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For the past year, the debate around AI has focused on chips and valuations. Now the impact is starting to show up in jobs and entire business models.
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The clearest example came this week when Block (SQ) announced it would cut 4,000 employees — nearly half its workforce — while investing heavily in artificial intelligence tools. CEO Jack Dorsey said in a post on X that a smaller team using AI could operate more efficiently, and the stock surged following the announcement.

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The news also added pressure across parts of the financial sector. Credit-sensitive stocks like American Express (AXP), Capital One (COF), and Synchrony (SYF) fell as investors worried that large-scale AI-driven layoffs could weaken white-collar employment and consumer credit demand.
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This is exactly the scenario many workers feared: large companies cutting jobs specifically because AI can replace them.
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At the same time, AI is starting to threaten entire business models — not just individual jobs.
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IBM is a clear example. Shares have fallen sharply after Anthropic released Claude Code, an AI tool that can automate parts of COBOL modernization work — a long-standing IBM consulting business. The stock is down roughly 20–25% in the last month, showing how quickly AI tools can threaten established revenue streams.

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Six areas exposed to automation

These roles depend heavily on repetitive digital work:
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• Customer service / call centers – AI chat and voice agents
  Five9 (FIVN), NICE (NICE)
• HR & recruiting – resume screening and hiring workflows
  Workday (WDAY), ADP (ADP)
• Accounting & bookkeeping – document processing and reconciliation
  Intuit (INTU)
• IT services & outsourced tech support – routine code maintenance and ticket handling
  Cognizant (CTSH)
• Legal and document workflows – contract and document analysis
  Thomson Reuters (TRI)
• Consumer credit operations – automated underwriting and servicing
  Discover (DFS)
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The pattern is simple: if the job is rules-based and done on a screen, AI can likely handle it.
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This is the first real evidence that AI displacement is moving from theory into practice.

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