At the HumanX conference in San Francisco, AI industry insiders delivered a familiar message: workers must code smarter, think deeper and lean into uniquely human skills. But when it came to the question everyone is asking how many jobs AI will eliminate most speakers dodged it entirely.
The four‑day event drew more than 6,500 investors, founders and tech executives, all greeted by a blunt billboard at the entrance: “Stop hiring humans.” Inside, however, the tone was more cautious.
May Habib, CEO of AI platform Writer, told attendees that Fortune 500 leaders are having a “collective panic attack” over AI’s impact on their workforce. Their fears aren’t unfounded: more companies are explicitly citing AI when announcing layoffs.
Salesforce recently cut 4,000 customer support roles, saying AI now performs half the work. Block CEO Jack Dorsey announced plans to slash headcount nearly in half, pointing to “intelligence tools” reshaping operations.
Some economists argue companies are using AI as convenient cover for cost‑cutting or correcting past overhiring. Even OpenAI’s Sam Altman has warned about “AI‑washing.” Many speakers echoed that sentiment while still predicting sweeping disruption.
“AI is going to transform every single company, every single job, every single way that we do work,” said Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services.
Coding: Dead or More Important Than Ever?
The debate over coding’s future resurfaced. Nvidia chief Jensen Huang famously said the goal was to reach a world where “nobody has to program.”
Andrew Ng, founder of DeepLearning.AI, pushed back sharply this week, calling it “some of the worst career advice ever given.” In his view, AI hasn’t killed coding it has simply opened the door for more people to do it.
The New Silicon Valley Mantra: Humanity Is the Advantage
A growing belief in the tech world is that interpersonal and analytical skills will become more valuable, not less.
“As AI can do more of a job, the things that will distinguish a given employee are the human skills critical thinking, communication, teamwork,” said Greg Hart, CEO of Coursera. The platform has seen enrollment in critical‑thinking courses triple in a year.
Florian Douetteau, CEO of Dataiku, agreed, saying the real human edge is “the capacity for judgment.”
He described a future where AI agents work autonomously through the night, humans review the results in the morning, and the AI resumes again during lunch a rhythm that blends machine efficiency with human oversight.
Even as industry leaders promote this vision, the tension remains: AI is reshaping work faster than companies can adapt, and the question of job displacement still hangs heavily over the conversation.
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