There’s a lot of fear about AI replacing human workers, but Box CEO Aaron Levie isn’t worried.
He said it’s one of the biggest misconceptions about AI.
While fewer workers may be needed in certain roles, Levie said AI productivity gains could lead to companies growing faster, causing them “to actually hire more people in either that function or other functions,” Levie said.
In fact, the cloud storage CEO told Business Insider that he sees some roles growing in demand with the emergence of AI tools. As AI increases efficiency, there will be a greater need for human workers in some sectors, he said. Levie said that a job may not go away just because tasks can be automated.
“It means actually the demand for the services in that area might actually explode as a result of making that space more efficient,” Levie said.
He added that the roles that will thrive in the AI era will be those that require personal relationships or deep expertise.
“Those are the things that an AI agent is going to be either years off from being able to automate or maybe never able to automate,” Levie said.
Sales
One sector that Levie predicts will grow in importance will be sales. While the initial email that gets sent out about a new product or campaign may get automated, customers who are interested will want to talk to a human to learn more, he said.
“You want to interact with somebody and know that you can really trust that person to do the thing that they’re saying they’re going to do,” Levie said.
That matches up with a 2024 Business Insider analysis on the high-paying jobs expected to grow, based on employment projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sales managers ranked 20th on the list, and were expected to increase by 29,000 by 2034.
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Lawyers
Similarly, if someone needs a lawyer to handle a patent or some kind of dispute, they might turn to an AI agent to answer questions and get instant feedback, Levie said. When it comes to making an actual decision, though, that person will likely want final advice on the situation from an actual human, Levie said.
“You’re going to want a domain expert,” Levie said.
Levie added that roles like paralegals likely won’t disappear either; they’ll just be more productive at tasks like reviewing contracts, which will allow them to take on more work.
Healthcare
The medical industry is another sector that Levie predicts will require more workers. Levie said that AI could help people get faster answers to medical questions, which may lead to greater use of the healthcare system.
“That causes us to go to doctors more,” Levie said. “Those doctors are more efficient, so they can see more patients.”
Eventually, that will lead to a need for more doctors, Levie said.
