As AI companies experience significant growth in valuation and adoption, a continuous discussion persists regarding the extent to which artificial intelligence is displacing human roles across various industries. While studies suggest that positions with high automation potential are likely to be impacted, some analysts propose that AI could also generate new employment opportunities, making any displacement effects largely transitional.
David Shim, CEO of the meeting notetaker and intelligence firm Read AI, shared his insights with TechCrunch at Web Summit Qatar earlier this month. He asserted that despite the proliferation of AI tools, humans will ultimately remain the decision-makers, underscoring the enduring importance of their roles. Shim drew a parallel between AI technology and the use of navigation maps in a vehicle.
“I think there’s always going to be a human in the middle,” Shim stated. “I think the job is going to get easier over time. But a good example would be like driving a car. When we first started, you used to have a map. And you’d pull out the map. And you’d go in and say okay I’m driving. I’m deciding what happens. Now everyone uses Waze or Google Maps, and the map is telling you where to go. And you’re just following that order. But you’re the human in the middle who can decide what happens.”
Shim acknowledged that AI would indeed influence job markets, noting that advertising agencies, for instance, might see a reduction in human roles as automated tools become more prevalent. However, he also highlighted the necessity for new positions within tech platforms to oversee and manage these automation processes.
Abdullah Asiri, founder of Lucidya, a startup specializing in AI-powered consumer support tools, expressed his belief that AI will primarily substitute specific tasks rather than entire job roles. He explained that when Lucidya’s clients integrate their platform, customer support agents frequently transition into different responsibilities. These new capacities include becoming supervisors who guide both human and AI teams, or taking on relationship-building and business development tasks, utilizing the time saved through automation.
Read AI’s Shim further illustrated this point by noting how AI-powered meeting notetakers have liberated individuals from the manual burden of recording meeting details.
“Nobody here wants to sit down and take meeting notes, but as you start to take away that job, you have a little bit more time to do other things that you can go and focus on. You can send that report a little bit faster, or you can respond back to a customer and actually have better context to make better decisions, versus spending a bunch of time gathering all the information and having little time to make a decision,” he elaborated.
As technology companies like Read AI and Lucidya increasingly deploy AI tools, they are actively pursuing lean operational models for their teams. Read AI, for example, manages millions of monthly users with a customer service team of just five individuals. Shim pointed out that the company leverages AI tools to enhance the productivity of its small team, providing them with richer context to perform their duties more swiftly.
These companies are reportedly achieving significant productivity enhancements. Read AI indicated that its sales tool can predict the status of a deal by analyzing data from CRM systems such as HubSpot and Salesforce. The startup reported that deals totaling $200 million have been approved through this system. Shim added that Read AI captures 23% more context with each update, which is invaluable for evaluating the effectiveness of lead calls.
Lucidya’s Asiri also confirmed their use of AI tools, including Read AI, for internal meetings and the creation of marketing assets. He articulated the company's ambition to “scale outcomes without scaling headcounts.”
“The goal for any company is to hire people who are AI native, who are very strong with AI, but we need to be realistic,” Asiri cautioned. “Today, this skill is being developed. You cannot find a lot of people who have very strong AI capabilities, not building AI, but using AI.”
Asiri emphasized that candidates capable of building AI agents to assist them in their work would be highly sought after in the current job market.
Shim reflected on the past, noting that just a few years ago, many people were reluctant to have AI notetakers in meetings and often questioned the presence of a bot on a call. However, he observed that individuals are now much more receptive to these tools, provided they are given control over recording functionalities.
Asiri stated that Lucidya maintains transparency by disclosing to users when a voice AI is being used in communication. He underscored that for users, the efficient resolution of an issue is paramount, often outweighing the fact that an AI bot is handling their calls.
“It’s all about resolving issues and finding customers’ problems and resolving them,” Asiri affirmed. “As long as the AI agents are actually focusing on that part, customers are happy that their issues are being resolved. The customer really doesn’t care whether it’s fixed by AI or a human, as long as it’s fixed fast and accurately.”
The Editorial Staff at AIChief is a team of professional content writers with extensive experience in AI and marketing. Founded in 2025, AIChief has quickly grown into the largest free AI resource hub in the industry.