Marketers predict that AI will come to work in 2026

Concerns about how AI will affect the workforce continue to rise with the pace of progress and new products that promise greater automation and efficiency.

The evidence suggests that the fear is justified.

November MIT The survey found about 11.7% of the work can already be developed using AI. Research has shown employers are already eliminating entry-level jobs because of technology. Companies are also already targeting it AI is the cause of redundancy.

As businesses adopt AI more effectively, some may lose sight of the number of employees they need.

In a recent TechCrunch survey, many corporate VCs said that AI will have a major impact on business operations in 2026. This was particularly interesting because the survey did not specifically ask about this.

Eric Bahn, co-founder and general partner at Hustle Fund, expects to see a job crisis in 2026. He’s not sure what that will look like.

“I want to see which tasks that are known to be repetitive are automated, or which complex roles with a lot of input are automated,” Bahn said. “Will it increase the population?

Marell Evans, founder and managing partner at Exceptional Capital, predicted that companies looking to increase AI investment will pull from their pool of funds for operations and hiring.

“I think if we’re going to see an increase in AI budgets, we’re going to see a lot of layoffs and layoffs will continue to have a significant impact on the labor force in the US,” Evans said.

Rajeev Dham, managing director at Sapphire, acknowledged that the 2026 budgets will begin to shift resources from labor to AI. Jason Mendel, an entrepreneur at Battery Ventures, added that AI will become more than just a tool to make existing employees more productive in 2026.

“2026 will be the year of the assistants as programs grow from making people more productive to creating a job of their own, by providing ideas about the migration of people in other areas,” said Mendel.

Antonia Dean, a partner at Black Operator Ventures, said that even if companies don’t shift their operating costs to AI, they can still attribute AI to layoffs or cut operating costs.

“The challenge here is that many businesses, whether or not they’re ready to take full advantage of AI solutions, will say they’re increasing their investment in AI to explain why they’re cutting costs in other areas or reducing staff,” Dean said. “Indeed, AI will be a scapegoat for managers who want to cover up past mistakes.”

Many AI companies claim that their technology will not eliminate jobs but will help employees perform “intensive tasks” or technical tasks while AI only uses “busy” tasks over and over again.

But not everyone is buying the argument, and people are worried that their jobs will be automated. According to VCs who invest in the region, it is not clear whether the fear will be resolved in 2026.