One of Silicon Valley’s most prominent founders is resisting the influx of AI fear in the workplace—with a vengeance.

Artificial intelligence isn’t taking anyone’s place, said Arvind Jain, the IIT Delhi alumnus and founder and CEO of Glean, a $7.2 billion AI-driven enterprise search platform, at the Workplace Innovation Summit at Fortune. Not today. And, he hopes, not ever.

“I don’t think AI—or actually, for me, hopefully forever, too—AI never replaces any human, and it just actually augments us, enables us, allows us to do higher quality work,” Jain said on stage. 

It’s a breath of fresh air for millions of employees whose livelihoods are threatened by the advent of AI.

The AI Layoffs Reality: What’s Actually Happening on the Ground 

The AI layoffs reality is a far more complex affair than the headlines make it look. The business media has been filled with articles about predictions for large-scale displacement by the executive, but for the Glean founder, Arvind Jain, there are different signals coming out of enterprise data.

“In fact, there are lots of people who are going to discuss whether you can replace this role with AI, or that role with AI. In reality, we are dealing with the biggest companies in the world, and we don’t see any job being phased out – not this way,” Jain said.

Jain gets first-hand accounts of the impact of AI in the workplace from working directly with some of the world’s largest companies. His takeaway? The current discussion on the loss of jobs to AI is well ahead of science.

Countering the Doom: Big Names, Bigger Warnings 

Jain’s stance is in stark contrast with the general hue of concern. CEO of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, has been sounding the alarm that AI will take up to 50% of white-collar jobs within the next few years. Others have been sounding the alarm, too, as JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon “warned” that AI “could take over literally half” of white-collar workers in the United States, according to Ford CEO Jim Farley.

From software development and content production to finance and health care, fears of AI have been stoking worries in various industries. As AI tools are still in their infancy of augmentation, the outcome is a workforce that is worried about its future.

The Arvind Jain AI warning changes all that – the actual threat is not replacement, it’s paralysis due to fearing a threat yet to come.

Who Is Arvind Jain?

Jain is no mere voice from the side. He has a B.Tech in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, and a Master’s from the University of Washington. He has worked at Microsoft, Google, where he was a Distinguished Engineer for over 10 years in Search, Maps and YouTube, and founded Rubrik, a cybersecurity company that emerged as a Silicon Valley success.

He created Glean in 2019 to address a real issue at work: when employees struggle to locate information buried in enterprise applications that litter their work. Demand from enterprises for realistic tools that can transform their workforce with AI has surged, bringing the startup’s value to $7.2 billion by 2025, up from $1 billion in 2022.

AI Future of Work: Augmentation, Not Elimination

The difference Jain makes is important to grasp the AI future of work. In his opinion, AI is not a number taker, but a number multiplier. This is important as it takes people out of fear mode and into preparation mode.

Instead of asking if AI will take my job, employees and groups might want to ask, “How does AI alter my job?” If it’s true that Jain’s enterprise data is correct, the answer is that roles change, not go away.

The fear of AI is legitimate, but it could also be a productivity killer, as it can deter workers from using AI tools that can enhance their productivity rather than diminish it.

The Broader Debate Isn’t Over 

Yet, in some areas, like the tech sector, the tech layoffs and AI link are legitimate. In the eyes of many, it appears that companies have cut staff and are rapidly adopting AI at the same time. However, just because the two trends correlate doesn’t mean they cause each other, and Jain’s data implies they are not as connected as is widely believed.

The debate about the loss of jobs to artificial intelligence will likely persist – and it should. Technology companies and policymakers are held to account by scrutiny. While the debate rages on, however, there are other perspectives like Jain’s that are based on the reality of the enterprise and counterbalance the speculative fear of AI that can drive policy and personal career choices.

Bottom Line

The Arvind Jain employees safer than you think message isn’t a criticism of the influence of AI; it’s a reminder to be mindful! AI is revolutionising the way work is done. Transformation is not a process of elimination, however. The data of the world’s largest enterprises provide a story of adaptation, rather than apocalypse, for the present time.

The true threat is not that AI will replace you, but that it does not. The danger isn’t that AI will replace you, it’s that it won’t. You might be too afraid of AI to pick up the skills you will need for the next generation of jobs. Maybe you’re afraid of AI, but you’re not learning the skills you’ll need for the next generation of work.

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