#future

Stefano Pessina vows to rebuild ‘all the value’ lost at his Boots empire https://share.google/tVf43dzmGFX0ayEog

Private equity is indeed ruthless, and Mr. SP won't go away.

is anyone else concerned about the future outlook of appian against the growing AI competitors? how long do you think we can manage before becoming obsolete?

my prediction and I am a 2nd year senior manager with iffy prediction track record.

five years from now, ACN is likely a smaller, leaner, more AI-centered firm with less revenue tied to labor-heavy delivery... more tied to high-end consulting, governance work, and complex project/enterprise orchestration... and still facing lower headcount leverage and margin pressure than in its pre-AI model.

I see Accenture at roughly 70% of current revenue (lets say in 5 years), with headcount down much more than revenue because AI compresses labor faster than it ki-ls total demand...

Now let's look Bear vs Bull cases, i am in the middle:

Bears: Think in terms of an impact across the board bears will say this:

• Mgmt Consulting - High Value Add (Research, planning, transformation - advanced thinking LLM models are really good at this - it'll slash demand by 50%)
• Vendor Selection (each advanced LLM model beats Gartner, things are analyzed and customized in less than 8 hours of work - u still need consulting, but you need 2 guys instead of 12)
• Design Systems Work (see above, the same applies)
• Dev (Agentic is going to cannibalize this up to 80%)
• Testing (Same as above, Agentic works - writes and executes scripts, u just need oversight and metrics, this will take a 70% haircut).
• Training and Change/Communication (Same as above)
• PMO (Still needed, probably 25% less or so)
• Management (Still needed, probably minimal impact)
• Overhead (Contracts, finance, HR, Still needed but will get streamlined extra 20% over time).

Bulls will counter with this, and the Wall Street seems to be more on the Bears side at least for now:

• Mgmt Consulting - High Vlue Add (AI strategy, operating model, transformation - LLMs generate options, but exec alignment grows - demand shifts up the stack)
• Vendor Selection (LLMs speed anlysis, but audit and risk increase - still need validation and accountability, fewer analysts more senior roles)
• Design Systems Work (AI builds components, but enterprise standardization at scale grows - governance and consistency expand)
• Dev (Agentic boosts output, but backlog expands - fewer devs per project, more projects overall)
• Testing (Agentic automates scripts, but continuous validation and monitoring grow - shift to quality engineering)
• Training and Change/Communication (More tools, faster change - structured adoption and change mgmt expand)
• PMO (Faster delivery, more coordination across AI, data, business - leaner but more critical)
• Mgmt (Fewer layers, higher span of control - more intense decision making)
• Overhead (More AI licensing, compliance, governance - leaner ops, higher complex.)

Layoffs will continue after this round. This is first round of many. AI is here and all of us will be tasked to train it to replace us. 2026 will be a year of layoffs. Stock holders demand return for investment.

This right here. Everybody needs to prepare for a very long and very painful year.

Everything ,going to change on April

Title says it all. Exxon will not stop untill all engineering and research is done in India or even lower cost countries. There are several studies going on now that are looking at BTC capabilities and off shoring to India. The only jobs will be at the physical plants for operations. Everything else will be outsourced. We already have BTC engineers working at several plants in rotation. Look around and see the future. Costs saving are exxons future. The bottom line is the most important constant and nothing else matters.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi offered a stark view on AI's impact. He stated many executives privately admit AI will displace millions of jobs. Khosrowshahi estimates AI could replace 70-80% of human work. He acknowledged autonomous vehicles will eventually fulfill most Uber trips. This candid assessment contrasts with public statements from other tech leaders.

https://moneywise.com/news/top-stories/dara-khosrowshahi-uber-ceo-says-execs-are-lying-about-ai

Maybe two at the most. It's losing credibility, which is resulting in shrinking ratings, which leads to layoffs...rinse and repeat until nothing is left but a shell of once respected news organization.

What does the future look like for the thousands and thousands of agency staff who have made Allstate their career? With the numerous changes coming to the EA in 2027, is an agent expected to just lock the doors should a customer walk up or refuse mail that may look like a payment? Has anyone thought this through? How will this be communicated to customers?

