With artificial intelligence (AI) transforming workplace culture and industry, Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman has claimed that most of the white-collar jobs could vanish within the next 12 to 18 months. Mustafa Suleyman told the Financial Times that accounting, legal work, marketing, and project management are vulnerable to being replaced or automated by AI. Suleyman predicted “human-level performance on most, if not all professional tasks” being done by AI. Most tasks that involve “sitting down at a computer” will be fully automated by AI within the next year or 18 months, he said.
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Which jobs are at high risk?
Mustafa Suleyman stressed that AI systems are approaching “human-level performance on most professional tasks”. He also said computer-based jobs, including law and accounting, as well as marketing and project management, are particularly at high risk. Further, the Microsoft AI chief stated that the rapid acceleration in computing power and AI model capabilities is driving this shift and might outperform humans in problem-solving, routine decision-making tasks, and coding when the systems improve.
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Last year, Mustafa Suleyman pointed to early signs of AI-driven transformation already visible in industries such as software engineering, where developers increasingly rely on artificial intelligence for coding assistance, according to Business Insider. He noted that the impact of AI would not remain limited to repetitive tasks, but would gradually expand into more complex professional work as well.
Speaking about Microsoft’s long-term AI ambitions, Suleyman said, “This after all is the most important technology of our time. We have to develop our own foundation models which are at the absolute frontier.”
AI could soon replace parts of human work
While AI is currently being used mainly to boost productivity and assist employees, Suleyman believes the technology is rapidly evolving beyond support roles and may soon start replacing parts of human work altogether.
According to him, AI “agents” could begin managing workflows inside companies within the next two to three years. These systems may be capable of coordinating tasks, handling operations and even making decisions with minimal human involvement.
Suleyman also predicted that developing AI systems will become far more accessible in the future. Comparing it to creating digital content, he said building a customised AI model could eventually become as easy as starting a podcast or writing a blog — allowing businesses and individuals to create AI tools tailored to their specific needs.
Mustafa Suleyman’s latest comments add to growing concerns raised by several tech leaders, including Dario Amodei, who have repeatedly warned that artificial intelligence could soon take over tasks traditionally performed by humans. Microsoft laid off around 15,000 employees last year. In a statement issued in July 2025, CEO Satya Nadella said the company needed to “reimagine our mission for a new era.”
