The man who sat in meetings now wants to automate them
Schmidt’s AI vision promises efficiency, but it’s the workers who’ll pay the price.
The story
Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt claims AI will reduce the need for thousands of workers, citing his own 60-hour workweek spent in meetings as an example of inefficiency.
Source: fortune.com
Our reading
Eric Schmidt, who once spent 12 hours a day in meetings, now claims AI will eliminate the need for ‘glue people’—the ones who ‘plan, coordinate, and move information around the business.’ It’s a nice way of saying that the people who keep companies running will soon be replaced by algorithms. The irony is that Schmidt, who built his fortune on the back of human labor, is now positioning himself as a benefactor of its replacement. He’s not just selling AI; he’s selling the idea that the future belongs to those who can ‘build what comes next’—a phrase that sounds less like a call to action and more like a corporate PR maneuver. He’s not the one who’ll be laid off.
