Microsoft AI chief warns white-collar jobs could vanish within 18 months

Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence chief Mustafa Suleyman has warned that AI will replace most of the white-collar jobs over the next 12 to 18 months.

He listed several roles facing serious risk, including project managers, marketers, accountants, and lawyers, adding that “most of these tasks will be fully automated by AI.”

In an interview with the Financial Times, Suleyman cited the changing dynamics of software engineer jobs, saying, most of the engineers now use AI-assisted coding for the vast majority of their code production.

He said the role of software engineers has shifted to “debugging and scrutinising higher-level strategic stuff,” adding that it all happened in the last six months.

Suleyman said that within the next two to three years, smart AI agents will take over most of the workflow at bigger companies and help them operate more efficiently than ever.

Suleyman has extensive experience in artificial intelligence. He co-founded two companies: DeepMind and Inflection AI.

DeepMind was later bought by Google. Suleyman joined Microsoft in March 2024 and has led the newly created Microsoft AI division since then.

The 41-year-old British artificial intelligence entrepreneur is known for his bold predictions regarding AI. Suleyman has previously warned that uncontrolled AI development could pose risks to humanity.