Salesforce CEO expresses excitement amid layoffs; Airtable chief encourages skipping meetings for AI ‘play’

1. Salesforce chief shares excitement about future on podcast while axing 4,000 jobs

Salesforce CEO  Marc Benioff said that AI has enabled the company to cut 4,000 jobs, calling transition to AI-focused work “exciting.” In an appearance on The Logan Bartlett Show, Benioff spoke glowingly of AI adoption at his company.

“It’s been eight of the most exciting months of my entire career,” Benioff said, extolling the benefit of AI to make Salesforce’s processes faster and more efficient.

“I was able to rebalance my headcount on my support,” he said. “I reduced it from 9,000 heads to about 5,000 because I need less heads,” adding that there is a support system for remaining employees to work with AI in their roles.

There’s nothing wrong with being excited about a tech development that makes your company more robust and profitable — that’s part of being a CEO. Benioff’s statement is noteworthy because it’s a real-life example of a company’s leader describing how AI is taking employee jobs and acknowledging the fact that the people left behind will lean on AI tech.

For comms pros, this is a moment worth considering. Are your leaders ready to talk about AI and the very real impacts it has on employees? If not, the time is now. Leaders need to be talking about AI in an employee-centric way, because they’ll be the one fueling that AI. AI is capable of some really cool things and can make employees more efficient — but it can’t replace the intangibles a person brings to their role. Even in situations when AI adoption might lead to layoffs, keep people at the center of the conversation.

2. Airtable CEO tells employees to skip meetings and experiment with AI

Everyone has meetings on their calendar they’d rather skip. Airtable CEO Howie Liu is taking that sentiment a step further and encouraged his employees to cancel meetings to explore AI’s capabilities.

In an appearance on Lenny’s Podcast, Liu said that he wanted employees to “play” with AI to understand what it’s capable of and how it figures into their jobs.

“Like if you want to cancel all your meetings for like a day or for an entire week and just go play around with every AI product that you can find that you think could be relevant to Airtable, go do it.”

“When I say play, I really mean play like in the psychological sense of like — there’s a difference when you go in and you’re kind of just trying to check the box and like get a job done, right?

“There’s a difference when you come in with a curiosity. You’re kind of like exploring, right? And it’s both more fun and energizing, but also I think you learn more through that.”

In contrast to the Salesforce item, Liu’s podcast appearance is a great example of keeping people at the center of the AI discussion. Liu’s tone and words encourage a sense of openness with regard to AI that sows the seeds for a positive work culture. When employees see their leaders model a behavior or mindset, they’re more likely to feel empowered to adopt it themselves.

Encouraging experimentation with AI is a great way for leaders to communicate a culture of creativity and openness about a game-changing new tech. The additional focus on learning also keeps employees at the center of the conversation — as they expand their skills, they’re better at their jobs and that’s better for the company. That’s a win-win.

3. Report explores the state of hybrid work

Five years post-pandemic, and hybrid work is still hanging on. Gallup came out with some interesting new data about the current state of hybrid work situations amid the ongoing RTO push. The report found that 57% of employees reported feeling trusted by their manager while working remotely. In addition, the data revealed that 87% of employees received timely communication about their teams regardless of where they were working from, 86% reported having a strong sense of community within their company no matter their location and 83% said their manager held them to the same set of expectations even when working from home.

With such high numbers of employees reporting that their workplace structures are still in place even from home, it’s possible to interpret the data as a sign that communicators are doing heavy lifting to keep processes flowing and people talking to one another. The big key to a successful team is collaboration, and the key to collaboration is communication. That’s especially true when working remotely. With high rates of RTO ongoing, this will be a space worth watching to see if these numbers change.

4. How about some good news?

• Scientists found that beet juice can help drop blood pressure in older people.
• Pudge the cat is taking the internet by storm as the new mascot of Bowling Green State University.
• The kicker for the University of Hawaii’s football team learned how to play the sport by watching YouTube in Japan.
• Ragan Training is great for communications pros to find inspiration and resources.
• You should be rewarded for your work. Find out how to earn an award here!

Have a great weekend comms all-stars!

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and trivia.