The IBM (NYSE:IBM) chief executive has looked to the future and envisioned a workforce where nearly one-third of back-office jobs could be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).
In an interview with Bloomberg, CEO Arvind Krishna stated the impacted positions would involve jobs that do not require interaction with customers.
“I could easily see 30% of that getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period,” Krishna said.
The Armonk-headquartered company has a workforce of approximately 260,000, and the percentage cited by Krishna could total roughly 7,800 positions.
After the Bloomberg interview was published, IBM quickly issued a clarification that current jobs and ongoing hiring is not being impacted by Krishna”™s AI comments.
“There is no blanket hiring ”˜pause”™ in place,” said the company in an emailed statement to Business Insider. “IBM is being deliberate and thoughtful in our hiring with a focus on revenue-generating roles, and we’re being very selective when filling jobs that don’t directly touch our clients or technology. We are actively hiring for thousands of positions right now.”
