Many executives have recently been using AI as a convenient excuse to lay off employees the economy collapses. Paradoxically, a growing number of CEOs are also embracing the technology – using AI as an excuse to get out while the work is getting done well.
New reporting by cnbc The retirements of James Quincey and Doug McMillon, CEOs of Coca-Cola and Walmart, respectively, were reported. in the interviewS With the outlet reporting, both multi-millionaires cited AI as a reason for resigning from their positions, arguing that they are not the right people to manage the coming AI revolution.
For example, Quincy pointed out cnbc His resignation was prompted by “waves of organizational momentum”. The British-born executive first joined Coke in 1996 and rose to chief executive in 2017. Quincy observed lots of layoffs And strange market changes In his time – but the AI ​​wave, he insists, is a different animal altogether.
He said, “My job is also to think about what is the best team on the field to execute the next wave. And I concluded that, really, it’s time to put someone else on the field for the next wave of development.” “In the pre-AI, pre-Gen-AI mode, we’ve made a lot of progress. But now a big new change is coming.”
(Something that wasn’t mentioned: Coke’s foray into AI-generated ads under Quincy’s supervision — an uncanny spectacle that earned plenty of mockery and scorn, but very little praise.)
McMillan, meanwhile, had served as Walmart’s CEO since 2014. He stepped down, he insisted, to hand over command “rapidly” to someone.
“With what’s happening with AI, I could start the next big set of changes with AI, but I couldn’t finish it,” the former chief executive explained. cnbc. A year ago, he said, he began thinking deeply about how “AI shopping” could impact the retail industry. “I started thinking about everything that could happen over the next few years, and it really made me think now is the right time (to retire),” McMillan said.
How this story plays out remains to be seen. In the near future, Walmart will face double challenge of trade tariffs and inflation, while that of Coke revenue growth has disappointed investors recently. With golden parachutes ready and AI-driven development negligible, the technology could work very well for exits at convenient times.
There have been other CEOs like 62-year-old Adobe executive Shantanu Narayan pushed out of the plane By investors who expected better performance in the age of AI.
In other words, whether stubborn CEOs or broader economic turmoil are to blame for each company’s respective problems is debatable. Either way, the old guard clearly isn’t waiting around to find out.
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