AI could wipe out most white-collar jobs within 12 months, Microsoft AI chief warns

Suleyman says lawyers, accountants, and marketers could be at risk

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A hot potato: Another big name in the AI industry has given an ominous warning about the technology replacing white-collar jobs. This time, the timeline for the automation apocalypse is a lot closer: Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft's AI chief, thinks AI will replace most white-collar jobs within the next 12 to 18 months.

Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times, Suleyman talked about "professional-grade AGI" and how Microsoft expects it to capture a large share of the enterprise market.

He claimed that this AI model will be able to do almost everything a human professional does. adding that it will allow Microsoft to offer powerful AI tools to clients that can automate routine tasks for knowledge workers.

Suleyman believes that the impact on the global workforce will be immense. He said that almost everyone whose job involves using a computer could be at risk, including lawyers, accountants, project managers, and marketers.

Suleyman believes these jobs won't be at risk within the next five years – a prediction made by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in 2025 – but within the next 12 to 18 months.

The Microsoft exec added that in the next two or three years, AI agents will be able to handle workflows of large, complex organizations more efficiently – an area where they still struggle. He also noted that as AI advances, it will become easier to create new models designed for specific needs.

"Creating a new model will be as simple as making a podcast or writing a blog. In the future, it will be possible to design AI tailored to the needs of every institution and individual on Earth," he said.

When Amodei made his prediction that AI could erase half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years, he said it would lead to employment spikes of up to 20%.

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After ChatGPT started to spread like wildfire and AI made its way into more businesses, companies were quick to emphasize that it would help or "augment" workers by performing mundane tasks, not replace them.

That narrative has changed in recent times. Tech giants such as Amazon and Meta are now openly linking mass layoffs to the adoption of AI. Some say blaming the technology is often just a convenient excuse, but there's no denying that many thousands of jobs have been lost as a direct result, and more will follow. This is despite reports showing that AI adoption has yet to reap financial returns for most companies.

Elsewhere in the interview, Suleyman said Microsoft was focusing on its own AI models in the future as it looked to reduce reliance on OpenAI following a recent agreement between the companies.

"We decided that this was a moment when we have to set about delivering on true AI self-sufficiency," he said.