Could AI Job Displacement Spark an Entrepreneurship Wave?

As artificial intelligence reshapes employment landscapes, HR leaders face mounting pressure to address workforce anxieties around job security. Yet some technology executives argue the disruption could catalyse a fundamental shift in how people approach their careers.

Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, believes advancements in AI can help more people become entrepreneurs and truly own their work. Speaking on the All In podcast, he says that people should prioritise using AI and "start your own mini business," as he believes this can help people experience ownership and passion in their work.

Aravind says: "Even if there is temporary job displacement to deal with, that sort of glorious future is what we should look forward to."

The perspective presents an alternative narrative for HR professionals navigating redundancy programmes and workforce planning in an AI-accelerated economy. Aravind founded Perplexity in 2022 alongside Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho and Andy Konwinski after working as a researcher at companies such as OpenAI, DeepMind and Google Brain.

Small business hiring trends

Data from Bank of America suggest this entrepreneurial shift may already be emerging. The bank's Small Business Checkpoint finds that spending on tech services for small businesses grew 14% in February, while the number that planned to hire fell 4.4%.

The research suggests that small businesses are investing in tools that can help them boost productivity and streamline their operations. A significant slowdown in hiring could lead to widespread unemployment.

For those looking to protect themselves from potential job losses, Aravind recommends in an interview with YouTuber and AI commentator Matthew Berman: "Spend less time doomscrolling on Instagram; spend more time using the AIs."

He continued: "People who really are at the frontier of using AI are going to be way more employable than people who are not. That's guaranteed to happen."

Structural workforce changes

As AI capabilities increase, more companies are announcing redundancies explicitly linked to technological transformation. Tech company Atlassian announced in March 2026 that it was cutting 10% of its workforce because AI has changed the way it operates.

In a company memo, CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes wrote: "It would be disingenuous to pretend AI doesn't change the mix of skills we need or the number of roles required in certain areas. It does."

When deciding how the company's workforce would be shaped post-cuts, Mike said: "We made some structural org changes and focused on retaining Atlassians with the skills to help us thrive as an AI-first company – this included strong performers, graduates and Atlassians with transferable skills."

The memo could signal how other organisations might approach workforce restructuring, prioritising AI fluency alongside traditional performance metrics.

Reskilling or business ownership

Speaking with Matthew Berman, Aravind suggested this would be the way forward for many employees, saying: "Either the other people who lose jobs end up starting companies themselves and make use of AIs, or they end up learning the AIs and contribute to new companies."

Aravind discussed his own journey from employee to entrepreneur in an interview with Berkeley Haas, the business school at the University of California, Berkeley, where he said: "I've always looked up to entrepreneurs. I think the spirit of driving change can only be truly done as an entrepreneur."