From Pink Slips to Power Plays: Make AI Your Next Teammate

Shift from fear to agency and make your next move count.

By Mary Shea, Co-founder & CGO at Meerkat

The Ways We Work

Volume 1, Number 1

A Tipping Point for Work and Workers

The flood of headlines, hot takes, and forecasts about GenAI’s rapid maturation and its potential to reshape the ways we work is overwhelming. Some days, you might want to tune it all out. I get it. Even for me, a former analyst and now co-founder of Meerkat, an agentic AI company focused on human and machine collaboration, it’s tough to keep up with the breakthroughs, the must-read books, and the nonstop CEO prognostications.

It’s confusing. Tech’s most high-profile leaders aren’t even on the same page. In the past month, we’ve seen a range of sharp and sobering commentary. Some are cautiously optimistic. Others, not so much:

• Demis Hassabis: “It'll be 10 times bigger than the Industrial Revolution, and maybe 10 times faster.”

• Sam Altman: “Entire job categories will be totally, totally gone.”

• Dario Amodei: AI could eliminate 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years.

• Jensen Huang: “You’re not going to lose your job to AI. You’ll lose it to someone using AI.”

• Marc Benioff: Even with 50% of workflows automated, “humans still play a critical role.”

• Bill Gates: “It’s improving at a rate that surprises me.”

• Mark Zuckerberg: “Meta has begun to see glimpses of AI systems improving themselves.”

  
  

I’ve been feeling that same acceleration in my work, especially as I spend more hands-on time with LLMs and early-stage agents.

As the micro-seasons of summer shift, the conversation is shifting too. It's no longer about whether AI will change jobs. It’s about how fast, how deeply, for whom, and most importantly, what we can do about it.

If you’re a founder, business leader, tech worker, or B2B seller, what does this mean for you? What can you do today to remain relevant, continue earning, and have a meaningful work life?

Some professionals are bracing for pink slips. Others are already making power plays, adopting agents (or actual Meerkats), learning new skills, and rethinking how they approach work and manage their careers.

While experts parse whether AI will replace most human labor in one year or ten, one thing is clear: you can choose to sit on the sidelines, or you can gear up for the game. If you want to play, you need to move fast.

Yes, There Will Be Loss. But There’s Also Lift

I gravitate toward optimism. It’s a mindset I’ve cultivated through years of leading sales organizations, running companies, and now building in start-up mode. In high-profile roles, you learn quickly: if you don’t see the glass as half full, the weight and velocity of daily challenges can wear you down and take your team with you.

But optimism only works when it’s anchored in reality. If you want people to follow you, you owe them the truth. And the truth is, the changes coming to how we work are both energizing and daunting.

A recent Microsoft study identified 40 roles least likely to be replaced by AI. Not surprisingly, the jobs most likely to remain stable are those that require a physical presence, hands-on problem-solving, or direct human interaction.

For white-collar professionals such as knowledge workers, tech talent, B2B sellers, and others who built their careers under a different contractual model, the path forward is more complicated. And Displacement is no longer theoretical. It is already underway.

But loss isn’t the whole picture. There is also lift. New roles are forming. New workflows, new tools, and new ways of creating value are emerging. People who choose to lean in, experiment, re-skill, and rethink how they work are already starting to move ahead.

You don’t need to become an AI expert overnight. But you do need to stay adaptable, curious, and open. The advice I give to professionals at any stage of their career journey is this: invest in yourself. Recalibrate for the future that is already here. Professionals who learn to work with AI rather than cling to traditional ways of working are the ones who will thrive.

We are already seeing the shift:

• All NVIDIA engineers now use AI tools in their daily work.

• AI-literate sales and marketing pros are improving meeting outcomes, shortening prep time, and strengthening follow-through.

• Product teams are experimenting with agents that carry memory across sprints and surface what matters.

• Skills like synthesis, judgment, and collaboration, which complement AI, are delivering significantly more long-term value than those that can be automated.

The future of work isn’t far off. Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé, and you don’t want to be late to the party.

From Tool to Teammate: How Work Is Changing

For years, we talked about AI as a tool. Something you log into, prompt, or use at arm’s length. But for many professionals, that framing no longer fits. AI is becoming a teammate.

In sales and customer success, AI is taking notes, logging next steps, and surfacing the right follow-ups across accounts. In product and engineering, it’s tracking decisions, filling context gaps, and connecting insights across sprints. In leadership, AI acts as a second brain, bringing continuity and pattern recognition into day-to-day operations.

The shift from tool to teammate may be subtle, but it changes everything. Tools are optional. Teammates show up. Teammates have your back. They improve focus, sharpen decisions, and carry context across time and touchpoints. For fast-moving, distributed teams, that kind of support isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s essential.

Final Frame: It’s Your Move

This isn’t hype. It’s a critical inflection point and a permanent shift. The people who thrive in this moment will not be the ones who waited, watched, or worried. They will be the ones who stepped forward.

So here’s the call to action: start now. Wherever you are in your career journey, try something new. Interact with an agent. Learn prompt strategies. Push your LLM. Ask better questions. Let your curiosity lead. Momentum favors the engaged.

While the headlines fixate on pink slips, the real story is unfolding behind the scenes. It’s happening in virtual team rooms, on project boards, and across calendar invites. Professionals are choosing to partner with AI instead of panicking over it.

This isn’t about choosing sides. It’s about choosing motion.

Don’t let this wave pass you by. Play to learn. Move to adapt. Lead by experimenting. In the days ahead, we’ll be sharing trusted tools and strategies to help you build skills and gain confidence. 

Follow our journey at trymeerkat.ai and connect with us on LinkedIn to get the latest resources, insights, and updates.