Will your job survive AI? Ex-Google X exec Mo Gawdat warns of what’s coming next

Former Google X executive and author Mo Gawdat has issued a stark warning about the future of work, predicting that artificial intelligence will lead to a widespread “white-collar bloodbath” and fundamentally redefine the global economy. In a recent interview, Gawdat, who previously served as Google X’s chief business officer, challenged the common belief that new jobs created by technology will simply replace those lost to automation. “Absolute crap,” he stated, arguing that AI is uniquely positioned to replace human cognitive work, a departure from past technological revolutions that primarily automated manual labor.

Gawdat, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded over 15 businesses, cited his own startup, Emma.love, as a powerful example. A project that would have required a team of 350 developers in the past is now run by just three people, working alongside AI systems. He believes this is not a hypothetical future, but a reality already unfolding, and one that will hit knowledge workers, from architects and software developers to podcasters and CEOs, hardest and fastest. Gawdat distinguishes between two phases: an initial “augmented intelligence” era where humans use AI as a tool to enhance productivity, and a more disruptive “machine mastery” phase where AI systems perform entire roles from start to finish without human intervention.

While he predicts blue-collar jobs may be safer for a longer period due to the current limitations of robotics in replicating complex physical actions, Gawdat believes the displacement of white-collar workers will begin in earnest by 2027, ushering in a “short-term dystopia.” He warns of a future with no middle class, where the top 0.1% control the wealth and technology, and everyone else is left behind.

Gawdat’s sobering assessment is not without its critics, but it is echoed by other prominent figures in the field. Geoffrey Hinton, often called the “godfather of AI,” has also warned that AI could “replace everybody” doing “mundane intellectual labor.” While some tech leaders, like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, maintain that AI will augment, not replace, jobs, Gawdat’s message is a call to urgent action, suggesting that humanity must find new ways to adapt and define its purpose beyond labor before it’s too late.