AI Is Destroying Jobs — And Creating the Biggest Opportunity of the Decade
In the first week of February 2026, the global tech market lost hundreds of billions in value. The trigger? Anthropic’s new legal tool demonstrated it could replace corporate lawyers in tasks that previously required entire teams. The sell-off didn’t stop at software companies — it dragged down the entire sector.
At the same time, Amazon, CrowdStrike, Pinterest, and dozens of other companies announced layoffs explicitly citing AI automation as the reason. This isn’t theory anymore. It’s not a futurist’s prediction. It’s reality.
The Pattern Nobody Wants to See
Every technological revolution follows the same cycle: first it eliminates repetitive tasks, then it advances on functions that seemed “safe.” Generative AI has compressed this cycle from decades to months.
In Queuing Theory applied to business, one of the fundamental principles is that bottlenecks migrate — when you eliminate one, the system reveals the next. The same happens with automation: every function eliminated by AI exposes the next vulnerable layer.
If your job today involves data analysis, report generation, standardized customer service, contract review, or managing repetitive processes — you’re in the queue. Literally.
Here’s What the Media Isn’t Telling You
While large corporations are cutting headcount, small and mid-sized businesses are hiring differently. The business owner who couldn’t afford a data analyst now has AI doing it for $20/month. The cleaning company owner who spent 2 hours daily on scheduling now automates it with platforms like WeCazza.
AI isn’t just destroying jobs — it’s democratizing capabilities that only corporations could previously afford. And that completely changes the competitive equation for SMBs.
Three Moves for Those Who Want to Survive (and Profit)
1. Automate Before You’re Automated
If your business still depends on manual processes for scheduling, invoicing, client communication, or team management, you’re operating with 2020 costs and 2026 margins. The math doesn’t work.
Integrated management tools — CRM, intelligent scheduling, follow-up automation — aren’t luxuries anymore. They’re basic infrastructure. If you don’t adopt them, you’re competing with one hand tied behind your back.
2. Solve Problems, Don’t Execute Tasks
AI executes tasks. Humans solve complex problems. The 8-Step Problem-Solving Method exists precisely because machines can’t do what a structured thinker does: diagnose, prioritize, decide between ambiguous alternatives, and implement with context.
If your work can be described in a simple flowchart, AI already knows how to do it. If it requires judgment, adaptation, and human relationships, you have decades of advantage.
3. Think in Systems, Not Functions
Business owners who think about “hiring more people” to grow are using 20th-century logic. The right question is: how does my system operate? Where are the bottlenecks? Where does technology solve better than people? Where are people irreplaceable?
This performance engineering mindset — optimizing the entire system instead of isolated parts — is what separates businesses that scale from businesses that stagnate. It’s the difference between working in your business and working on your business.
Walmart Gets It. Do You?
While tech companies melt on the stock market, Walmart hit $1 trillion in market cap this week. The reason? Aggressive investment in AI applied to operations — logistics, inventory, customer service. Not AI as a product, but AI as an efficiency tool.
The same principle applies to a service company owner with 5 employees. It’s not about “being an AI company.” It’s about using AI to operate better, serve better, and profit more.
The Window Is Open — But Not for Long
We’re in a rare moment: technology is already mature enough to transform small businesses, but most of your competitors haven’t adopted it yet. That asymmetry is pure gold for those who act now.
In 18 months, automation will be commodity. The competitive advantage will belong to those who implemented first, learned first, and optimized first.
The question isn’t whether AI will change your market. The question is: will you be the one who changes — or the one who gets changed?
JJ Andrade is a Business Performance Engineer, author of the “Combining Lean Six Sigma and Queuing Theory” series, and founder of JJ Andrade LLC. He specializes in business performance engineering and applied queuing theory.