Hajra Naz
A CEO tells his team,
“AI is coming for your jobs, even mine.”
People stop. People listen. It is rare to hear a leader speak with that level of blunt truth. It is rarer when the leader runs one of the world’s largest freelance platforms. Yet Fiverr co-founder and CEO Micha Kaufman chooses this style to guide his company through the biggest shift in modern tech. His view is simple.
AI is coming for everyone. The only answer is to move faster, stay curious, and get better at being human. The statement fits the current climate shaped by generative AI trends and rapid automation.
Why He Spoke This Way
Kaufman offers no soft edges. He built four companies in twenty-five years. He took Fiverr public seven years ago. He communicates with authenticity, not comfort. When asked why he used such a sharp warning, he pointed to a basic idea. If a car rushes toward you, you don’t whisper. You shout. You pull people aside. You act. He applies the same directness to the future of work shaped by AI automation.
He links this to leadership. Leaders should stay transparent. Leaders should say what they see. He knows he cannot predict every detail of the future, yet he trusts his sense of direction. His message spread beyond Fiverr. Months later, Sam Altman shared a similar view. Altman said AI would surpass the best CEOs. When builders of AI say this, it signals a major shift in the tech world and the global workforce.
The Steam Engine on a Carriage
Kaufman uses a simple analogy. In 1769, the steam engine arrived. People attached it to horse carriages. The idea felt smart. It was not the revolution. The revolution came with the car. He thinks AI sits in that same middle phase today. We place AI inside old workflows. We see upgrades. We do not see the full transformation yet.
Right now, AI handles tasks we treated like complex work. Research. Summaries. Repetitive writing. Document sorting. Basic production. These pieces relied more on judgment than humanity. AI removes them fast. That shift raises the base level.
“What was hard becomes simple. What was almost impossible becomes the new hard,” he says.
The skill ladder changes. The value of judgment shifts. This sits at the center of today’s AI workforce transformation.
The Superpower Illusion
Many people say AI gives superpowers. Kaufman disagrees. He explains it simply. If everyone has the same superpower, no one gains a real advantage. AI lets anyone write better, draw faster, and code quicker. That does not create an edge. It creates a new baseline.
He points to viral AI videos. They succeed because their creators understand taste, timing, experience, and narrative. Not because the tool made the video. This idea fits a bigger trend. AI tools shape content, yet originality still shapes results.
AI access now sits in everyone’s hands. Standards rise across every field. The bar for “good work” sits higher. Every profession touched by AI feels this shift.
Velocity Wins
Kaufman highlights velocity. Not raw speed. Speed with direction. This matters more when the future feels uncertain. Two teams may move fast. Only one head is the right way. He draws from physics to explain it.
Companies must run experiments fast. Learn fast. Pivot fast. That lowers the cost of being wrong. It creates a competitive advantage in markets shaped by generative AI and constant change.
This thinking shapes Fiverr’s internal AI strategy. They do not grab generic tools. They build personalized systems. They want AI that knows the CEO’s voice, thinking style, preferences, and decisions. They want AI that understands their codebase, legal language, and product goals. Precision drives value. The magic sits in the fine-tuning.
If AI Replaces the Work, What Happens Next
When Kaufman tells teams to aim for replacing all their current tasks with AI, people ask the obvious question. Why keep the people? His answer focuses on human value. He explains.
“You are here because you have value that cannot be automated.”
If AI handles the predictable work, people gain full time to explore higher-level thinking. They can find the work that depends on instinct, pattern recognition, creative thinking, leadership, and understanding of human needs. Those skills fuel the next stage of the AI job market.
He applies this to himself. He uses AI to shorten emails, review papers, turn notes into actions, and track responsibilities. These tasks drain time. They do not require the CEO’s judgment. Automation gives him space for decisions that shape direction, not paperwork.
AI still makes errors. It still needs supervision. Even so, the time saved is huge. As models improve, the balance shifts further.
Read More: The question of AI taking jobs or opening new paths is growing louder. Here is what leaders say.
The Skills That Matter Now
Curiosity sits at the top. Kaufman repeats this point. People should ask how to break AI tools. How to stretch limits. How to mix systems. How to go beyond the obvious. People doing the most interesting things with AI study how it works. They experiment. They learn the edges.
Younger workers hold an advantage because AI sits naturally in their learning and workflow. Yet age matters less than adaptability and flexibility.
Kaufman warns about a new risk. AI might make people stop thinking. People accept outputs without checking them. They lose the habit of struggling through problems.
“People are becoming their laziest version of lazy,” he says.
Those who avoid this trap will stand out. Discipline still matters. Mastery still matters. Hard work still matters.
The Bigger Concerns
His company feels ready for AI disruption. Society feels less ready. Displacement will hit fast. Faster than past shifts. Many people aren’t built for rapid change. He compares it to fighter pilots. Only a few can think that fast.
He brings up a clear example. Truck driving sits among the largest jobs in the United States. Add rideshare workers and delivery drivers. Millions face uncertainty as autonomous systems improve. He does not see enough planning from governments. Reskilling programs lag. Preparation looks thin.
He also questions the power held by private companies building AGI and superintelligence. He compares the scale to the Manhattan Project. Yet governments do not control the process. How long that remains true is unclear.
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The View Ahead
Ask him about the next five years, and he laughs. “Who knows?” The speed of AI growth makes predictions look foolish. He expects most AI startups to collapse. Maybe ninety-nine out of a hundred. Markets reward real value, not hype.
The world keeps rewarding skill. The form of the skill shifts. People who move fast, adapt, and find work customers need will stay relevant. This fits the current pattern in tech and the wider future of work.
For workers worried about their future, Kaufman offers a direct message. The change is real. The change is fast. Ignoring it does nothing. Learning matters. Curiosity matters. Understanding your strengths matters.
He ends with a simple truth. People who love their craft and find purpose in it always find their path. They reinvent themselves. They grow. They stay human in a world filled with AI.
This moment is not the end of work. It is a shift in the meaning of work. It asks people to bring more humanity into the age of AI automation and generative intelligence.
