Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick warns traditional professions are in ‘big trouble’ from AI

American multinational transportation company Uber Technologies co-founder Travis Kalanick has warned that many traditional professions are in “big trouble” due to AI.

The former CEO of the company that provides ride-hailing services, food delivery, freight transport, and courier services revealed that the proliferation of the fast-growing AI technology across sectors would have an impact on many professions, not in a very good way.

The former Uber executive singled out consultants

Speaking during an episode of Moonshots with Peter Diamandis, Kalanick specifically spoke of consultants who in most cases follow instructions or do repetitive work as being at risk of being replaced by the AI tech.

He jokingly envisioned a future where consultants would be a click away, and businesses would just “Push a button. Get a consultant.”

“If you’re a traditional consultant and you’re just doing the thing, you’re executing the thing, you’re probably in some big trouble.”

– Kalanick.

He, however, indicated that it would not be all doom and gloom for consulting firms, especially those that are forward-thinking and innovative. Kalanick explained that those consulting firms that think outside the box and start building tools rather than just using them will come out ahead.

“If you are a consultant that puts the things together that replaces the consultant, maybe you got some stuff,” he said.

“You’re going to profitable companies with competitive moats, making that moat bigger…making their profit bigger is pretty interesting from a financial point of view,” added Kalanick.

The AI technology has been touted as a game changer across industries due to its transformative abilities. However, there have also been fears that AI will result in the loss of jobs across sectors as businesses automate their operations.

Goldman Sachs has estimated that 46% of administrative jobs and 44% of legal tasks might be automated within the next decade.

In the banking sector, it is estimated that global banks could cut as much as 200,000 jobs in the next three to five years due to AI. Already, financial services are rapidly making use of AI to cut costs and enhance efficiency, with many entry-level jobs set to disappear.

In Finance and legal services, roles such as contract analysis, financial advising, and fraud detection are increasingly being handled by AI systems that can process data faster. Elsewhere in the media industry, UK broadcaster Sky will cut 2,000 jobs as AI and digital services replace call centers.

The world’s biggest consulting firms are scrambling to tap into AI

Kalanick’s comments come at a time when global consulting firms like Deloitte and EY are scrambling to build AI systems that can handle the work humans used to do.

According to Business Insider, Deloitte’s new Zora AI platform provides clients with a selection of “intelligent digital workers” or agents. These can perceive, act, and reason to complete tasks autonomously, according to the company’s sentiments in a March press release.

The company also indicated the platform was built to act as a “digital workforce to change the way work gets done.”

Peers, EY is reportedly rolling out 150 AI tax agents that are expected to assist with tax compliance, document reviews, and data collection. These tasks have traditionally been handled by human consultants.

According to the firm, the agentic platform is expected to be used by about 80,000 employees from EY’s tax division.

With these initiatives, employers also expect their staff to evolve with the technology.

At Deloitte, employees are now expected to act as “technologists and engineers first” and “consultants second.”

“It is no longer acceptable at Deloitte not to take an engineering-first mindset,” said Jillian Wanner, a principal at the firm, during a panel last month.

At KPMG, its global head of AI, David Rowlands, told Business Insider in a December interview that while “AI will have a deep transformational impact on the professional services industry,” the focus was not about replacing jobs but having the technology “embedded in your operating model.”

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