What does your crystal ball see? Mine

• 2027 RIF
• 2028 Richmond goes to a terminal
• 2029 It's time to talk about increasing shareholder value - Split Upstream from Downstream etal. Separate companies; oh wait that's being discussed in 2026. Hi BR and others.
• 2030 Why do we need people? AI can take over 50% of remaining jobs. Just needs a few oversight chums.

It just feels accountant driven to just maintain/survive - entrepreneurial spirit no longer exists. Growth is gone.

What do you all think?

Nothing going our way. So much has changed in an year, what happens next year? How can humans take revenge on AI?

Curious what everyone’s thoughts are on the AI impacts at Cigna?

Every time companies talk about “effeciency” it often ends up meaning fewer people doing the same work. Also with the recent job eliminations and the intense focus on improving effeciencies, it makes me wonder where things are heading.

Not trying to be negative or start rumors, just curious what others think about this. Is AI impacting your role yet? Any thoughts on how this might impact jobs at Cigna going foward?

This is the next trend.

Most of what India does can be replaced with AI agents.

Thought you had a future in this industry? Too bad. That's the message we keep getting.

Relatively new to State Farm and now having second thoughts. Seems like there are a lot of concerns about future. Did I make a mistake? I am pretty sure I can find another job quickly. DFW is booming.

First we got a WFR announcement. Then a CEO resignation. Now a bunch of site closures.

What else can we expect of a dying company?

Does anyone think that severance amounts will be impacted for future layoffs?

Anyone know if we will keep the Denver office open? I would prefer to live in Denver over Houston but not sure if Bpx will consolidate to Houston.

The company is already training AI agents to work directly with techs in the field to configure routers and diagnose troubles without an engineer. Tech chats with a bot directly to configure, test and turn up a router. Whole teams will probably be gone in next two years.

I feel like we are headed towards a successful future.

In a few years, someone is absolutely going to write a long-form takedown on how Nike fumbled its Caitlin Clark moment. Generational talent. Cultural tidal wave. Wall-to-wall attention. And still fumbled

This has future MBA case study written all over it.

Views have decreased. Layoffs are done. Time to stop the worry.

The long term goal is for every operating unit including the grassroots upstream oil & gas projects to be operated by 3rd party contract companies who pay far less in health care benefits, pensions, and salaries.

The Guyana offshore upstream operations business model is a textbook example of how ExxonMobil wants to operate our facilities in the future.

Try to be at least a bit positive.

That much is clear right now. March is another story, though.

"Some leaders and pioneers in AI say that artificial intelligence will advance far enough to replace entire workforces."

https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ai-ceo-mustafa-suleyman-white-collar-tasks-automation-prediction-2026-2

At this rate, I don't see how Macy's survives as a brick-and-mortar chain. My prediction is we'll be completely out of business in several years, another casualty of changing times.

PE will cash out and sell all real estate and rake in as much profit as they can.

Billions lost in stock value but at least the company is pumping out future of finance and the rising star fuel articles like their the nyt

Let’s focus on the future of fiserv.

What does this mean for the future of the company ? Down 11% YoY is a lot, and missed analysts forecast of $3.5bn.

Should we expect layoffs? And where would those occur ?

Please share you opinions on Hydra progress. Can Hydra survive in 2026?

Quantum is coming, just keep waiting. . .

https://www.barrons.com/articles/ibm-quantum-computing-research-nvidia-amd-0dd74344

By: Mackenzie Tatananni
Updated Jan 29, 2026, 12:26 pm EST / Original Jan 29, 2026, 12:01 am EST

It might seem natural to pit the capabilities of quantum computers—often touted as the next big technology—against today’s supercomputers. But scientists have a different, more collaborative vision for the future.

Rather than outright replacing classical machines, quantum systems will likely be built on top of existing architecture to enable more powerful computations.

This perspective was captured in new research from International Business Machines, which showed how classical graphics processing units, or GPUs, from leading chip makers could work alongside quantum processors to execute problems faster.

