“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”
-Sun Tzu, Art of
War
Companies are planning AI-driven workforce cuts faster than they are deploying AI itself. According to McKinsey’s 2025 workplace survey, 32% of organizations expect to reduce their workforce due to AI within the next year, yet most haven’t scaled AI enterprise-wide.
Workers are well aware of the gap. Thirty-five percent cite displacement as a major concern, and they are right to worry when leadership is making decisions based on what AI might do rather than what it’s actually doing.
One of the main drivers of AI anxiety, according to Morra Aarons-Mele, author of The Anxious Achiever, is the feeling of having no control over the speed of change. This is where servant leadership becomes essential as an operating model for bringing people through the transformation intact.
America needs strong, prosperous allies to maintain markets for our technological leadership in AI development and deployment. But right now, our allies (especially in Europe) are struggling industrially and our traditional response is inadequate.
For all the billions poured into AI deployments, the project attrition rate has been extraordinary. MIT research showed that 95% of GenAI pilots failed to achieve rapid revenue acceleration, while S&P Global found that 42% of companies abandoned most AI initiatives in 2025, up from 17% in 2024.
When Nvidia convinced the White House to sell downgraded chips to China, critics warned it would undermine U.S. security and erode our AI advantage. In reality, it was a win-win, driving growth in both countries while protecting America’s technological lead.
In the debate about the impact of automation and agentic AI on the American workforce, there are two camps: those sounding the alarm on massive job displacement and those who want to know which specific roles will be eliminated. The difference is stark. Vague warnings will likely only lead to panic and bad policy responses. But, as a country, if we know which jobs are at risk, we can prepare, retrain, and adapt.
