Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian Assures Techies: AI Won’t Take Your Jobs, It Will Transform Them

Thomas Kurian, the CEO of Google Cloud, has refuted popular concerns that AI will replace tech employment, claiming that AI will enable humans to do tasks that they were previously unable to do. Kurian stressed that AI’s main function is to augment human talents rather than completely replace them in an interview with the tech newsletter Big Technology.

Kurian told Big Technology, “I think there is definitely a middle ground,” in response to forecasts of widespread automation of the workforce. He cited empirical data from Google’s Customer Engagement Suite, a set of AI-driven customer support resources introduced the previous year. When asked if they would require fewer customer support representatives, Kurian responded that “almost none of our clients have let anyone go.”

Tech Acting as a Helping Hand: Google Cloud CEO

Tasks that consumers used to completely avoid, including enquiries too trivial to justify contacting a customer support representative, are now being handled by the technology. This increase in capabilities rather than a reduction in staff is indicative of Google’s larger approach to the application of AI. “Does this mean we won’t need customer service agents anymore?” was one of the questions that clients had when Google first unveiled the Customer Engagement Suite, according to Kurian.

“The answer has been a resounding no,” he underlined. This viewpoint was reaffirmed by Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a June interview with the Lex Fridman podcast, when he disclosed that the company has observed a 10% increase in engineer productivity as a result of AI tools. Google monitors this growth by calculating the extra engineering capacity generated by AI-powered help in hours each week.

Google Planning to Hire More Engineers: Pichai

According to Pichai, Google intends to hire more engineers in the upcoming year rather than reduce its workforce. He said, “The opportunity space of what we can do is expanding,” and he expressed optimism that AI will empower engineers to engage in more creative projects by doing away with monotonous tasks. This augmentation strategy is supported by the data.

Over 30% of Google’s new code is now AI-generated, up from 25% in October, according to Pichai, who made this revelation on Alphabet’s most recent earnings call. Darren Hardman, the CEO of Microsoft UK, also said that GitHub Copilot currently contributes 40% of Microsoft’s code, allowing the company to release more products in the last 12 months than the prior three combined. Tech workers can feel reassured by Kurian’s message: AI is a tool for amplification, not eradication.