“It’s important for the world to see that quantum computers aren’t just these things that [will] replace your computers,” Jerry Chow, IBM’s chief technology officer of quantum-centric supercomputing, said in an interview with Barron’s. “They’re really part of the entire computing infrastructure.”

Two papers co-authored by IBM researchers detailing the results were posted to Cornell University’s arXiv, a research-sharing platform for papers that have yet to be peer-reviewed.

The first paper showed how GPUs from Advanced Micro Devices, contained within the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, could be combined with IBM’s Heron processor to model complex chemical systems and provide a 100-time speedup over central processing units, or CPUs.

“It’s a notoriously difficult problem for classical computers,” Chow explained. “But we know now, there’s a part of these chemistry problems which are best handled on the quantum computer.”

Follow-up work with Riken, a Japanese research institute, was showcased in the second paper. The study showed how the same chemical systems could be modeled on IBM quantum computers for an additional 20% increase in performance when using a new algorithmic approach on Nvidia chips.

“Overall, they’re all supporting the same narrative, that the future of computing is quantum-centric,” Chow said. As he sees it, it’s the next logical step in a continuous evolution of technology.

Classical GPUs have already proven their prowess at one type of math. The chips perform calculations by breaking large problems into thousands of simpler tasks that are processed simultaneously, through a method called parallel processing.

Meanwhile, quantum processors harness the properties of quantum mechanics, which makes them best suited for complex modeling tasks. This explains why most quantum research consists of some kind of modeling problem—and why quantum is expected to have an outsize impact in the areas of dr-g discovery and materials science.

Classical processors are “the technology behind everything that we see today with language models and training and inference and so forth,” according to Chow.

It’s impossible to rule out a distant future “where everything is all based off the same kind of technology,” he added. “But at least from what we’ve seen with how supercomputing has evolved in the last 10 to 15 years, it’s all about composable pieces.”

Jay Gambetta, who oversees IBM’s research effort, shared a similar view in an earlier interview with Barron’s. “We’re imagining a heterogeneous accelerating framework that connects quantum and classical compute,” Gambetta explained during a tour of IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center in October.

Much of IBM’s past research has incorporated hybrids of quantum and classical computing. In September, computers running on IBM’s Heron processor worked alongside bit-based machines to perform a bond trading problem.

One month earlier, IBM and AMD unveiled a formal collaboration to develop quantum-centric supercomputers. The partners indicated they were exploring ways for AMD chips to control errors on IBM’s quantum processors, which could advance IBM’s efforts to develop fault-tolerant quantum computers by the end of the decade.

Crucially, the latest results demonstrate that real-world applications of quantum computers are just a step away.

“We have a number of partners who already have clusters of supercomputers that they know how to access,” Chow said. “To them, it’s like, ‘Now I have the keys to a brand-new car, let me see what I can do with it and how I can work it in with what I’ve been doing.’”

IBM shares climbed 6.8% on Thursday, bolstered by strong quarterly earnings. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.9%. So far this year, IBM has gained 6.1%, outstripping a 0.7% gain for the index.

It’s official! We are going public. Nice to see Michael’s strategy finally paying off. Excited to see what the future holds as an S&P 500 company.

For everyone on here wanting to know departments, locations, that's the least of your worry. What you need to be seeing is the long term picture here for Cigna. Companies trim fat for multiple reasons. The reason everyone thinks is greed, that's partly true.

You can't sell a company as a whole or sell parts of it off if your numbers are horrible. Cigna is positioning themselves to be sold, the writing is on the wall. They need numbers to look good, number of employees to be good, everything has to line up 100% before they find a buyer for the company.

Mark my word, come back to this post later in. In less than a year this company is sold and part of it won't exist, other parts will. Those in the higher up spots will be compensated nicely b/c they made it profitable long enough for a sale.

With the recent tension with labor and the fact nobody will even be using standard computers in 5 years per Elon Musk I am curious to know what others think about Dell being around in 15 years

I see small and large startups kicking Intel’s a-s on all fronts. Unless we have a better way to compute that doesn’t include X86 it’s over.