Microsoft AI chief predicts end of white-collar work in 18 months

Microsoft’s AI chief, Mustafa Suleyman, has joined a growing number of executives predicting widespread job automation due to artificial intelligence. In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Suleyman stated his expectation that most, if not all, white-collar tasks will be automated by AI within the next 12 to 18 months.

In the interview that was published on Wednesday, Suleyman said, “I think that we’re going to have a human-level performance on most, if not all, professional tasks.”

“So white-collar work, where you’re sitting down at a computer, either being a lawyer or an accountant or a project manager or a marketing person — most of those tasks will be fully automated by an AI within the next 12 to 18 months.”

The AI chief said the trend is already visible in software engineering, in which employees are using “AI-assisted coding for the vast majority of their code production.”

“It’s a quite different relationship to the technology, and that’s happened in the last six months,” he added.

The rapid advancement of AI in recent years has demonstrably changed how certain white-collar jobs are executed. A Business Insider report highlighted the emergence of “AI fatigue” among software engineers.

While the technology has expanded productivity, it has also shown signs of exhaustion as workers face the need to manage increased workloads simultaneously.

Microsoft is at the forefront of AI integration in the workplace, developing products such as Copilot and making significant investments in OpenAI and Anthropic.

Despite this, some AI leaders and pioneers expect AI to advance to the point where it could entirely replace human workforces.

Widespread concern remains regarding the AI impact on the job market, with many experts believe comprehensive transformation.

According to a prominent co-author of an AI textbook, Stuart Russell, political figures are already anticipating “80% unemployment” because AI risks a broad spectrum of occupations, including those held by surgeons and CEOs.

Reinforcing this concern, Dario Amodei, CEO and co-founder of Anthropic, has previously suggested that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar positions. Amodei stated in an interview with Axios, “As the producers of this technology, we have a duty and an obligation to be honest about what is coming. I don’t think this is on people’s radar.”

In response to Suleyman’s prediction, Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont remarked that if the Microsoft AI chief’s statement is accurate, it could lead to an “economic earthquake.” Sanders emphasized the need for a moratorium on new AI data centers to ensure that AI benefits workers, not just billionaires.

He had previously called for a moratorium on data centers in December, although this proposal is unlikely to gain traction. In 2025, major tech companies invested hundreds of billions of dollars in data centers, and President Donald Trump has supported their construction.